Just Another Meteor Freak
by jadedbluerose
Summary: Clark Kent has seen many strange things in his life; he's an extra terrestrial living in a town of meteor infected humans. But in the aftermath of the second meteor shower he discovers a cousin with his own strange past. What will the Kryptonian do when Danny Fenton arrives, bringing the ghosts of his own mysterious past along with him?
1. Prologue

Just another Meteor Freak?

Prologue

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

_Set after season two of Danny Phantom, minus Kindred Spirits, and just after CK gets his powers back in season 5._

Clark Kent was content. After two weeks of restoration and confusion in the wake of the meteor strike and nuclear missile threat, things in Smallville were finally settling down to a state of equilibrium. His best friend Chloe knew of his Kryptonian heritage and he knew she was there to support him. He had the girl of his dreams sitting next to him, and he was glad that finally he and Lana could be together. Sure there was more Kryptonite than before strewn over Smallville, but they'd lived with the green rocks for over a decade. Overall Clark couldn't ask for more in his life.

Lana had taken up an interest in the meteors after seeing the two disciples of Zod emerge from their craft. She had brought her laptop up into Clark's loft and was trying to triangulate the path of all the meteors that had landed that day. They had wrought so much destruction, but Lana suspected a bigger plot. Not that she'd tell Clark that. Lana wanted to protect Clark – and the rest of Smallville – from any more of those invaders that decided to pop up. She was looking into the descent path of the meteors when she realised one anomaly.

"Hey, Clark, look at this..." Clark groaned as he went over to his girlfriend. He wasn't really happy that she'd taken such a keen interest in the meteor shower; after all, she might come closer to discovering his secret, or worse she could end up hurt.

"One of the meteors split off. It didn't land in Smallville..." Clark's interest was officially piqued.

"So where did it go?" Lana zoomed out from Smallville and tracked the meteor's path.

"It didn't even land in Kansas... that's weird." She paused to zoom back into the map, crossing over into Colorado. "It landed in a small town, not much bigger than Smallville... Some place called Amity Park, Colorado."

Clark looked over her shoulder intently at the screen. "Amity Park? You sure?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You mean Ghost Capital USA?" Clark knew this was probably just rumour mongering, but Chloe had tried to do an expose last year after the town had disappeared into another dimension... at least according to the tabloids. "Okay that's really... weird. I don't get how so many could land in one place to have one go so far out..." Clark knew why the second meteor shower came to Smallville. It was a homing beacon for anything Kryptonian. His birth-parents sent him here and Zod's followers followed him.

Looking at him Lana frowned slightly. "It's weird, but we are in Meteor Capitol of the World, maybe there was some sort of cosmic balance going on..." She shook her head as if to convince herself. "Definitely weird... Think Chloe would be interested?"

"Probably..." Clark definitely didn't want Lana getting any closer to this. Whatever attracted the meteor couldn't possibly be good. At least Chloe knew roughly what she could be getting into. "Maybe you should leave it to her. If anyone can get to the bottom of a meteor rock mystery it's her."

Lana frowned disapprovingly at her boyfriend, but was interrupted by his mother calling him from the house. "Looks like it's time for you to see your Mom" Lana smiled at him. "I'll see you tomorrow, you call Chloe on this. You're right, she could help."

_Line Break_

Clark got into the house to find his Mom and Dad around the kitchen table. Both were looking solemnly into their un-drunk tea. "Mom, Dad, what's wrong?" Clark started, trying to ease some of the tension in the room.

Martha Kent looked up from her teacup, sharing a look with Jonathan. "It's..." she started, but she couldn't seem to continue. Jonathan looked meaningfully at Clark. "Your mother's sister has been killed. She, her husband and eldest daughter were killed just a little over a month ago."

"Mom's sister? I didn't know you had a sister?"

"Well, much like your grandfather, after we took you in it was safer to keep more to ourselves." Jonathan started. "But it was more than that. Maddie, that was her name, was always strange. Part of the reason that your grandfather was so hesitant to give me his blessings to marry your mom was that he's already seen how difficult things were for her. She married a self-proclaimed ghost hunter."

Martha took over "Both of them loved investigating ghosts. Jack Fenton was always very enthusiastic, absolutely lovable, but overly interested in ghosts. The first time I met him he yelled out 'Ghost' and I was coated in some green slime. Maddie assured me that it was his habit to do so, but there was no denying that they were unusual. I loved my sister very much, but over time we drifted apart. She found her life investigating ghosts, and I made my life here on the farm with your father."

"But now, now she's gone. I'm not sure what to think. Her eldest daughter Jasmine was keenly interested in psychology. She was actually about your age Clark. Jasmine was incredibly smart, top of her year since second grade and highest graduating score at her school."

"Maddie's son though. He lived. I can't imagine what he's going through. They were all at their home when it struck. Daniel is his name. He had brought two friends over; they were all at the home on the day that it happened. He lost his two closest friends and his family all on the one day."

Martha paused to look back into the empty teacup. Jonathan looked over at her, resting his hand comfortingly on her shoulder.

Clark was quiet, not sure what to make of this, he always knew that his mother's family was complicated, but didn't know what to make of the fact that he had an Aunt who he was never going to get to know.

"What happened, how did they die?" Clark asked, looking solemnly at his father.

"A meteor, the same day as the second meteor shower here." Was Jonathan's quiet reply.

"It's all my fault then." Clark whispered. "The meteors wouldn't have even come to Earth if it wasn't for me."

"No." Martha interrupted. "Don't you dare think that. There is nothing you could possibly have done to stop the shower. Whatever sent them here was not your fault. The fact that you saved so many lives while they were falling makes me so proud of you. You are not to blame, for what happened here, nor to my sister's family."

Clark was still not convinced, he knew that if he weren't here these terrible things would never have happened, but he also knew that there was no way to convince his parents. Realising what they had said brought him out of his stupor "Their son survived though. You said that Maddie, her husband and daughter were gone, but their son survived. What happened to him? Where is he?"

Martha sniffled slightly and looked over to Clark. "He was in a private hospital for two weeks after the meteor hit; he was unconscious for most of the time. He was released into the care of Mr Vlad Masters after that. Vlad was a friend that Maddie made in college, but I thought they had lost contact over time. Still, Daniel has made it clear that he is not happy to stay in the care of Mr Masters. Social services aren't sure what to make of that. There isn't an obvious reason for Daniel to be unhappy there... but still. They have asked if perhaps he can stay here, at least over the summer as we are best able to take care of him."

Clark blinked, looking from his mom to his dad. "When is he arriving?"

Jonathan smiled, knowing that whatever difficulties his son may have, he was always there to help anyone in need. "He'll be arriving in two days. I was hoping you'd help me get a couple of things sorted before he got here."

"Of course, whatever needs doing. Mom, you should probably head upstairs and get some rest. We'll be there for you no matter what. I love you mom." Martha nodded, placing the teacup in the sink and heading up the stairs for bed. Jonathan looked over to his son and smiled wearily. This was trying news, but they'd get through it as a family, as they always had. They'd be there for each other, and now it looked like they would be there for young Daniel as well.

"I think, son, it's time we all head off to bed. Tomorrow we can set up the spare room for him, but for now it's getting late." Both of the Kent men quietly retired thinking of this new turn of events.

_Line Break_

The next morning the first thing Clark did was call Lana, telling her that he was more closely related to the weird meteor strike than simply living in Smallville. Lana was quiet as he told her of his newly found cousin who had lost so much in such a small amount of time. Lana couldn't help but draw parallels between him and her family so long ago in the first meteor strike.

Both Clark and Lana decided that investigating the weird meteor strike should at least be put off until Daniel had settled in. After all, his entire support system had been taken from him in one fell swoop.

The rest of the day passed in a blur of preparation. Clark hurriedly got all of his chores done and set about the task of making the guest room ready for Daniel's arrival. Clearing out some rather questionable remains from when Lois had stayed there before the summer, Clark paced himself thinking. Smallville had seen any number of changes thanks to the meteor showers. So many lives had been destroyed in the showers themselves, and the kryptonite left behind didn't help at all. Yet despite this, it always stayed in Smallville. He didn't really know what to think of a meteor strike anywhere other than Smallville. He couldn't help but wonder if he had not been sent to Earth if these meteors wouldn't have come. And that wasn't the least of his concerns.

Still hanging over him was the threat from Jor-El; he had said that in exchange for his life and the return of his powers a life would be taken. There were already so many people in his life that he couldn't stand to lose. Was it really fair to invite someone new into his life when this threat hung over him? Was it fair to risk Daniel when he had already lost so much in a short span? It seemed that no matter what he did his very presence on earth would continue to hurt those around him. Clark sighed as he finished cleaning and set about making the bed.

Eventually Clark finished setting up the room, proceeding downstairs in the warm light of the setting sun. His mother and father were finishing setting up for dinner. Each took a seat and thought silently for a few moments.

"Son," Jonathan started "thank you for all your help today. Your mother and I want you to know that we appreciate all you do for us. Now, I can see you blaming yourself for this, but you need to know that none of this is your fault. The fact that you are so willing to do so much for someone who is practically a stranger speaks volumes. We love you son."

Clark looked up from his plate. "Thanks Dad. Still, that raises the question...what should I do about my... gifts. Should we, I mean... do you think I should tell Daniel that I... that his cousin is an alien from another planet? I'm not sure that's the best idea."

Jonathan looked at his son, sharing a glance with Martha "Clark, he is going to be living here. It will be difficult to keep everything from him. You need to be prepared for him to notice things. It's a wonder that you were able to keep your secret from Lois the whole time she was here. That said, it is your secret, and you need to be satisfied to your mind that you can trust him. It is important for you to be able to trust those who keep your secret, even if they are family."

Martha took over. "Clark, we love you, and whatever else we are here for you. You are a miracle to your father and I. We want for you to be happy and safe. Part of keeping you safe is keeping your secret. I was glad when you told Pete, but he proved his loyalty on his own. Perhaps you need all you need is to give Daniel the chance to prove himself to you."

Clark reflected on this, determining that his parent's advice was sound. He would continue keeping his gifts secret. "Thanks for the advice Mom, Dad." After a brief silence Clark looked up at his Mother "Can you tell me a bit about Daniel?"

Martha sighed, "Maddie didn't write often, but it was clear that she loved her children dearly. Jasmine was very smart, looking forward to a career in psychology. But Daniel never seemed to show the same interest in schooling. Daniel is 16 now. He was alright academically, until about two years ago. In his freshman year his grades started slipping, and he grew distant from his parents. Maddie often shared how concerned she was, she didn't know what had happened to her son. She was scared that she'd lost her little boy; he was always running off, and secretive. He missed curfews, but still seemed to dearly love and care for his parents. Maddie didn't know what to make of it. Daniel never behaved in person like a troubled teen, but everything about him seemed to say otherwise. Still, he's coming here, and we'll do our best to take care of him. Maybe all he needs is someone to set him on the right path."

Martha smiled warmly at her son. She was glad that Clark had never exhibited any such self destructive behaviour. Clark had always been such a good boy, taking more care for others, and putting even strangers above himself. She was so proud of the man that Clark had grown up to become. He was so strong, and it was obvious that he was destined to greatness, to help the world. She would always remember the little boy, who had lifted their oak bed over his head even as a five year old, but he had taken responsibility for his gifts, and she was proud to call him her son.

Eventually they cleaned up, heading off towards bed. They were as ready as they could be, for in the morning Daniel would arrive.

_Line Break_

The morning rolled by in a hurried blur, Martha baked fresh muffins, Clark raced out to feed the cows, Jonathan finished a few little tidying away jobs in the barn. By unspoken agreement Clark was to stay inside and Martha and Jonathan would greet Daniel. Eventually it was time to clean up and get ready to welcome their young ward.

A car rolled into the driveway, Martha and Jonathan Kent stepped onto the front of their yellow porch to meet Daniel. A man in a black suit, with greying hair stepped out of the car; walking over to Martha and Jonathan. "Mr. and Mrs Jonathan Kent?" At their brief nod from the Kent's he continued "I am David Samson, from Social Services. I believe I spoke to you, Mrs Kent over the phone in regards to Daniel?" David Samson held a hand out to each of them in turn, smiling softly at each. "You did." Martha said "How is Daniel?"

"Daniel is..." Samson started, the smile fading from his face slightly "Understandably quiet. He doesn't entirely seem to understand what has happened. He is fairly distant, from everybody. He hasn't said much since he argued about being in the care of Mr Masters." Jonathan and Martha looked at each other, not entirely sure to make of Samson's bluntness.

"Is he alright?" Martha asked, concern lacing her warm voice. "We are sure he will be, given time. He still seems rather delicate. I have to say, this is one of the few cases I've worked on where I really want to do right by the kid. He's... there's something about Daniel." Samson finished rather awkwardly. Jonathan looked from Samson, to the car, and back. "Martha and I look forward to helping him. Martha very dearly loved her sister, and we will do everything we can to ensure her son is safe."

Samson looked at Jonathan and smiled "I am glad to hear that. I think it's about time you met him. Daniel" he called looking over to the car "Please come out to meet your Aunt and Uncle." The passenger door of the car opened, revealing a raven haired boy. As he slowly walked towards the porch they noticed as he looked all over the outside of the house, but they couldn't fathom why. They noticed he walked with the quiet grace of a martial artist. He slowly walked up the stairs and gave each of them a quick glance before coming to rest next to Mr Samson. "Daniel," He introduced "This is your mother's sister, Martha, and her husband Jonathan Kent. Jonathan, Martha, this is Daniel."

"Danny, please" Daniel said, as he looked up to meet the eyes of Jonathan and Martha. "Mom always spoke highly of you, Aunt Martha, and you Uncle Jonathan." Jonathan smiled, and leaned forward to shake Daniel – Danny's – hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you son. Why don't you come on in and meed Clark, he's been looking forward to meeting you. Mr Samson, why don't you come in too? I'm sure the least we can do is offer you a cup of coffee or tea." Samson laughed. "Thanks for the offer Mr Kent, but really all I can do is make sure that young Daniel here is settled. I'll stay until he has met Clark, but then I really must go. Daniel, you know how to reach me if you need to, right?" Danny nodded "Good"

Clark looked up as the front door opened. His mother walked in, then a strange grey haired man. His father followed him. Finally, the young boy who was to live with them walked in. Clark watched as the boy quickly surveyed the room, glancing upstairs before looking into the lounge where Clark was seated. He wore a dark blue, long sleeved t-shirt, hanging low over a pair of grey cargo pants. A necklace chain hung around his neck, but the pendant was hidden under the shirt. The boy was small, for a sixteen year old. His raven locks hid his eyes slightly. Small though he was, he looked slightly sick, as if he hadn't had a good meal in a while. All things considered he may not have felt up to much in the last month. The boy finished his appraisal of the room and Clark determined that it was time he introduced himself. Standing, his soft red plaid shirt rustling as he moved he walked over to the boy.

"Hey, my name is Clark, Clark Kent." The boy looked up at him, and Clark was met by a pair of cerulean eyes. The boy held the briefest puzzled expression; Clark only just caught it with his super-speedy vision, the boy briefly shook his head before he broke into a dazzling smile – possibly the first he'd smiled in a month – and said "I am glad to meet you Clark, I'm Danny, Danny Fenton."


	2. Interpolation

Chapter 1

Interpolation 

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

"_Hey, my name is Clark, Clark Kent." The boy looked up at him, and Clark was met by a pair of cerulean eyes. The boy held the briefest puzzled expression; Clark only just caught it with his super-speedy vision, the boy briefly shook his head before he broke into a dazzling smile – possibly the first he'd smiled in a month – and said "I am glad to meet you Clark, I'm Danny, Danny Fenton."_

_Line Break_

"Well, it looks like those two will get on just fine." Mr Samson said politely. "I'll be heading off now; I've got a long drive back tonight. Daniel, do you want to fetch your bag now? I'll expect a phone call from you in the next few days to see how you're settling in." Danny followed Mr Samson out the door, returning a few minutes later with a single duffle bag slung over his shoulder. It took a moment for Clark to realise that this was probably all that Danny owned in the world.

Danny stood somewhat awkwardly in the hallway for a moment before Martha suggested that Clark show him up to his room, and then they could all meet up in the kitchen to talk. Clark guided Danny up the stairs, towards the bedroom, noting how quietly he walked. "So..." Clark began, rather awkwardly "what do you think of the farm so far?" Danny paused, putting the bag on the bed softly smiling. "It's... beautiful, I never really imagined anyone related to my family living anywhere so... charmingly normal. Not that I've seen it all, but your home seems so... warm." With how much Danny had just said, Clark was surprised that Mr Samson had mentioned Danny's unusual silence.

"Come on, let's head back downstairs. Mom was busy baking this morning, and she'll be heartbroken if you don't at least try one of her muffins." Danny paused for a moment, the smile vanishing in an instant. "What's wrong?"

Danny sighed, staring into space for a moment before shaking his head to clear his thoughts. "My mom used to spend all her spare time baking. She invented so many new types of cookies she could've written her own book. Guess there's proof our moms are related, hey?" he said, finishing with a sad chuckle. "Sorry, just... I miss them." Danny shifted to look up at Clark, the sadness in his eyes disappearing to be replaced by resolution. "Still, I guess it'd be wrong for me to take out my sadness on your mom. Especially when it's obvious she's such a good person." Danny Left the room, hesitating for a moment to allow Clark to take the lead and guide him to the kitchen.

Clark's parents were already seated at the table, a plate of chocolate muffins in the centre of the table and a pitcher of lemonade stood beside it. Both looked up as Clark led the way down the kitchen staircase, with Danny close behind. Both boys took a seat at the table, and Martha was surprised to find so many similarities between the two boys. Both boys had dark hair, though admittedly Clark's was more on the brown side to Danny's raven. Both had eyes of the same shade of blue, dancing between ice and cerulean. One could almost say they looked like long-lost brothers, but that was possible seeing as how Danny had grown up in Amity Park, and Clark was born on Krypton.

"Hey Daniel, Jon and I thought it might be nice if we all got to know each other better." Martha said, smiling at the young boy.

"Danny, please. I know that my birth certificate says Daniel, but I've always been happier as Danny." Danny said with a slight cringe, and a flash of some unrecognisable emotion. "Sorry, just, everyone since the... accident has called me Daniel. Sorta reminds you that they have little interest in you as a person, other than to deal with you as quickly as possible." Something in his eyes said there was more to it than that, but no-one could make out what.

"Well, Danny" Jonathan said "we do want to know who you are, so take a muffin, and tell us a little about who Danny Fenton is." Martha smiled as Danny reached out to grab one, following the trend Clark did too.

"Not much to tell, really." Danny said, "Danny Fenton is shy, clumsy, never been much good at school, or sports, or anything really. Fenton gets picked on by bullies, and is bottom of the social ladder." Looking up at their puzzled glances, he blinked and a look of realisation spread across his face. He continued on, going into the first person. "Well the loser thing was by choice really, I had two great friends, and never really saw the need for popularity. Well, maybe it took a while to get that picture" A small smile crossed his face before he continued. "I only really I feel drawn to pro... helping people. I feel like I need to... I mean like trying to be there for anyone who needs it. I've always been interested in astronomy. I love the stars, I've always wanted to be an Astronaut, join NASA, and fly spacecraft. But I know that could never happen. Not anymore." Danny finished in a quiet mumble, the last two sentences heard only by Clark, and were obviously not meant to be heard.

"Still, I reckon that's enough about me." Danny said, drawing the conversation away from himself. "Tell me about my lovely Aunt, and her wonderful husband. Mom often spoke about you, and the farm. But I've never met you guys that I know of. Mom said I had an adopted cousin about Jazz's age, and that he was a kind boy, but I'm sure there's more to it than that." By now Danny and Clark had finished their muffins, but only Clark reached for another.

So Jonathan, Martha and Clark spoke about the farm, how while it was hard work there was something truly rewarding from working the land and seeing the splendour of a good harvest or reaping a profit off the cows. They spoke about Smallville, how while it was growing it still held the small town charm that was often lost in urbanisation. Clark talked about Smallville High, about the Torch and his senior year on the football team. Clark talked about his friends; the kind, intelligent Chloe Sullivan and her strong self proclaimed "army-brat" cousin Lois Lane. He spoke about his kind, loving, strong but innocent girlfriend Lana Lang, and said that she was coming over later in the afternoon.

After about half an hour Jonathan suggested that Clark and Danny head over to the barn for a while, so Martha could prepare lunch, and Martha insisted that Jonathan took a break for the sake of his heart. Clark led Danny out the kitchen doors and saw the dog Shelby come running. Shelby ran over to Clark, who rustled the fur on top of his head, and then Shelby went over to sniff Danny. Shelby took a whiff, and then backed up a bit, whimpering slightly. Suddenly Danny broke into a wide smile. "You have a dog! That's so cool, mum and dad never let us have pets, 'cause of all their weird experiments... unless you call animated hotdogs pets." Danny leaned down to scratch Shelby under his chin. Shelby brightened up and gave Danny a big lick.

"This is Shelby, and I'm glad to see you get on with him better than the last guest. Lois is allergic to Shelby. But... animated hotdogs?" Clark questioned as Danny stood up, Shelby marching between the two boys as they headed over to the barn. "Yeah," Danny explained "Mom and dad were into paranormal research." Clark started; Danny couldn't be onto his secret already, could he? Looking at Clark, and seemingly mistaking his look Danny continued "They hunted ghosts." Clark silently sighed, relieved. There was no such thing as ghosts. Aliens, yes. Kryptonite infected mutants, yes. There was Bart, who could run faster than him, but there was no such thing as ghosts. His secret was safe.

Danny continued his explanation. "I loved my parents dearly, but the both of them could be... a bit absentminded. They would experiment with ectoplasm, at the kitchen table. They often used ecto-powered kitchen appliances." Danny shivered "It wasn't that un-often that they would inadvertently bring dinner to life. Jazz and I learned quick that it was... safest for all if one of us handled the cooking. Better than being attacked by a killer turkey or some other ecto-mutated food." By now they had gotten into the barn. Clark guided Danny around the tractor and up to the loft.

"Wow" Danny stated, looking around. "I know" Clark said. "Dad calls it my 'fortress of solitude'" Clark explained, ignoring the fortress that Jor-El had 'given' him in the arctic, he still wasn't entirely happy with the circumstances around _that_. Clark noticed Danny looking everything over, seemingly surveying every gap in the floor to every hidden shadow. _Wonder what made him so skittish? _Clark mused. The boy talked about himself in the third person, and sized up every room like a veteran detective. "When I'm not in town, I tend to come here to think, away from the bustle of the house."

Seemingly finished his appraisal, Danny's eyes settled on the telescope by the window. His eyes lit up, and he ran over. "This is awesome, you like astronomy too?" Clark walked over to the telescope. "Ever since I was a kid, I always loved the stars. One day I came down to the kitchen and this was there, no particular reason, other than that dad wanted to make me happy." Clark said with a smile. Danny looked up from the telescope and smiled at Clark. "Dads are great like dad. I never got a telescope, but dad'd often find little ways to surprise me and Jazz. Just to see us smile." Danny said with a reflective smile. "I miss him. But I know he's out there, looking out for me." Danny's voice dropped to a whisper that only Clark could have heard "I just hope they can forgive me..." Ignoring the puzzle that came from that comment Clark continued to explain about the telescope. Danny seemed excited to go stargazing away from the city with all the light pollution.

Eventually things quietened and Clark found himself beginning to like the young boy. Soon enough they heard Martha called them in for lunch, and both boys headed over to the house in companionable silence.

_Line Break_

_A few hours previous_

Danny stared at the dashboard of Mr Samson's car. He was one of the few people at Social Services that even remotely resembled taking an interest in Danny, although his insistence on calling him _Daniel_ frustrated him to no end. "So Daniel," Mr Samson explained "When we arrive I'd like for you to stay in the car until I call you. Procedure requires me to meet both your aunt and uncle before I can trust you into their care. I'm sure you know that they have a son living with them, Clark, he just finished his senior year, and is headed to university this fall." Danny looked out the window as they drove into the farmstead. An archway with the words 'KENT FARM' passed overhead as they drove up to the house.

Danny observed a wooden fence that led up to a stable, a couple of cows just behind it. Just behind was a big red barn, but most impressive was the yellow house that came to meet them. A white picket fence surrounded a charming garden, with flowers peeking through the fence posts. A soft white porch came naturally from the front of the house, with a few hanging flowers adorning the roof. His Aunt and Uncle, who he recognised from the few family albums, were standing on the porch, smiling as their car approached.

Mr Samson stepped out, quietly reminding Danny to stay in the car until he was called. Mr Samson walked over to the Kent's taking a quick breather, and stood in an official looking pose "Mr. and Mrs Jonathan Kent?" Danny observed as the two Kent's nodded; hearing them through the car walls only because of his ghostly enhanced senses. See, Danny wasn't an ordinary sixteen year old. For the past two years he had been living a double life, protecting Amity Park, and often enough the world from invading malevolent ghosts. When he was fourteen he had had an accident, splicing his DNA and replacing half his genetics with ghostly ectoplasmic codes. Since then he has been half-human, half-ghost. According to the ghosts he was a 'Halfa' belonging to both worlds and neither.

When he first started removing the ghosts, he was branded a public menace. Eventually people had seen that he was just trying to protect them, and he had come to be known as Amity Park's own Ghost Hero Danny Phantom. Back then there was a distinct gap between his human form and his ghost form. His ghost half was strong, fast and agile. And it needed to be as ghosts cause a lot of damage. His human half though was weak. It made it easy to distinguish between wimpy Fenton, and powerful Phantom. Eventually though, out of necessity, the strength and power of Phantom had bled into Fenton, to the point where his human form was just as powerful as his ghost form. Unfortunately that necessitated quite a bit of acting to keep his secret safe.

On the porch the three adults continued their discussion. "I am David Samson, from Social Services. I believe I spoke to you, Mrs Kent over the phone in regards to Daniel?" David Samson held a hand out to each of them in turn; the Martha Kent smiled at him, obviously recognising him "You did." She replied, with a hint of a smile in her voice. "How is Daniel?"

"Daniel is..." Samson started, the warm tone that had been in his voice disappearing as he dropped his voice a tone. "He is fairly distant, from everybody. He hasn't said much since he argued about being in the care of Mr Masters." Jonathan and Martha looked at each other, the faintest hint of concern hidden in their eyes. Well of course Danny didn't want to be 'in the care of Mr Masters' not only was the man a complete frootloop, and his arch enemy, but Danny had seen the dire consequences of his staying in the frootloop's care. A world of fire and ashes is not in anyone's best interests.

"Is he alright?" Danny heard his Aunt Martha ask. Samson replied "We are sure he will be, given time. He still seems rather delicate. I have to say, this is one of the few cases I've worked on where I really want to do right by the kid. He's... there's something about Daniel." Awkwardness exuding from his tone, but Danny also heard a faint trace of concern. Danny watched as His Uncle Jonathan looked over towards the car, before turning his gaze back to Mr Samson. "Martha and I look forward to helping him. Martha very dearly loved her sister, and we will do everything we can to ensure her son is safe."

Despite only being able to see his back, Danny heard the smile in Mr Samson's voice. "I am glad to hear that. I think it's about time you met him." With a slight raise in his voice, presumably so Danny would be able to hear him, Mr Samson turned around to face the car and called out "Daniel. Please come out to meet your Aunt and Uncle." Danny climbed out the passenger's side door. Doing a quick glance over the place to ensure there was no danger. Two years of constant ghost attacks had made him overly aware of the necessity to know as much as possible about his surroundings. He paced himself as he walked up to the porch to finally meet his aunt and uncle in person. He looked at each of them, examining them, and feeling as their aura's watched over him.

Ghosts are sensitive to energy, particularly that that comes off from the emotional aura that surrounds a person. This sensitivity is necessary as ghosts feed off the excess emotional energy in the aura. Most ghosts fed off fear, making them parasites where they brought out negative emotions in people. Danny was different. He was only half-ghost, so he needed to get energy from human food as well, but he fed off the positive emotions of those around him. He liked to think of it as a more symbiotic relationship. So long as he could make those around him happy, he was emotionally 'full' so to speak. While he was at social services he was practically starving as there was so little positive emotion at that place. He smiled slightly as the warm, loving glow of his Aunt and Uncle washed over him. It was obvious that they were happy and good people, Danny could see that maybe he could be happy with them. He stopped to stand next to Mr Samson. "Daniel," He introduced "This is your mother's sister, Martha, and her husband Jonathan Kent. Jonathan, Martha, this is Daniel."

Irritated once more at Mr Samson's insistence upon calling him _Daniel_ he automatically corrected "Danny, please" He looked up at his aunt and uncle, softly smiling as their warm emotions began to energise him. "Mom always spoke highly of you, Aunt Martha, and you Uncle Jonathan." His uncle smiled, and leaned forward to shake his hand. Danny grasped his hand firmly, careful not to use any of his ghostly strength, remembering his father always saying that a firm handshake displays a good and strong character. Jonathan replied "It's a pleasure to meet you son. Why don't you come on in and meed Clark, he's been looking forward to meeting you. Mr Samson, why don't you come in too? I'm sure the least we can do is offer you a cup of coffee or tea." Danny knew how long a drive he had to get back to his home, so was unsurprised when Samson laughed. "Thanks for the offer Mr Kent," He explained for their benefit "but really all I can do is make sure that young Daniel here is settled. I'll stay until he has met Clark, but then I really must go. Daniel, you know how to reach me if you need to, right?" Danny nodded "Good"

Jonathan opened the door, and stood aside for them all to go in. Martha went first, then Mr Samson. After a brief moment of hesitation Danny's uncle went in, and Danny brought up the rear, silently closing the door behind him. Danny looked around the room, noticing the happy atmosphere that pervaded the house. Taking a quick glance up the staircase he proceeded to scope out the hallway and what he guessed to be the lounge. He observed every aspect of the rooms, checking for any sign of danger, and making mental notes for later. Finally Danny let his gaze stop on the young man that sat on the lounge. Danny guessed that this must be Clark, his cousin by adoption. Clark wore a soft red plaid shirt that rustled as he moved towards Danny.

Danny let a brief puzzled expression cross his face. Clark's aura felt different, more energetic. Danny had never felt an aura like this, not quite human, but definitely alive. More than alive, full of life, and energy, exuding positivity. Clark was warm and kind, he felt like the sun. Danny puzzled over what made him different from regular humans. Eventually Clark spoke. "Hey, my name is Clark, Clark Kent." _Yes_, Danny determined. _I could definitely get used to being around Clark_. Danny smiled "I am glad to meet you Clark; I'm Danny, Danny Fenton."

Danny heard Mr Samson saying "Well, it looks like those two will get on just fine. I'll be heading off now; I've got a long drive back tonight. Daniel, do you want to fetch your bag now? I'll expect a phone call from you in the next few days to see how you're settling in." Quickly nodding, Danny followed Mr Samson out the door, pulling out the duffle bag from the boot of the car. There was very little left after the meteor strike. Danny was able to retrieve very few things, like his photo album which he had left at Sam's house. He also had a spare Fenton Thermos, which he had got from Tucker's house. Danny had figured out how to make the Thermos part of his Ghost form, drawing it into a pocket of energy that acted like an infinitely sized bag. His ghost form always had a Thermos, but his human form needed one too. The duffle bag also contained a few changes of clothes that had been bought after the 'disaster', as well as a few toiletries and a set of pyjamas. Danny sighed sadly as he returned to the house, waving at Mr Samson as he drove off.

Danny stepped inside and stood uncertainly in the hallway before aunt Martha kindly suggested that Clark show him up to his room, and then they could all meet up in the kitchen to talk. Clark guided Danny up the stairs, towards what was to be his room, pointing out his parents' bedroom, his room, and the upstairs bathroom. Danny continued his quick inspections as he entered a bedroom. The bed was made with soft looking blue sheets, and Danny smiled as he placed his bag down on the bed, listening as Clark awkwardly spoke. "So... what do you think of the farm so far?" pausing to think of an appropriate reply, Danny began "It's... beautiful, I never really imagined anyone related to my family living anywhere so... charmingly normal." Thinking back to the weirdness of his own home... or what used to be. "Not that I've seen it all, but your home seems so... warm." Danny said, it was true, the positivity that poured not only off its occupants, but the house as well. It was obvious to Danny that there were many positive memories here.

Interrupted from his thoughts, he heard Clark say "Come on, let's head back downstairs. Mom was busy baking this morning, and she'll be heartbroken if you don't at least try one of her muffins." Danny stopped, suddenly missing his mother. Clark must have noticed because he asked "What's wrong?"

Danny sighed, thinking of how to tactfully reply. He really didn't want to upset Clark. "My mom used to spend all her spare time baking. She invented so many new types of cookies she could've written her own book." Danny said realising that he was never going to get to have anything his mom baked ever again. He suddenly felt very alone, but being who he was he didn't want to impose his misery on anyone else. "Guess there's proof our moms are related, hey?" he said, half joking to try and lighten the situation. He chuckled sadly before saying "Sorry, just... I miss them." Danny looked up at Clark, resolving not to do anything to make Clark unhappy "Still, I guess it'd be wrong for me to take out my sadness on your mom. Especially when it's obvious she's such a good person." Danny left the room, pausing outside the doorway to allow Clark to guide him downstairs. Danny noticed they took a different staircase to get to the kitchen than the one they used to go upstairs.

Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Martha were seated at the table, a plate of chocolate muffins in the centre of the table and a pitcher of lemonade stood beside it. Both looked up as Clark and Danny came downstairs to take a seat opposite them. Danny felt the gaze of his aunt and uncle before Aunt Martha warmly began "Hey Daniel, Jon and I thought it might be nice if we all got to know each other better." Martha said, smiling at the young boy.

He automatically corrected "Danny, please. I know that my birth certificate says Daniel, but I've always been happier as Danny." Danny said with a slight cringe, realising that this was pretty rude, and, knowing that they didn't know either about the frootloop's insistence on calling him Daniel, nor that Social Services was so impersonal. By way of apology he explained "Sorry, just, everyone since the... accident has called me Daniel. Sorta reminds you that they have little interest in you as a person, other than to deal with you as quickly as possible."

"Well, Danny" Jonathan said "we do want to know who you are, so take a muffin, and tell us a little about who Danny Fenton is." Danny obediently reached over to grab a muffin, taking a bite – _that is delicious_ – before he explained "Not much to tell, really. Danny Fenton is shy, clumsy, never been much good at school, or sports, or anything really. Fenton gets picked on by bullies, and is bottom of the social ladder." Looking up at their puzzled glances, he blinked _oh, third person again_. Since the accident Danny had drawn a clear character for Danny Fenton, so he had automatically answered with his image of who Fenton was.

He backpedalled, "Well the loser thing was by choice really, and I had two great friends, and never really saw the need for popularity. Well, maybe it took a while to get that picture" He remembered the brief week when Paulina dated him, and his popularity had skyrocketed. While Paulina was being overshadowed, it made him realise that his friends were what was most important to him. "I only really I feel drawn to pro... helping people." Danny stopped himself in time. He was half-ghost, and like all ghosts was obsessive by nature. An integral part of his being was protecting people. If he didn't... well, that wasn't worth thinking of. That didn't mean he wanted to reveal obsession just yet. "I feel like I need to... I mean like trying to be there for anyone who needs it." Realising that perhaps this wasn't the best conversation line he switched to something less weird. "I've always been interested in astronomy. I love the stars, I've always wanted to be an Astronaut, join NASA, and fly spacecraft." Knowing that with his being a ghost, he no longer stood a chance for so many reasons he whispered "But I know that could never happen. Not anymore." So quietly that no-one should be able to hear it.

Jumping to a different point of discussion Danny said "Still, I reckon that's enough about me. Tell me about my lovely Aunt, and her wonderful husband. Mom often spoke about you, and the farm. But I've never met you guys that I know of. Mom said I had an adopted cousin about Jazz's age, and that he was a kind boy, but I'm sure there's more to it than that." Danny had finished is muffin, and realised that eating anything more wouldn't do him any good he just watched as Clark took a second.

Danny listened intently as his aunt, uncle and cousin explained about themselves and their lives in Smallville; inward laughing over the brief descriptions of Clarks friends. When Clark mentioned Lana, his heart went out to Sam. There were so many things he regretted, not the least of which was that he had only just started dating her, rather than (not so secretly) pining over her before she was gone. Eventually Danny found himself being led outside towards the barn, so that his aunt and uncle could take a break.

As soon as they got outside a dog came running up towards them. Clark gently rustled the dog's fur before the dog turned its attention towards Danny. Inwardly sighing as the dog backed off, it was sad that most animals didn't like ghosts. There was something, perhaps the slight scent of death that made them instantly wary and sometimes fearful. Danny felt sad as the dog whimpered, but poured out some of his own positive aura over the dog and Clark, hoping to make the dog at least feel safe around him. Seeing the dog settle, Danny allowed himself to smile "You have a dog! That's so cool, mum and dad never let us have pets, 'cause of all their weird experiments... unless you call animated hotdogs pets." Danny leaned down to scratch Shelby under his chin. Shelby brightened up and gave Danny a big lick. _Yep_ Danny thought _definitely feels safe now, makes me miss Cujo though._

"This is Shelby, and I'm glad to see you get on with him better than the last guest. Lois is allergic to Shelby. But... animated hotdogs?" Clark questioned as Danny stood up. "Yeah," Danny explained as they continued to walk to the barn, Shelby pattering between them. "Mom and dad were into paranormal research." Noticing Clark's startled expression Danny said "They hunted ghosts." Wondering what had Clark so concerned when he mentioned the paranormal, but Danny decided that was a concern for later.

Danny continued his explanation. "I loved my parents dearly, but the both of them could be... a bit absentminded. They would experiment with ectoplasm, at the kitchen table. They often had ecto-powered kitchen appliances." Shivering at the memory of so many evil, possessed meals he elaborated "It wasn't that un-often that they would inadvertently bring dinner to life. Jazz and I learned quick that it was... safest for all if one of us handled the cooking. Better than being attacked by a killer turkey or some other ecto-mutated food." Danny followed Clark as they moved up a wooden staircase to the top level.

Whatever he was expecting it wasn't this. "Wow" Danny stated, looking around. "I know" Clark said. "Dad calls it my 'fortress of solitude'" Clark explained, Danny looked everything over, ever vigilant in his awareness of potential threats, he heard Clark saying "When I'm not in town, I tend to come here to think, away from the bustle of the house." Danny quickly finished his observations before noticing the beautiful telescope, framed by the open window of the barn loft. He couldn't help himself but to run over to get a closer look. "This is awesome, you like astronomy too?" Clark joined him over by the telescope.

"Ever since I was a kid, I always loved the stars. One day I came down to the kitchen and this was there, no particular reason, other than that dad wanted to make me happy." Both smiled at each other before Danny said "Dads are great like dad. I never got a telescope, but dad'd often find little ways to surprise me and Jazz. Just to see us smile." Danny reflecting on all the good times he had with his dad, even down to fishing at Lake Eerie.

"I miss him. But I know he's out there, looking out for me." Danny's voice dropped to a whisper "I just hope they can forgive me..." he regretted so many things. He never even told his parents that he was half-ghost. Never told them how deeply he loved them. He never told them that he forgave them for hunting his ghost-half. They never knew. He only hoped his parents could forgive him for what he never told them.

The continued chatting about astronomy, eventually moving on to other things, Danny realised that Clark was a character that he could get to know very happily. Eventually, Martha called them back over to the house for lunch. Danny really didn't need anything more to eat for a while after having the muffin, and hoped he could get through lunch without seeming rude. After all, not many people are used to the appetite of a half-ghost. Heck, no-one needed to be since there were only two in the whole world.

_Line Break_

The three Kent's and the youngest Fenton met for lunch in the kitchen. Martha had prepared a lovely plate of sandwiches, setting the table for the four of them. Taking the same places that they had taken earlier, each grabbed one. Danny seemed to hesitate before taking one. Clark pondered this, as the boy looked underfed, surely he would want more than one sandwich. Then again, thinking back, he looked a little better now than he did when he first walked in the door... chalking it up to a trick of the light Clark reached for a second. One of the few downsides to his powers was that he needed to eat slightly more than your average eighteen year old. Not nearly as much as the super-speedy Bart, but still... He was glad that his powers came from the sun. Standing in the sun always energised him after a particularly rough battle with a 'meteor freak'. Unfortunately it seemed likely that he could expect to meet a few more of those since the second meteor shower had dumped a whole load more kryptonite onto Smallville.

Martha looked concernedly over at her new charge. It seemed her motherly nature to look out for people never stopped. "Danny, there's no need for you to go hungry. I made enough for all of us." Danny's eyes flashed – fearfully? – For the briefest of moments. "Thanks very much Aunt Martha," he said carefully "but I'm still full from the muffin earlier. It was delicious by the way. But I've never really been a big eater. You don't need to worry." Clark thought maybe his small appetite had something to do with the weird animated food that he had mentioned earlier and let the subject drop.

They finished their meal in quiet conversation, Martha and Jon talking about plans for the next farmers market, and Clark telling Danny more about life on the farm. When the four of them were finished Danny offered to do the washing up, much to Jon and Martha's surprise. Where was the troublesome boy that Maddie had been so concerned about? Eventually Jon suggested the boys go out to the barn to work on the tractor, because it had broken down again. To Clark it seemed they spent more time fixing the darn thing than actually using it. Still, soon enough it would be needed, so they did need to get it fixed. So Clark and Danny found themselves out in the barn working on the old vehicle, chatting about nothing in particular.

Clark and Danny found each other on opposite sides of the tractor and actually seemed to be making some progress. Sliding spanners under the tractor to each other as needed they were getting on pretty fast. Clark decided to do a quick spot weld, before going to check on Danny. Walking around the back of the tractor he thought he saw a flash of green light, but passed it off as a trick of the light. He was surprised to see Danny quickly, yet professionally reassembling parts of the engine. Danny looked up at Clark and Smiled, answering his question before he could ask it. "The tractor engine is fairly simple to understand, it just wanted a few adjustments, and a few pieces had gotten misaligned over time. This is much simpler to fix than the Specter Speeder"

At Clark's questioning glance Danny elaborated. "The Spectre Speeder was an invention of Mom and Dads' that was designed to explore the Ghost Zone. It was sorta like... a hovercraft? But it ran off of ecto energy, so the engine was more efficient, but required a different configuration than your regular combustion engine. In order to make sure that the cylinders stayed aligned it needed a different set of specific configurations to the ecto-converter to ensure that the capacitors in the engine didn't get overloaded... and you're looking at me weird." Danny said to Clark's confused glare. "Um, basically, the tractor engine is a simpler version of what I'm used to having to reconstruct on a dime. So it's easy to see the few adjustments that needed to be made." Danny said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I think if you jump up now it should run." Clark sat in the driver's seat and turned on the engine. It sounded like it had when his Dad had just bought it, Clark was amazed that this kid, who claimed to be doing so poorly in school was able to get a tractor going as well as the day it was brought home.

"How?" Clark asked, puzzling over this new bit of information. "Did I know how to fix it?" Danny finished the question for Clark. "Dude, my parents were, first and foremost, scientists. I had to learn how to build, repair and tweak all their inventions so that even if they did break, someone could fix them. Not to mention that they often goofed and I had to fix _that_ before anyone got hurt. I understood how the typical combustion engine worked before I set foot in high school, so fixing a tractor was, honestly, no problem." In that sentence Clark found himself having to re-evaluate his view of Danny. The kid may not have gone great at school, but anyone who could do that to a tractor after spending only five minutes looking at it, couldn't _not _be intelligent.

Five minutes later Jon walked out to the barn. "I thought I heard the tractor going. You two making any progress?" Clark looked to his dad "Dad, Danny fixed it. As in, fixed it, fixed it. Listen." Clark jumped up and switched the engine on. Jon let out a low whistle. Turning to smile at Danny. "She's running better than the day I got her. What did you do?" Danny took a small step back. "Not much, just a few tweaks, I mean, given another few hours and the right... equipment, I could maybe have gotten it a bit more efficient. As it is, it'll probably work 'till the beginning of winter before it needs another adjustment. But, hey, it'll go for the season, so that's got to be worth something." Danny rambled, his hand finding the back of his neck again.

Jon then noticed an oil-stain smearing the blue of his shirt. "Say, son, Shouldn't you have put on something that wouldn't get ruined working on the tractor?" Danny let out a shy grimace. "Sorry Uncle Jonathan, I pretty much have five of the same, I didn't really have much opportunity to go shopping for farm clothes while I was with Social Services, and before that I was pretty much stuck to hospital garb." Danny said, trailing off at the end. "Just 'Jon', son. Clark, do you have a spare shirt that Danny could borrow until he can get something better suited for the farm? Although perhaps one of your old shirts would be best, I think we have a box from your freshman year still in the attic."

_Line Break_

Half an hour later found Clark and Danny up in the barn loft. Danny now wearing a slightly worn blue plaid shirt that made Martha smile as he walked by. Despite being two years older, something about Danny reminded her of Clark on his first day before going to Smallville high. The two boys were chatting in the loft. Danny was absently stroking Shelby who had come to join them when they were interrupted by a soft, girlish laugh. "So I see that Clark already got you into the plaid." Clark immediately perked up at her voice.

Danny turned to the stairs, observing a dark head of long hair ascending the stairs. Danny watched as she took the final step up to the loft as she turned to face him; her soft brown eyes matching her warm smile. Danny observed her aura, sensing that she was kind, sweet yet strong and independent. Yet there was a dark streak to her. Almost untraceable, but Danny had seen too many people seduced by their own darkness, not the least of which was his alternate future self. But this girl was still good, almost pure. And the warmth that she brought out in Clark made Danny feel content from the positive emotional surge. As much as he hated it, he had been starved in the month that he had lost his family. To be surrounded by so many loving and good people was almost intoxicating.

"Lana" Clark said with an obvious smile in his voice. "You came early. How did you know we'd be up here?" Clark paused, reflecting for a moment. "Firstly, I'll introduce the two of you. Danny, this is Lana, if I dare say so, my beautiful girlfriend. Lana, this is Danny, my surprising cousin." Lana smiled at Clark's obvious flirtation; she opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Clark. "So how _did_ you know we'd be up here?" Lana smiled and looked fondly at Clark. "You realise you practically live up here. As your 'beautiful girlfriend' it is my duty to know where my boyfriend spends most of his time. I just figured you'd want to show Danny the loft, so I came straight here."

Danny looked at the interchange; it was obvious that they loved each other very much. Yet... Danny couldn't quite place it, but their auras didn't quite match up the way perfect couples' did. His parents' auras had, and they seemed to be energised by each others' presence. It was the same with Mr and Mrs Kent. But Clark and Lana didn't seem energised by each other. They loved each other, deeply, he could see that. But they lacked the spark that would make staying together easy. A relationship between the two would be difficult and complex. Still, for now they loved each other, and that was all that mattered.

Clark smiled at Lana, seemingly drinking in her presence, before he looked over to Danny and chuckled. Preventing himself from being overly intimate with Lana in front of Danny, Clark elected to say "by the way, what's wrong with the plaid?" Lana looked over to Danny, laughing softly. "Clark here has worn some variant of plaid every day for the last four years. I can hardly think of a time where he wasn't wearing plaid."

"Hey, there's been a few times, like... graduation and that time in the Metropolis museum. And what about Lex's wedding?" Danny heard an undertone at the mention of 'Lex' but didn't exactly know what to make of it. "Which one?" Lana joked "But still, that's a pretty short list." Danny looked between the two in slight confusion. "Sorry," Lana explained "It's a long standing joke. I think there was even a betting pool that Clark would come to graduation in a long plaid robe instead of the official one."

Both frowned at the mention of graduation, which puzzled Danny. "What happened at graduation?" he asked, but instantly regretted it. Both Lana and Clark sunk deeper into their sullen moods. "It" Lana explained "was a really bad day on every count. I made a mistake that... kept me from the service in the first instance. One of our friends, Chloe got caught up in the mess. Clark was the only one there, and then the army came to announce..." Lana paused, looking over to Danny. Her once happy eyes sparkling with what looked like tears. Hesitating to ask, Danny said "What did the army announce?"

Clark looked over at Danny, almost as sad as Lana. Taking over for her he said "they announced that there was four hours left until a large meteor shower. That was the second meteor shower within two decades. The whole town was to be evacuated; Smallville is still recovering from the damage." Danny himself saddened; realising why the two of them were so reluctant to speak. It was an offshoot from that meteor shower that had destroyed his family, his friends, and his home. He still had no idea why, or even how he'd survived. All he remembered was a horrendous noise and then waking up in the hospital two weeks later. Still, neither of the two of them were to blame for his bad luck. If anything he was to blame, after all there had to be something that attracted the stupid meteor to his house of all houses, knowing his luck the deaths of his family were all on his head.

The three of them descended into a sad silence, each reflecting their own problems that day. None of them knew what to say when Clark's phone started to ring. Clark looked at the ID before saying "it's Chloe" Lana nodded and Clark answered.

"Hey, Chlo'. Lana's here." Lana smiled at Clark who continued "she says hi." Danny didn't mean to, but having enhanced senses meant that he heard the other half of the conversation. He heard a soft feminine voice reply to Clark

"_Thanks, I was wondering where the two of you had disappeared too. Here's me, sitting at the Talon like we agreed on Wednesday, and neither of you showed up." _

"Sorry, Chlo'. Um things changed abruptly on Wednesday night. I haven't had the chance to call you yet."

"_What changed so abruptly that you couldn't tell me" _Danny could hear the scepticism in her voice. Clark ploughed on. "Remember how bad Graduation day was?"

"_No Clark, why would I remember the most hellish Graduation in the history of Graduations. Don't know if it was the fire and brimstone raining down from the sky, or getting stuck in that freaky ice palace of yours, but I have absolutely no idea what bad Graduation day you're talking about. Of course I remember." _

Danny realised that he wasn't supposed to be hearing this but couldn't help but wonder about the 'freaky ice palace'. Danny was left with no time to consider as Clark continued.

"Sorry to bring up bad memories, but something more happened."

"_More? How much worse could _that_ day possibly have been?"_

Clark sighed loudly, looking over to Danny, silently asking his permission to explain what had happened. Danny nodded to Clark, who stated "one of the meteors didn't hit Smallville; in fact it didn't even land in Kansas. One of the meteors hit a small town in Colorado. Amity Park"

Before Clark could get any further Chloe interrupted _"That's so weird. Amity Park has its share of the unexplained, I mean Ghosts? Really? But this takes the proverbial cake. Do you want me to look into it?"_

"No Chloe, I don't. See, that isn't what changed. The meteor hit the house of my mom's sister and her family."

"_Oh God, Clark, I'm sorry." _

"Don't feel sorry for me. I'm not the worst affected." _"I know you're finding some way to blame yourself for this but..."_

"Chloe, that's not why I said that, Mom's nephew was orphaned that day. What changed is that he's come here, to live."

There was silence for a minute as Clark looked once more over to Danny. Danny himself hung his head and focused on not turning invisible. Whatever made Chloe said that Clark would blame himself made no sense. But Danny knew that the deaths of his family were caused by his presence. Sometimes he wished that he'd properly died the first time he stepped in that stupid portal, and then none of the terrible things that had happened in Amity Park or to his family would've happened. Still, he knew better than to play the 'what if' game. Danny quickly asked Clark if it'd be alright if he went for a walk. Holding his hand over the phone Clark just said "as long as you don't go too far." He let Danny get to the bottom of the stairs before he continued the conversation. But Danny decided he had no interest in listening to the rest of it.

Danny quietly walked out of the barn, taking a quick look over at the yellow house, before following the fence-line out for a while. After a five minute walk he stopped, sitting on the fence and looking up to the clouds. This was real. This time there was no Gauntlet to fix it. No wishing it all better. There was no Clockwork to give him a second chance. They were gone. He wasn't getting them back this time. He would never hear his Dad 'blather on about ghosts' again. Never come home to the warm scent of his Mom's cookies and have her offer them to him smiling as only mother's can. Never get to tease Jazz, even as she tried to psychoanalyse him. Never get to chill with Tucker at the Nasty Burger, as he and Sam argue over being carnivorous or ultra-recyclo-vegetarian. Never again would he get to fly with Sam under the moonlight, finally fulfilling the love they shared. Danny flickered out of visibility, sinking through the fence to land on his back on the grass. Quietly at first, he cried; venting the misery and frustration that he had been repressing for the last month. Drawing his legs up into himself he sobbed, just letting the world pass him as he reflected on all he had lost.

_Line Break_

Chloe finished the phone call, suggesting that they all meet up at the Talon tomorrow, and of course bring Danny. Lana and Clark spent a short while in each other's company before Lana decided to head home. By now it was approaching six, and soon Clark's Mom would be calling both him and Danny in for dinner. Clark did a quick run around the barn to see if he could find Danny. Running so fast as to not be seen, he raced through the house, looking for him with no further luck. It seemed Danny had gone further out than he'd imagined. Stopping to sit on the porch for a minute Clark quietened himself and _listened_.

From inside the house he could hear the two steady heartbeats of his Mom and Dad. He heard the sounds of the approaching night, the speedy racing of Shelby's heart, the gentle patter of mice in the barn. Echoing in the wind he heard the lowing of cattle in one of their fields. This soundscape was one he was used to, it held the familiarity of evening at the farm. But he couldn't hear the noise he was listening for. He wanted to find the third steady thumping that would signify the heartbeat of his cousin. As he continued to listen he heard it, a quiet sniffle. Listening in that direction he heard a third heartbeat, quieter and perhaps slower than his parents, but there none-the-less. Clark set off in that direction, noticing that at least Danny had stayed close to the fence line.

Clark ran up, at a human speed towards where he could hear Danny. As he ran, he listened to his voice as it carried on the wind. "I'm sorry. Mom, Dad. I never told you... I'm sorry you never knew. I love you so much, and now, now I'll never get the chance. Jazz. I love you. I know I never told you, but I hope you know it's true. Tuck, every day I miss you, pulling out your PDA or making some lame joke. I don't know what I'll do without you. Sam, god, Sam I wish we'd had longer. I love you. I think I've always loved you, and now I'll never see you again. The moon isn't the same without you under it. I miss you. All of you, so much." Danny finished with a quiet sob.

Slowly, Clark walked up towards where he heard him as Danny's sobs stopped his breath hitching briefly. Danny stood up, suddenly appearing in the long grass on the other side of the fence. "Hi Clark" Danny said, quickly masking most of his sadness. "Hey there," Clark said, concern in his voice. "How are you?" Danny let out a sad smile. Clark continued "we should probably head up to the house soon. Mom and Dad will worry if we don't get back soon. Danny nodded, placing one hand on the fence and agilely jumping it. Clark pondered how Danny was able to do this as the boy didn't seem to be entirely concentrating on his surroundings.

Clark led the way back towards the house. The gravel seemed only to shift under his feet, so he turned to check that Danny was still there. Confirming his presence Clark reflectively said "You know, I was adopted, the Kent's took me in when I was little. I never really knew my parents" _aside from a computer-like imitation in the arctic_ he mused, reflecting on what little he knew of his mother he continued "but I know they loved me. I like to think that even now, they're there for me, looking out for me. I know your family loved you. Wherever they are that won't change. The important thing is to be you, make them proud. Mom, Dad and I are here for you, we want you to be happy."

Clark placed his hand on Danny's shoulder; he was surprised by how cold it was. However he dismissed this for Danny having sat in the cool evening grass. Danny looked over to Clark, allowing a soft smile to grace his face. "Thanks," he said "It's just difficult, knowing I can't see them anymore. I know... people say all things get better in time. I'm just glad that for now you and your parents are happy to have me for the moment." Danny's eyes looked into the distance, it was clear he was thinking of the other people who could have taken him in, and non-too-positively. The two walked back to the house in reflective silence, watching as the sun dipped into the horizon.

_Line Break_

Dinner was fairly quiet. Martha and Jon were warm, trying to help Danny settle in. Clark silently observed that Danny once again passed over eating too much. Jon was still excited that Danny had got the tractor going so well. Danny shrunk back from the praise, much like Clark did. Having finished before anyone else Danny once again offered to do the dishes. As the four started winding down for the night, each settled into their own quiet musings.

Martha was curious as to why Maddie had said that Danny was so troublesome, always disappearing on them. From what Martha had seen Danny was quiet and reserved, but courteous to the family. He hadn't disappeared on them yet. Still, it wouldn't be the first time when first impressions were misleading in this house. In Smallville so many people were different to how they first appeared. Martha hoped she could help Danny through this difficult time, but reflected on the dual nature of her own son. He was shy and quiet on the outside, but his heart was that of a hero.

Jon was astounded at the glimpses of intelligence that he had seen in the boy. Danny had said that he wasn't smart, but when you spoke to him he'd often say something, almost imperceptible, that made Jon think there was more depth to Danny than he showed. Clark and Jon had been trying to get the tractor working for years, but in an afternoon Danny was able to make it new. No, there was definitely more to his nephew than he showed to the world. Jon wondered at how well he hid his intelligence from the world. He doubted many had seen through it. The question was why Danny chose to hide it.

Clark mused over Danny's peculiarities. He could swear that Danny looked much healthier at dinner than he had when they first met him. Yet he had barely eaten anything all day. Clark remembered eating at least three times as much as Danny did when he was sixteen, and that was on a bad day. Danny seemed to be slightly clumsy, he'd fumbled a couple of the plates as he went to put them away. Yet, he was so graceful as he leaped that fence, with his mind a hundred miles away. Danny seemed kind; he'd gotten on with his parents and seemed to have earned their trust, which was not easily given. He'd gotten on with Lana easily too. Clark smiled as he remembered _his_ first conversation with Lana. It was odd how Shelby had first reacted to him, but it seemed Danny had convinced him too. It seemed Mr Samson from Social Services was right. There was something about Danny.

Danny looked up at the roof, reflecting on the day. The few people he'd met so far in Smallville had been so good to him it was surprising. His Aunt and Uncle were so welcoming towards him, he wasn't sure that he had earned it. He was surprised to have met Lana so soon, but supposed that with how well Clark and Lana got on it had been only a matter of time. Danny pondered Clark. He seemed so kind, already inviting him into his life. Yet Danny could see there was more to him than met the eye. Danny could sense the warming strength that rolled out from his aura. That strength was so different than any of the people he had met. Clark posed a puzzle to Danny, but it was obvious that the whole family were good people, and would look out for him.

Danny rolled over to look at the small alarm clock on the nightstand. He could feel his ghost half itching to get out. He hadn't been able to go ghost since the accident, and it was becoming difficult to subdue so much of his nature. Changing quickly, he decided to go for a flight. He wasn't sure if it was so many ghost fights, or the fact that pure ghosts don't need sleep, but Danny found that more than four hours a night was becoming too much. Floating out the window, he took his first aerial tour of the farm. He spent a few hours familiarising himself with the land before returning to his room. Settling in he decided to rest, for the morning would hold his first venture into Smallville.


	3. Smallville

Chapter 2

Smallville 

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Sunrise came quickly over the Kent Farm. All four occupants of the house waking to the golden light of the early morning sun as it crept up into the summer sky. First to rise was Martha, shuffling downstairs to prepare breakfast for herself and the three men that were still dozing upstairs. Martha was slightly concerned over how little Danny was eating. Perhaps the turbulence of his recent losses had put him off his food? For now she'd just monitor him closely to make sure he stayed well. She was broken out of her thoughts by the sound of Jon shuffling down the stairs. He left quickly to do a few chores before the boys came down for breakfast. Martha smiled indulgently at her husband's back as he threw on his jacket. She let half an hour go by before deciding that it was time for everyone to come to breakfast.

"Clark, Danny." She called, "time to come down for breakfast." She heard the signature shuffling of Clark as he got out of bed upstairs. She supposed that Danny may be harder to rouse, so figured she'd call him down again in five minutes. Finishing the pancake batter and starting the stove, Martha turned once more to call the boys. She was surprised to see Danny making his way down the stairs with a bleary-eyed smile on his face, once again wearing a dark long-sleeved t-shirt. It was odd that he'd come down first, since she hadn't even heard him get up. He offered to set the table, and was just putting a jug of orange juice down when Jon came back in.

Jon smiled at the boy who seemed to be trying his best to do the right thing by them. He walked over to Martha and gave her a hug. "Smells lovely." He said, before taking a seat at the table. There were a couple of creaks from the floorboards upstairs and Clark emerged, donning a blue short-sleeved t-shirt. "Hey dad. You seen Danny this morning? He wasn't in his room." Said boy stepped from behind Martha, placing a coffee in front of Jonathan. At Jon's questioning glance he said "saw how you had it yesterday" with a slight shrug. Danny was clearly very observant, Jon worried for his son's secret. But looking at the boy he couldn't help but thing that he wouldn't sell them out to some federal agency. They all sat down to a pleasant breakfast, the first since Danny formally came into their lives.

Jon suggested that the two boys go out to feed the cows together, which earned him a slight glare from Clark. Usually Clark would be able to get all his jobs done within the space of about five minutes, so this would add an extra hour to the day. The four of them finished breakfast, and this time Clark offered to do the washing up ("Can't have you making me look bad") and both boys headed out. Clark went to get the truck while Danny wandered over to the barn. They chatted companionably as they loaded the tray. Clark was being careful not to show how easy it was to lift the hay-bales, as even a farmer struggled to lift two at once. He noticed, however that Danny didn't seem to be straining himself either. The question was how could such a small, scrawny looking boy lift two bales as easily as a seasoned farmer?

Danny too noticed that his cousin didn't feel the strain of the bales. Having lived most of his life in the city he didn't know how heavy they were supposed to be. Subtly observing his cousin he determined that it would be okay for him to show as much strength as Clark. After all, despite his aura he seemed to be a typical farmer's kid. Surely there was no harm in being as strong as the norm, right? And this way he could help his family out. More than anything he wanted a chance to be normal. Smallville had no confirmed ghost sightings, so perhaps he could get a reprieve from the constant ghost attacks.

Danny was broken out of his thoughts when Clark determined they had enough hay and should head out. Clark took the driver's seat and Danny leaped into the passenger's. It was a quick enough drive and eventually they got to the field where the cows were grazing. Danny didn't feel like projecting enough energy to settle the whole herd, (_stupid animal instincts feeling threatened by ghosts.) _so he offered to jump on the back and throw the hay to Clark. They made quick work of it, and found that they were a pretty good team. They arrived back in the house within half an hour of leaving, electing to have a quick clean up before going to the Talon.

_Line Break_

Lana and Chloe were sitting on the sofa by the staircase, chatting quietly about Danny. Lana explained to Chloe that he seemed like a nice enough boy, but he was still mourning the loss of his parents. Lana couldn't blame him; after all, she was still sad that her parents were gone. It seemed that everyone that she had let into her heart had either left or betrayed her. Her parents, Witney, even her Aunt Nell. Still, she was glad for the friends she had in Lois, Chloe and Clark. They meant the world to her, and she just hoped that Danny could find someone in Smallville to be there for him. He was lucky to be related to the Kent's as there were so few families that were as kind and loving as theirs.

Chloe was on to her third cappuccino for the day when Clark came into the Talon. Blue shirt under his signature red jacket, he was immediately identifiable as the small town farm-boy who had singlehandedly saved the town on more than one occasion. Her Kryptonian friend still held much of his boyish charm, but if you knew to look, you could see the mature glimmer hidden in his eyes; eyes that showed that this man had a large weight on his shoulders, hidden deep along with his inner strength.

Chloe got her first look at the young boy that was somewhat hidden behind Clark's broad shoulders. The boy – who she surmised was Danny – was skinny, looking barely over fifteen. He wore a long-sleeved blue t-shirt, and didn't seem to be bothered by the summer heat. She could see the glinting of a necklace chain that was buried under the shirt. By first appearances he looked like an average teen, like a smaller, younger Clark actually. But then she saw his eyes. They were a deep cerulean, which like Clarks portrayed a charming innocence. Yet Chloe saw through this. His eyes held a weight that seemed even to surpass Clark's. What could make a boy two years younger than them hold that in their eyes? Better yet, what made him hide it?

Danny walked into the Talon a step behind Clark. He was slightly amused at the Egyptian theme; the gold colour penetrated the cafe, and gave it a permanently warm atmosphere. Following Clark in, he quickly took in every aspect of the Talon, pondering what was behind the green door upstairs. It was clear that this had once been a theatre, and he wondered what had saved it from the 'upgrades' that had befallen the old theatre in Amity Park. Clark took a step over to the sofa where Lana and a pretty short haired girl were seated. Subconsciously Danny opened himself to the auras in the room.

Many of the customers were plain, generally good people, but weighed down by worries. Like so many people back in Amity they weren't entirely happy, searching through life for meaning, finding what contentment they could. One or two had a darker streak than others. From over in a darker corner Danny felt a weird mixture of good, bad and... a touch of insanity? Absurdity? Madness? It felt off, but he couldn't pick out why.

Turning his attention to the people in front of him, he once again was slightly overwhelmed by the sense of sunlit strength that poured off Clark. He felt Lana's warm-but-with-a-touch-of-darkness. The blonde though (who he assumed to be Chloe since Clark said they were meeting her), her aura felt pure. Clark was pure, but intense. Chloe was subtle, like sunlight dancing on a river. He had only felt an aura like hers when he was near Jazz. Chloe was good and kind, Danny could sense that she'd do just about anything for her friends. If she was anything like Jazz she was near incorruptible. He wondered if Clark knew how lucky he was to have surrounded himself with such innately good people.

Chloe and Lana stood up as Clark and Danny approached. Holding her hand out, Chloe introduced herself. "Chloe Sullivan, nice to meet you." Danny smiled a warm smile. "Danny and the pleasure is all mine. I met Lana yesterday, but I was wondering if you could tell me a bit more about Smallville." He paused, rubbing his hand against the back of his neck "I mean, these two were raised on farms, so I was wondering what it's like for those who lived in more closely knit housing."

Chloe and Lana invited Danny to take a seat; Clark went over to get a coffee for all for them, although Danny just asked for a hot chocolate. Chloe noticed an odd sparkle in his eye, but chose not to ask. Chloe explained that she had originally lived in Metropolis, but came out when her father was offered a job at the fertiliser plant. She said this with a bit of resentment remembering how Lionel Luthor had so unfairly dismissed her Father two years previous.

Chloe spoke about her long-term dream to work at the Daily Planet, and recommended working at the Torch as an extracurricular "although I may be a little biased since I used to run it." Danny's response was slightly unexpected "I can't imagine handling that much responsibility. That would've been a lot of hard work. Don't know how you'd manage to keep your head afloat." Chloe was officially intrigued. Danny's eyes showed that he had held a lot of responsibilities, yet here he was suggesting that it was difficult to run a paper. Just then Clark arrived with their coffee.

Eventually the conversation turned away from Smallville. Chloe could no longer hold back her curiosity. Here she was, talking with someone from Amity Park, Ghost Capitol USA, and he hadn't mentioned ghosts once. Most people thought it was all a media fabrication, although the town did disappear entirely off the map for a few days. But here was someone who _actually_ lived there. Danny didn't seem like a publicity seeking lunatic so she could probably safely ask if the rumours were true.

"So, Danny, have you ever seen a ghost?" Chloe asked; her journalistic streak brought forth. Danny froze for an instant, before relaxing slightly. "Yeah, you could say I've seen a ghost. You can't live in Amity Park long _without _seeing one. It's gotten to the point where there's a ghost report just before the weather." He slowed, and seemed to weigh his words more carefully "most people only see a ghost maybe once a week. They tended to frequent places like the school more though." He mumbled something; Chloe would have to ask Clark later.

"But you saw them more often?" Chloe asked. Once more Danny paused; a slight flash of fear crossed his eyes. "Yeah" he replied, carefully weighing what he said. "Between school and my parents I tended to see a few more than everyone else."

"Your parents?"

A brief wave of sadness crossed Danny's face. Chloe remembered that he'd only just lost them; this wasn't the time for a thorough journalistic interrogation. Still, Danny ploughed on.

"They were ghost hunters. They believed that all ghosts were "evil manifestation of post-human consciousness". Since ghosts don't feel emotion or pain, and cause so much damage in the human world, they invented all sorts of things to capture, detain, study and otherwise harm ghosts. They'd show up at most of the major ghost attacks, ecto-guns blaring."

"Ecto-guns?" Lana asked

"Basically any gun that is powered off of ectoplasmic energy. Mom and Dad made heaps, they were designed to cause serious damage to a ghost, but if it hit a human then they were just covered in green slime. They were better than the other hunters like that."

"How so?" Clark asked.

"Well," Danny started "There is the Red Huntress; she has a real grudge against ghosts" Subconsciously Danny rubbed his arm, recalling the last time he had met her. "But her weapons are designed to do maximum damage to the ghosts, and whatever gets in her way. She often does more damage to bystanders than the Ghost." Danny paused, reflectively.

"Then there's the GIW. Strictly speaking they are a secret department of the government, assigned to catching and dismantling any ghost threats. But they really don't care who gets in the way. They once attacked a student for _looking _like Phan... a ghost. They weren't any good at first, but they are getting better." He finished quietly.

Chloe's curiosity was officially peaked. How often does one stumble across secret Government Agencies? If the government had determined it was needed, then obviously there was enough going on in Amity Park to be dangerous at least. This warranted some investigation into the purposes of the agency. Perhaps this could be the piece that finally got her into the Planet's doors.

Still, there were a few more questions Chloe wanted to ask about the ghosts. One ghost in particular. Phantom. Ever elusive, most of the internet thought he was a myth. The town's solution to the lame "A nice place to visit" moniker. There were reports and pictures. But none were clear enough to confirm what he was. Then there were the debates into his morality. The town claimed that he'd led an all-out invasion to take over the town. He'd also reportedly spent a week robbing the town blind. Yet still there were reports of his heroism, when the town had disappeared off the map, supposedly Phantom was the one who singlehandedly defeated the Ghost King, and dragged Amity Park back to this dimension.

If Danny had lived in Amity Park, he'd be able to prove once and for all whether Phantom existed. He'd probably have an opinion of him, clear cut like his parents who obviously thought all ghosts were evil. Chloe still wasn't convinced that there were ghosts. Even with the wall of weird she looked for the science in the unexplained. It was a scientific fact that the meteor rocks caused mutation and madness, giving people meteor powers. Until she got a sample of 'ectoplasm' to work with (or met a ghost) Chloe would not believe that they existed, at least in the same way that she and Clark existed.

"So, Danny," she began "if the most "attacks" were at your school, does that mean that you saw Phantom?" She expected an immediate yes, or no. Unnoticed by Chloe an intense wave of fear passed Danny's eyes. Fast enough that no human could notice it.

"Yeah, I met him once or twice. He was at every attack, trying to bring the ghost down."

"So you think he's good then; Amity Park's own hero?"

Danny shrugged. His attention was momentarily drawn to someone in one of the Talons more shadowed corners. "A few people thought that way. I think he tries to do the right thing by people. I mean, all the ghosts obsess over something or other..." Danny stopped, abruptly pulling himself back into what he was saying and changed track. "He saves people, as well as he can. Is he a hero? I'm not sure. If he were human you could say everyone has failings. But he's not." Danny's face took on a forlornly resigned appearance. "Phantom is a ghost; they don't work the same as humans do. A hero is sacrificing, but I'm not sure that Phantom does. The other ghosts don't seem to like him. But nor do the humans. So I don't really know what to think."

Chloe blinked. That wasn't the answer she'd expected. She respected Clark so much for so obviously being Smallville's undercover hero. Phantom was more public, but the reports of his heroics were of equal calibre, sometimes greater than even Clark's many accomplishments. Perhaps Danny had been around to see both the good and the bad in Phantom, and so was more confused about him. Chloe took mental note of his pauses and reluctance to speak, and so turned the topic away from the literal and metaphorical ghosts of Danny's past.

After a while chatting Lana and Chloe had the brilliant idea to give Danny the ten-cent tour of Smallville. So it was approaching noon when the three friends and Clark's orphaned cousin left the Talon to explore what the town held.

_Line Break_

Danny had a lot on his mind as he walked down Smallville's main street. It was a quiet town, and the few cars on the road were mainly from farmers picking up supplies. Danny continued his silent observations, watching the three friends as they pointed out various landmarks. They had just walked to the school, which made Danny laugh. "Support the Crows" it seemed like his new school's mascot was a black bird too. But there was something nagging at the back of his mind.

That weird aura from the Talon hadn't seemed to leave them. Danny was becoming rather unsettled that it had followed them all this way, and the weird mixture of good, dark and whatever-it-was was making it difficult to focus. He was about to alert the others that they were being followed when...

"Hello Chloe" A large blonde guy appeared behind the four. He was large, looking like a football type jock. Actually, he reminded Danny of Dash Baxter; if you substituted the eyes for Dash's blue. Danny noted Clark automatically shifted into an obviously defensive stance. Following his instincts, he shifted into a more subtle variant.

"Sean? Sean Kelvin?" Chloe was shocked. Beyond shocked. She felt an involuntary shiver run down her spine. In their freshman year Sean had become a meteor freak. More than that, he had literally tried to suck the heat out of her when he asked her on a date. Sean was part of the reason that she found it so hard to let people into her heart. But she had thought she'd never see him again. He was supposed to be in a confined heated cell at Belle Reve.

"In the flesh." The blonde guy said. "But you don't need to worry, it's summer. And I'm out on... parole of sorts." Chloe flinched back; Sean literally sucked the heat out of things. Last time she had seen him he had frozen her in a pool as she tried to escape. Human warmth kept him warm for longer, so he'd been out for her body heat. He'd ended up frozen in a lake near the Luthor Grounds, and sent to Belle Reve for rehabilitation and observation. That he was out... well, Chloe was scared to say the least.

"So what've you all been up to these last few years?" Sean asked, looking at Clark and Lana. "I think I saw you in passing, what two years ago Clark, but couldn't be sure. Didn't really notice too much in there after a while." Clark knew what he was alluding to, Clark had gone into Belle Reve to visit Lex, but many of the occupants had recognised him. Many thought he belonged in there for being able to stop them. However, neither Lana, nor Danny knew that. And in order to keep them safe he knew it was probably best to avoid confrontation.

Sean seemed finally to notice that Danny was there. "Who's the little guy? Surely the buddy system doesn't last _past_ senior year?" Danny bit down the urge to reply with a witty remark. He was about to answer when Clark did it for him.

"This is Danny. He's my cousin from out of town. Danny, this is Sean, someone who we haven't seen since winter of our freshman year." Danny didn't miss the eager, almost lustful glint in Sean's eye when he was introduced as Clark's cousin.

Clark mentally kicked himself, if Sean was going to go after anyone he wanted it only to be him; he could survive it. But now he'd just given Sean another target. He felt it was his duty to protect people from the Meteor Freaks since he was responsible for the kryptonite being here in the first place. Seeing the all too familiar signs of a meteor freak about to attack he suggested the Girls and Danny leave, trying to protect them from Sean.

Chloe didn't need a signal to leave, she didn't want to be anywhere near Sean anymore. Instinctively she grabbed Lana, and the two left in a fast walk. Puzzled by the situation Danny looked between Clark and Sean. He didn't realise it at first, but Sean's aura had picked up a distinctly malicious edge. Clark didn't seem to notice that Danny was there, his attention wholly focused on Sean.

"This won't be like last time Sean."

"Chill dude it is summer and it's not so hard to stay warm at the moment." Looking down at his hands which seemed to have picked up the slightest blue tinge Sean commented "that said... I could always use a quick fix. I wonder if your cousin is anything like you." Clark looked over his shoulder to notice Danny still standing there. Clark was about to shout a warning, but Sean quickly grabbed onto Danny's wrist.

Clark's mind froze. His new cousin was about to have the heat sucked out of him and there was nothing he could do about it. He still remembered the icy chill that almost took him all that time ago; he had only survived thanks to the heat in his body from the sun. But Danny wasn't like him. Danny wasn't Kryptonian, and couldn't possibly survive being frozen alive. Coming out of his thoughts he noticed something. Danny wasn't frozen. In fact...

"Cold, so cold." Sean shivered, ice gathering on his eyebrows even as his skin deepened in its blue shade. Sean backed away from Danny and slammed his hand onto Clark. Clark felt the intense cold as the warmth was leeched away from him. He could barely make out Danny's actions as the cold seeped through his consciousness. He could vaguely make out a blur that seemed to slam into another shadowed blur before the ice swallowed him.

"Clark? Clark?" Clark blinked as he felt someone pressing their fingers against his neck. Clark groaned slightly as the last traces of ice melted away from his consciousness. "Clark!" That was Danny. Clark struggled to sit up; glad for the warmth of the summer sun. "Thank Hecate you're okay. That guy just... froze you and I didn't know what to do. I called Chloe from your phone and she said to just let you stay in the sun. I'm so sorry."

Groggily Clark stood up to notice an unconscious Sean slumped and tied by the wrists to a lamppost with the jacket he had been wearing. Noticing the direction of Clark's stare Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, I sorta hit him a bit hard when you started to freeze, figured that the police could deal with him... freezing people counts as a form of assault, right? Also... what the hell?! People can't freeze other people. Humans just can't do that."

Clark sighed. The least Danny was owed was an explanation. He was going to be living in Smallville, so in all likelihood he was going to come across more meteor freaks. Clark guided Danny over towards a bench. Both took a seat. Hoping that Danny would believe him he explained "Sean was a meteor infected individual. Meteor Freak as Chloe coined them." Danny shot him a puzzled glance, demanding more. "See in the first meteor shower a whole bunch of radioactive green rocks fell down all over Smallville. Some people who come in contact with them get weird powers. They tend to go a bit..."

"Psychotic?" Danny prompted.

"Close enough to. Over the years I've met quite a few. Sean was one of the first. He sucks the body heat out of people. He tried to kill Chloe in our freshman year. That's why she and Lana got out so quickly." Looking at Danny he said "You know I said for you to go too. You would've been safer with them."

"Yep, and that's why you went running too?" Danny remarked sarcastically. "You are the one who got frozen Clark, not me, not them." Clark saw a concerned look in his eyes, which vanished into determination. "He's dealt with. And as soon as the police arrive he'll be out of the way." Clark found it interesting that he hadn't questioned the concept of Meteor Freaks, then again he did live in a ghost town, and as they say "seeing is believing."

Clark suggested that they bend the truth a bit when it came to the meteor powers when the police arrived. He explained that while he and his friends knew the truth, the rest of the populace wasn't ready to face the concept of meteor freaks. This aroused a knowing smile from Danny, which puzzled Clark. Before he could ask the police arrived, and Clark and Danny were able to explain that Sean had come up to them and attempted to assault them. Clark mentioned that Sean had spent the past four years in Belle Reve, and had a history of violence.

_Line Break_

The two boys were headed back down the street towards the Talon when it happened. Danny couldn't help the gasp and the icy breath that escaped his mouth, signifying that a ghost was near. Praying that Clark hadn't noticed he focused more intensely on his surroundings. It wasn't like he could just run off here if he wanted to keep his identity secret. He just had to hope that when the ghost came out Clark would do the normal thing and run off, leaving Danny to fight off the ghost in relative peace.

What Danny did not expect was the high pitched beeping of a missile. It soared towards Clark and him. Danny was about to put up an ecto-shield (secret be damned) when Clark caught it. On his chest. Clark caught a ghost missile on his chest and was unharmed. Clark looked at Danny with a flash of fear in his eyes which settled to determination. "Guess we need to talk, cousin." He said finally. Danny shook himself out of his surprise. Clark may be missile proof, but there was still a ghost near.

"Hello whelp." Danny looked up; floating ten feet in front of him was Skulker. "Do you have any idea how hard it was to find you?" Skulker soared towards Danny, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and dragging him into the air. "You've not been running have you? You should know by now that no-one outruns me; Skulker, the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter." With that he threw Danny into the street below, creating a crater beneath him. Taking a quick glance he noticed that most of the street had cleared. Thank Hecate that humans naturally ran from ghosts. The only exception was Clark who was staring wide eyed at him.

_Yep, _Danny thought _we're definitely going to have to talk... after I deal with Skulker._ Skulker fired another missile towards Danny who quickly rolled out of the way. Doing a quick handspring, Danny got to his feet, only to have Skulker pick him up and physically throw him out towards the cornfields, sending a barrage of missiles after him. Danny came to a skidding halt in one of the cornfields, still in his human form and instinctively turned intangible to protect himself from the incoming missiles. Searching the sky for any sign of Skulker Danny floated invisibly up in search of the road.

Spotting a road, Danny floated towards it. He could see the outskirts of Smallville, but knew that if Skulker was still around that it was safer to stay out here in the open where no one could get hurt. He mentally kicked himself for not bringing a thermos. Reaching into his ghost half he pulled Phantom's thermos out. He'd have to remember to put it back later; once Skulker was safely out of the way. He tucked the thermos into his pants and started to slowly walk back towards town, searching the sky for the greenish glow of Skulker.

_Line Break_

Clark was worried. He'd heard the missile's approach and had allowed it to hit him, to protect anyone or anything else from getting hurt. However it had hurt. He could remember the first time he had taken bullets and they had left bruises. This actually hurt more; he'd have a big bruise in the morning. He'd taken it, but Danny had noticed. He still wasn't sure that he was ready to tell Danny, but it didn't look like he'd have a choice. The kid seemed trustworthy enough not to hand him in right away. "Guess we need to talk, cousin" he said looking at Danny.

He could see Danny coming up with a response when he was interrupted. "Hello whelp." Clark heard a deep masculine voice that echoed eerily. He looked up towards where it had come from and was surprised to see a giant metal robot. The silver of his armour glittered with an unearthly green in the sun, but that was nothing to the electric green flames that leaped from his head. His green eyed had no whites, his whole being looked wrong. As if it came from another world. Briefly he wondered if this was a ghost, but the metallic _thing_ started talking.

"Do you have any idea how hard it was to find you?" The thing grabbed Danny and pulled him into the air, but at a speed that only Clark could see. "You've not been running have you? You should know by now that no-one outruns me; Skulker, the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter." Clark watched helplessly as his cousin was thrown down into the street with a cement crunching thud. Clark winced. No human could survive that drop unharmed, let alone being thrown at something close to his top speed. Clark moved around the parked car that was in the way. He was shocked to see that Danny looked relatively unharmed. He froze, staring at his cousin.

Clark heard the approach of another missile and was about to pull Danny out of the way when Danny surprised him again. With a speed that could rival his, and grace that came only from years of experience, Danny rolled out of the way and did a handspring, turning himself towards the metal man almost as if to shield Clark. It came to nothing as Clark watched Skulker pick Danny up and physically throw him out of Smallville, a volley of missiles careening after him. "Whelp's not putting up much of a fight today. Wonder where his human pets are? They usually come out to play by now." Skulker looked over at Clark. "Ah, humans." he said as if it held all the explanation in the world. Skulker floated up and then quickly charged off in the direction that Danny had been thrown.

Clark stared after Skulker, his usually fast mind brought to a halt. A ghost – for what else could that have been? – had come to Smallville and attacked his cousin. His cousin who had survived being thrown into the ground and had moved at a velocity familiar only to him, being Kryptonian (and Bart). Thinking back to earlier that day, he had survived the contact with Sean, something Clark believed only himself able to do. He'd also had no trouble lifting those hay bales, despite his scrawny size. So Danny was strong, seemed to be at least mildly invulnerable and super speedy. His first thought was that he was meteor infected, after all a meteor had destroyed his house.

Yet something told him it was something else. Meteor freaks tended only to have one power. Heck, even Bart only had his super speed. Danny had shown three powers. Three powers that Clark himself possessed. Was it possible that Danny was Kryptonian? Had he been sent to the Fenton's like he had been sent to the Kent's? In his heart Clark desperately wanted it to be true. For there to be another Kryptonian out there who was good, not violent like the people from that space ship had been. Clark put his thoughts on hold and chased after the Skulker, looking for any sign of Danny.

_Line Break_

Lex Luthor was a powerful man. He had majority control over a multi-billion dollar corporation. He had far reaching control into many less-than-savoury endeavours worldwide. While his father had built the company from the ground, Lex felt that he was finally stepping out from his father's shadow. It had taken coming to Smallville all those years ago for him to see how to do so. This was part of the reason that he had never moved back into the city. The other reason was Clark Kent. He had always been suspicious of him; he even suspected him of being meteor infected, or even the Naman of the Kawatche legend. But he seemed to have been proven wrong. The video feed from just over a week ago clearly showed him being burned from the laser grid. Still there was something about Clark.

Lex was driving back to the Mansion after a meeting in Metropolis. Fortunately his father was satisfied with the progress of the corporation. Currently profits were up, and they had recently been successful in a _merger_ with a rival company. They had managed to stay civil, a rarity in interactions between the two Luthor's. Lex was driving past the cornfields when a large explosion struck the road in front of him. He swerved out of the way, losing control of his Porsche as he skidded off the road and into the ditch that ran beside it.

_And here it comes, _Lex mused. _Clark Kent slams open the door, dragging the driver out. Suddenly you find yourself twenty feet from the vehicle as the engine explodes in a fire storm behind you. Clark Kent checking to make sure you're alright. _Lex looked up, and sure enough was met with a pair of bright blue eyes. But they were wrong. Blinking confusedly he took in the appearance of his rescuer. The boy was small and skinny, looking around the age that he had first met Clark. The boy wore a dark long sleeved t-shirt that bore signs of recent wear, as if he had fallen in a rose bush. Lex was dragged out of the car and away to safety as something struck it, immersing the area in a flash of burning gold and red.

Lex looked at his rescuer, even as he looked into the sky. "Skulker" the boy said. "Come out, stop hiding. Or is the Ghost Zone's _lamest_ hunter scared?" the boy's voice held a mocking tone as he called into the sky. Lex was surprised when a metal automaton faded into visibility. The metal man reminded him of one of his lesser known projects, the cybernetic integration of human and machine. This being exuded power. That was obvious from the threatening aura that emanated from it. Green flames flickered on its head, and a hostile grin crossed his visage.

"Skulker is not a coward. Your pelt will rest at the foot of my bed, whelp. No-matter how far you run, I, Skulker will always find you. Without your little friends here you will finally be mine." Lex's rescuer turned to face him. "I advise you run; he's not going to let me go, I'll hold him off." Seeing the grim determination that filled the boys eyes Lex backed just behind the line of the corn stalks that stood by the road. He couldn't really get anywhere without his car, and the way into town was blocked by that automaton. Besides that, Lex was a curious individual. He wanted to see what possessed such a slight boy to think he stood a chance against such a powerful being.

"Skulker" the boy said, and a deep sadness coated his voice. He shook his head as if to clear it. "It doesn't matter if they aren't here. What's important is that I am. And I won't let you hurt anyone else." The boy took a defensive stance as the automaton – Skulker – floated down towards him. Skulker's eyes lit with a demonic fury.

"Ah, yes whelp, _this_ is what I have been waiting for so long." With that Skulker leaped at the boy, who agilely rolled out of the way. The boy leaped up and sent a roundhouse kick towards Skulker, sending him skidding towards the other side of the road. Skulker got up, smiling. He pulled a glimmering green machete seemingly out of nowhere, and approached the boy. Skulker advanced on the boy, striding menacingly as the blade swung back. Skulker whipped it towards the boy, but the boy was too fast. He back-flipped out of the path of the green blade, and used the motion of Skulker's arm to his advantage. Before Skulker could bring his arm back for another swing the boy kicked at his head.

"You will pay for that, whelp" Skulker said maliciously. By now he had drawn the blade back, ready for another blow. He lunged forward, aiming towards the boy's chest. The boy managed to grab Skulker's wrist and slide around the blade. With his other hand he took an uppercut to Skulker's head, even as he wrestled the blade out of his hand. The blade was thrown away, landing ten feet in front of Lex. Lex wanted to examine the blade, but thought it best to stay in the safety of the corn field for now. Freed from the danger of the blade, the boy seemed to intensify his blows against Skulker, fighting with the intensity and precision Lex had last observed when he was at a Karate match in Japan. What's more, the boy seemed to be slowly overpowering Skulker. Finally, with a decisive blow, the boy knocked the head off of Skulker, sending it flying. The boy pulled out a green blob and said to it.

"Skulker, how many times do we have to do this, it always ends up with me sending you back to the Zone. Quit following me. I really don't want to bother with you anymore." And with that the boy pulled out a silver-green cylinder – a thermos? – and pressed a button on the side. A cone of blue white light pulled the blob into the device before the boy aimed it at the suit, sucking that in too. The boy glanced over to where the machete had fallen, and the blue light surrounded the blade, making that disappear too.

Before Lex could pull himself together the boy spoke up, looking towards where he was in the corn stalks "It's safe to come out now." Lex stepped out, observing as the boy put the thermos into the pocket of his tattered pants. "What was that?" Lex asked, attempting to portray his usual cool, business demeanour. "That" the boy explained "was Skulker, a ghost. Not hard to see when he announces himself as "The Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter"" the boy said with a small snicker. Lex got the feeling that this wasn't the first time the boy had met Skulker.

"How'd you know what to do?"

"I come from Amity Park" Lex recognised that name. Owing to his investigations into the effects of meteors and anything that seemed related he'd _sponsored_ a couple of GIW agents to capture a "ghost" for observation. He was keen to have the elusive Phantom under his finger; he could prove a valuable pawn. The boy was still speaking "we have ghost attacks almost every day. I knew you probably wouldn't know what to do, but once you know how Skulker works he's easy enough to take down. I'm just lucky to have been able to capture him before he did too much damage..." The boy looked over at the singed remains of Lex's car "or too much _more_ damage. Sorry about the car, I kinda figured it was better to keep you safe."

"I'm Danny, by the way." The boy held out his hand, Lex took it "Lex Luthor." It was then that Lex heard the footsteps running down the road. He turned to look, and non-surprisingly, there was Clark. He always seemed to show up wherever trouble was.

"Danny" Clark called out, taking Lex by surprise. How did Clark know anyone from Amity Park? "Danny, are you okay?!" Lex looked at the boy and noticed that he was sporting a cut on his arm. "You're hurt." Lex said, motioning towards the blood that was seeping out of the two inch wound. Danny just shrugged it off. Clark finally reached the two of them as they stood by the roadside. Danny looked over to Clark and dropped into a shy demeanour. Gone was the boy who had taken on the automaton Skulker and won.

"Yeah Clark, I'm fine." Danny said. "Don't know about Lex here, how're you holding up?" Finally forced to acknowledge Lex's presence Clark turned to look at him. Lex could see the vaguely masked betrayal still present in Clark's eyes. It was obvious that Clark wasn't over the investigations into him that Lex had conducted. Lex turned to Danny. "I'm fine. You got me out of the car just in time. Thanks."

Lex observed Clark weighing something in his mind. "Lex," he said, somewhat grudgingly. "This is my cousin Danny Fenton. He's living with us now. Danny, this is Lex Luthor. Smallville's biggest philanthropist and Co-Director of LuthorCorp." Fenton? Now Lex remembered. The Fenton's were the premier "ghost" hunters in Amity Park. Much of their technology surpassed the GIW. He had been hoping to commission them, but they, along with their technology had been destroyed a month and a half ago. Yet here in front of him was a Fenton, from Amity Park.

More than that Danny had known how to get rid of the "ghost" and obviously still had hold of a containment device. Lex would love to talk to Danny about it, but if he was staying with the Kent's... well there was little chance that Clark would let Danny come within fifty feet of him. Still, it would be _informative_ to talk with the youngest Fenton. After all, the patents of his parents would be in Danny's name now.

"Fenton? Any relation to the late Jack and Madeline Fenton?" Lex asked. Danny froze, and nodded slightly. It was Clark who replied. "Maddie was Mom's sister. Danny came here to be with his family." With that Lex felt that the discussion was closed. Clark called Chloe to come pick him and Danny up. Rather than inviting trouble Lex called his driver to take him back to the Mansion.

_Line Break_

_Half an Hour Earlier_

Danny was looking in the sky when another missile came towards him. It crashed into the road, throwing the pavement out. Danny was going to continue on his way when he heard a car skid off the road from behind the flame. Danny raced over to the car. It wasn't to be safe in anything with a petrol engine with Skulker throwing missiles. Closing in on the silver car Danny threw the door open. The man inside was bald. He seemed to have been expecting someone to come to his rescue, but Danny saw the confusion as the man took him in. There was no real time to think, Danny dragged the man out of the car just in time for it to be consumed by another of Skulker's rockets.

Danny looked up angrily into the sky. He could sense that Skulker was nearby, and he'd almost killed a human with his careless fire. Growing tired of Skulker's game he teased "Skulker, Come out, stop hiding. Or is the Ghost Zone's _lamest_ hunter scared?" Slowly Skulker faded into visibility. Danny was annoyed that the man he'd just rescued hadn't run at the sight of the ghost, but then again there wasn't really anywhere to run. Danny glared at Skulker.

"Skulker is not a coward. Your pelt will rest at the foot of my bed, whelp. No-matter how far you run, I, Skulker will always find you. Without your little friends here you will finally be mine." Biting back the anger at the comment of his lost friends Danny turned to the man and advised him to run. The man only went just behind the corn stalks, so Danny was still fully aware of exactly where he was. Still, Skulker needed to be dealt with.

"Skulker" Danny called, the deaths of his family and friends brought back to the front of his mind. He shook his head; he didn't have time for this. There was a human around who could get hurt, so Danny needed to fight. "It doesn't matter if they aren't here. What's important is that I am. And I won't let you hurt anyone else." Danny took a defensive stance as Skulker approached. With the man so close he couldn't draw on any of his ghost powers, it would have to be brute strength. Still, this wouldn't be the first time he'd had to fend off a ghost in human form. It'd just been a long time since he'd had to do so.

"Ah, yes whelp, _this_ is what I have been waiting for so long." With that Skulker leaped Danny, who saw it coming and jumped away from him. He delivered a fast jab and then sent Skulker flying to the other side of the road with a roundhouse kick. Skulker got up, smiling; Danny had really just wanted to move the fight further away from the man in the corn-field. He Skulker summoned his ghost machete. _Great _Danny thought _if I get cut it'll still be there by the time I get home_. Skulker sliced the blade towards Danny who threw a quick punch at Skulker's chest before back-flipping out of the blade's path. Thinking fast Danny Kicked at his head; attempting to get at the green blob inside. Unfortunately Skulker's head was more firmly attached than Danny had hoped. This was going to be difficult without powers.

"You will pay for that, whelp" Skulker said maliciously. Skulker lunged towards Danny, who winced as the blade drove through his left arm. Danny grabbed at Skulker's wrist in an attempt to keep the blade out of play. With his other hand he punched the head, trying to loosen it. Giving up with that tactic while the blade was still there Danny elected to wrestle it away from Skulker. Eventually the blade was thrown out of the fight, leaving Danny to contend only with Skulker. And his hunting dagger. And his rocket launcher. And whatever else he had decided to add to the suit. Yep, this was going to be _easy_. Danny determined that the safest way to get out of this was to prevent Skulker from attacking further.

Danny swung at Skulker who blocked it. Danny swept his led under Skulker's leg, sending him to the ground. Danny jabbed at him, even as he tried to get up, before spinning out of the way as Skulker threw his own punch. They exchanged blows, Skulker landed one on his chest and he felt a rib crack. _Hopefully that'll heal quick enough_ Danny only kicked back harder. He sent Skulker a snap kick, before giving him one final upper cut which threw the protective helmet away. Digging through the metal Danny pulled out the six inch blob that was Skulker's true form.

"Skulker, how many times do we have to do this, it always ends up with me sending you back to the Zone. Quit following me. I really don't want to bother with you anymore." Danny didn't want to deal with the ghosts just now. He'd only just lost his family and friends. He wasn't sure he even wanted to fight ghosts anymore, but his stupid obsession meant that he had no real choice. Danny pulled out the Thermos, glad for his foresight in putting his pants rather than reaching into his ghost half _now_. He pressed the capture button and sucked Skulker in, suit and all. As an afterthought Danny went and collected the machete too. It wouldn't do for that to fall into the wrong hands. He'd learned that lesson the hard way when someone he'd saved had turned a dropped trident on him. That had hurt.

Danny mused as to what he was going to do without the Fenton Portal, but brought himself back to the situation at hand. "It's safe to come out now." He called, the man stepped out from the cornfield as Danny tucked the Thermos back into his pants. _Definitely going to have to go shopping soon, between the farm and this I'm running out of decent clothes._ As the man moved towards him Danny finally allowed himself to notice his Aura and was immediately repulsed. It reminded him of what he could feel from Vlad. Darkness mixed with obsessive insanity with a side of gradual corruption. After Danny figured out that he was more sensitive to the auras of humans he'd realised that this meant there was no way he could live with Vlad. Being near him could literally make him sick. Vlad being half-ghost didn't have a particularly strong living aura, but as it was it was sickening. This man though hit him full blast. However there was a redeeming quality that Vlad lacked. Danny felt that he had once been a good person; it was deeply hidden, but there. There was still a chance that the right person could bring him back.

The man came to stand on the roadside by Danny and as expected asked "What was that?" Danny sighed, hoping that this man would just accept it easy enough. Hopefully he had come into some form of paranormal and wouldn't be hard to convince. "That was Skulker, a ghost. Not hard to see when he announces himself as "The Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter"" Danny couldn't help but snicker. The "Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter" had been after the exact same prey for two whole years and was defeated every single time.

"How'd you know what to do?" Okay, good thing the man seemed to have accepted Skulker as a ghost. Bad thing, he probably wouldn't stop asking until he got some variant of the truth. Electing for the path of least resistance Danny stated "I come from Amity Park" knowing that most of America recognised that Amity claimed the title _"Most Haunted Town"_ although most _didn't_ believe there were actual ghosts. Still, he continued his explanation "we have ghost attacks almost every day. I knew you probably wouldn't know what to do, but once you know how Skulker works he's easy enough to take down. I'm just lucky to have been able to capture him before he did too much damage..." he had wanted to keep this out of town since he knew that buildings usually didn't stand up too well to ghost fights. He looked over to the man's wrecked car and inwardly winced "or too much _more_ damage. Sorry about the car, I kinda figured it was better to keep you safe."

Deciding that it was time to move away from dangerous waters he said "I'm Danny, by the way." Holding out his hand, the man took it and used the invitation to introduce himself. "Lex Luthor." Luthor as in LuthorCorp? That was a question for later. Danny's sensitive ears perked as he heard the heavy footfalls of someone running towards them. Danny cringed as he noticed his cousin approaching. He knew he owed him an explanation. But how were you supposed to tell your cousin who you've just met that you are a half-dead freak? Still, maybe it wouldn't be too bad. After all Clark was nursing a secret of his own. It's not often someone can catch a rocket on their chest and survive. And that was ignoring his aura.

"Danny" Clark called out, "Danny, are you okay?!" _Pretty much, _Danny reflected _aside from the cut on my arm, and what I think is a cracked rib but those will heal up soon enough. _Danny felt Lex look him over, his eyes landing on the slice on his left arm "You're hurt." Danny sighed and shrugged it off. The truth was he'd had worse than this. Heck before his ghost half had bled so much into his human half he'd got worse tripping down the stairs to the lab. Danny looked over to Clark saw concern and fusion in his eyes. He subconsciously shifted back into the shy clumsy nature of _Fenton_ since the danger was over.

"Yeah Clark, I'm fine." Danny said, knowing that he owed Clark a better explanation later "Don't know about Lex here, how're you holding up?" Danny noticed the tense atmosphere and immediately knew that there was a bad history between the two. Lex turned away from Clark and calmly said "I'm fine. You got me out of the car just in time. Thanks."

Danny felt the tension between the two and was quickly becoming dazed between the sheer positive strength of Clark's aura and the dizzying wrongness of Lex's. He was saved having to say anything by Clark who introduced them, stating "Lex, this is my cousin Danny Fenton. He's living with us now. Danny, this is Lex Luthor. Smallville's biggest philanthropist and Co-Director of LuthorCorp." Okay, so this definitely was that Luthor. This was one of the few companies that actually rivalled VladCo, and the Luthor's wealth was in the same category as Vlad's. _Scary that Lex's aura has such similar qualities to Vlad's._

"Fenton? Any relation to the late Jack and Madeline Fenton?" Lex asked. Danny wasn't prepared for that. He didn't know what to make of his parent's apparent fame and simply nodded. Once again he was saved by Clark "Maddie was Mom's sister." He said calmly "Danny came here to be with his family." The conversation closed there, Clark seemed not to want to talk to Lex for any longer than necessary.

Clark called Chloe and asked for her to come pick them up. Danny found it interesting that Lex seemed to expect Clark to do this, as if he'd appeared at things like this before and needed to be 'picked up' afterwards. As they waited Danny felt the intensity with which Clark studied him. Chloe eventually got there and seemed to have a silent conversation with Clark. She kindly dropped them off at the Talon so Clark could pick up his truck. The drive back to the Kent Farm was silent and tense. Both boys knew that they owed the other an explanation and were mentally preparing themself for what had to be done.

* * *

><p>AN: Hope you're enjoying it. Both boys have been caught out. I know I could have drawn out the suspicions, but I wanted to move the plot along and it would have come to a grinding halt if I didn't. Besides, Danny has still has the other Smallvillians to worry about.<p>

To those who reviewed, thanks, I really appreciate your insights. To those who just read, you're awesome. To those who favourite, have to say I'm honoured.

I'm trying to publish one chapter a week, but it's hard to get the long chapters all written. I promise to do my best.

Until next time

Bluerose


	4. Clarity

Chapter 3

Clarity 

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

_The drive back to the Kent Farm was silent and tense. Both boys knew that they owed the other an explanation and were mentally preparing themself for what had to be done._

Clark and Danny sat in the barn loft in awkward silence. Outside the sun was setting, and the two still sat in hushed discomfort. Eventually Clark decided that being the eldest here it was probably best that he started off. "So," he began awkwardly, searching for the easiest place to start.

Danny saved him from finding the right words "I'll tell you about me, if you tell me about you. I somehow don't think you're – what did Chloe say – meteor infected? " Clark sighed, this would be difficult. When he told Chloe of his Kryptonian heritage she'd originally believed him to be meteor infected. That Danny didn't believe that seemed strange.

"No, I'm more complicated. Much more complicated, but like everything here; it is _related _to the meteors. How did you know?"

Danny replied "Your aura. It's different from anyone else's. Sean... Sean was _wrong_ in a way that I don't know how to describe. But you're different. Different from any normal human I've ever encountered too." Clark didn't know what to make of that. He certainly couldn't interpret auras; he didn't really understand the concept. But it could be a Kryptonian ability that he had yet to develop. After all, the other Kryptonian's he'd met could fly and he couldn't. Since he'd first imagined that Danny was Kryptonian he'd desperately wanted it to be true. He didn't want to be the only good one of his kind. He wondered if Danny had been secretly serving and saving Amity Park like he had been Smallville. Then he remembered that his mom had described Danny as closer to a trouble teen. Maybe Clark could guide Danny back onto the right path.

Deciding to bite the metaphorical bullet, Clark said "That's because I'm not." Danny seemed to accept that fairly easily. "I am... I'm different." Suddenly he wished his parents were here. Chloe had _known_ pretty well everything he could do. It was hard to have to start from the beginning for Danny. "Your average Meteor Freak has one power. Sean's was to suck the heat out of people. A fortnight ago I met twins who could put up a weird shield, it was solid and bulletproof. And their friend could redirect electricity... long story. But the point is they could only do one thing." Clark paused to gauge Danny's reaction.

Danny was slightly surprised. Some of those powers sounded like things he could do. He could erect a bullet proof shield, and he could generate and manipulate electricity. But these were humans. Then again, he remembered when Spectra had infected his peers; they'd all got one ghost power. Seemed meteors could do the same thing.

Clark saw that Danny wasn't too shocked at this and so continued "I'm different. I think you saw me stop that rocket. For the most part I'm bulletproof. Don't know how that thing gave me a bruise though."

Danny looked Clark in the eye. "Only a bruise?" he questioned. At Clark's nod he said "It was ghost powered. Ghosts are pretty... robust. It takes a lot to do damage to them. The right energy can do it, but Skulker doesn't work like that. Skulker uses firepower, fuelled by ecto-energy, but he relies on missiles, blades and sometimes energy canons. There are buildings that can't stand up to his rockets. And you were only bruised?" Clark nodded, Danny whistled. "Wow. Okay, so you're invulnerable. What else?"

Clark wanted to push into this further. "You seem pretty damage-proof yourself. Not many people could get up from being thrown into the road like that. I think you left a two foot crater. Let alone surviving being thrown across town into a cornfield."

"I suppose, to be honest I didn't really notice. The most important thing was getting rid of Skulker." At that Danny pulled the Thermos out and sat it on the trunk-come-table that sat between them. "He's stuck in there 'till I find a portal." Clark elected to set that aside for now and continue his line of questioning.

"So how invulnerable are you?"

"Well, I've survived bullets from human guns. Ghost guns are a little different." Clark remembered his own experience with a Kryptonite bullet and winced. Given the effects of that rocket it seemed possible that a ghost bullet could damage even his steel skin. Still, he could survive human bullets, and that was a definite step in the "Danny is Kryptonian" theory.

Clark debated what to say next. "I can run fast, faster than a bullet at least." Danny looked shocked at this "Really?" He questioned. Clark continued "and I know you can too."

Danny looked shocked. "Not that I know." He knew he could move faster than your average human. He had to, so many ghosts moved ridiculously fast. But he couldn't go that fast. Clark looked confused and elaborated "I saw you, when you moved out of the way of that missile you were moving so fast that no human would be able to see it." Danny mused _in a way that would make sense. If no _human_ could see what was going on in my fights, only the destruction left behind, then they'd blame it on me for causing it. Even Sam and Tuck seemed to miss things that were obvious._ "So" Danny said quietly "I've been moving in super-speed without even knowing it? Ha, that's actually kinda funny... given everything."

At that moment a bell chimed from the house. Both boys winced at the loud noise. Clark looked over at the house, then back to Danny. "I think they want us to come in for dinner." Danny stayed silent "I reckon this needs to be finished now, but maybe Mom and Dad should be here. After all if you're going to be living here, they should know." Noting Danny's reluctance Clark continued "they'll look out for you. They've supported me all this time. There's no way you're any weirder than me." In fact, if Clark's suspicions were correct they were exactly the same. Clark's heart filled with hope as Danny nodded. In a flash he was over at the house where his Mom and Dad were setting up for dinner.

"Clark!" His Mom reprimanded "Did you just super-speed away from Danny?" Clark nodded, barely able to contain his excitement. It seemed that he was not alone. "But it's okay Mom, he knows." At his Mom's worried expression he said. "Well he doesn't know, know, but he knows."

"What did you do son?" His Dad asked, his voice stern. Clark explained "Well there was this thing in town today, well there were two things. First an old acquaintance showed up. Do you remember Sean Kelvin? He was the one who leeched body heat off people. Lana, Chloe and I were showing Danny around town and he came up to us near the school. Before you ask I tried to send the three of them away, I didn't know that Danny stayed. Sean went for him first, but he survived. Actually he was the one who took Sean out. I was frozen, next thing I know I was waking up in the sun with him next to me. Figured he'd know something was up then."

Clark's parents moved on either side of Clark "Are you okay Clark?" his Mom asked, truly concerned. "I'm fine Mom." Clark's Dad took a firmer stance. "I'm happy you're okay, but is that really reason to reveal your secret?"

"That's not the full reason. Danny and I were headed to meet up with Lana and Chloe when we were attacked by a ghost. Well it was more Danny, but we were attacked." Clark noticed the disbelieving glares of his parents. "I'm serious, it looked like a giant robot, but it had green flaming hair. It floated, and had an unearthly glow around it. It introduced itself as Skulker, the Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter. We've all seen too many things so dismiss the existence of ghosts, so that's what I'm going with."

"You said this ghost attacked you?" Clark's Mom pressed

"It fired a missile at us. I caught it, but it hurt. I think I still have the bruise." His parents stared at him wide eyed. They had always been protective of him, and were always shocked when he got hurt, since it was such a rare occurrence. "I'll be fine. That wasn't the worst bit. The ghost picked Danny up and threatened him. Mom, he was thrown from ten feet in the air so fast I couldn't help him. But he got up. He was fine. Then the ghost physically threw him all the way into the Cornfield just before the Loeb Bridge, at least that's where I found him."

Martha put her hand to her mouth. She'd seen her son and Danny head up to the barn together, so she knew he was alright. As if in answer to her question Clark said "Mom, Dad, I think there's a strong possibility that Danny's Kryptonian." Martha and Jon shared a look. They knew that Clark desperately wanted not to be alone, but they had been through this before, that boy had suffered from paranoid delusions and had ended up catatonic in the hospital. Furthermore the last Kryptonian's they'd met had been cold hearted killers. They didn't feel inclined to be so open about believing in another Kryptonian.

"Son," Jon began "I know how much you want it to be true. But no-one is like you. That's what makes you such a blessing. How do you know he's not meteor infected?"

"He's not" Clark replied adamantly. "He survived being thrown like that; no meteor infected person has been able to do that. He also moved fast. Mom, he can move as fast as me, but he didn't even know it. He's strong; I know that because he didn't struggle with the hay this morning. And the tractor, I thought I saw a bright flash, but dismissed it. It was probably heat vision. Don't you see, he shares so many of my gifts, no Meteor Freak has more than one, but here he is, able to do at least four of the things that I can." Clark seemed genuinely excited. Martha and Jon seemed sceptical, but agreed to put dinner on hold and go out to the barn so Danny and Clark could finish their talk.

Clark zoomed back to the barn, leaving Martha and Jon behind to talk. "You don't think he is, do you?" Jon asked. "I don't know what to think. I'm pretty sure Maddie would have told me if Danny was adopted, but if he shares Clark's gifts..." Both of them walked up to the barn loft in silence. Clark was seated in a couch opposite Danny. Danny seemed to have buried himself in a sketch, but he stopped when Jon and Martha got to the top. He placed it on the trunk next to a silver Thermos. Clark looked at the sketch for a moment before exclaiming "That's him!"

Jon and Martha walked over to look at the sketch to find it looked exactly as Clark had described, but far more menacing. Clark asked Danny, gesturing to the thermos "He's in there?" to which Danny nodded.

"Mom and Dad designed it." Danny explained "It's an alloy of about fifteen different metals, but needed the right energy source to be functional. The thermos works for capturing and containment until they can get back to the Ghost Zone." Martha and Jon were surprised at the reality in the sketch. It looked as if the ghost was about to jump off the page.

Still, there was a much heavier conversation awaiting them, and all four of them felt that they needed to finish it before the morning. Martha took a seat next to Danny on the couch, and Jon sat, straddling the wooden chair he pulled from the desk. With everyone relatively comfortable Clark elected to break the gathering silence. "So where were we?" he asked.

"I think we just got past the point that you could play tag with a speeding bullet, and apparently I could join you in the game." Martha was surprised; Clark had said that he'd revealed his speed to Danny, but she wasn't sure what to make of that attempt at wit.

Clark blinked. Well, there were a few more questions he wanted to ask before he told Danny that he was Kryptonian. "I'm strong." Clark said. "Someone once said that I had the strength of ten men, but I think it's more than that." Clark couldn't help but show off a bit. "I can lift the tractor single handed." Martha and Jon had seen him do it. They could never quite get used to the strength that their son possessed. Danny looked at Clark slightly confused. "I saw you lift those hay bales like me this morning, Dad often struggles with one and you were throwing them around like you've been doing it for years."

"You're much more observant than anyone in Amity Park you know." Danny shook his head. He'd have to ask how normal people did things if he wanted to keep up his dual identity. But Clark had basically just asked how strong he was. He knew in ghost standards. He'd spent time with Dora in the Ghost Zone training – she had insisted since he was her knight – but he wasn't sure how many tractors were in a ghost Dragon. He absently reached to the necklace hidden by his shirt at the memory. He figured eventually he'd tell all of them about the necklace, but not yet.

"You know, I don't really know. I know that one point I had to carry about twenty students, and their parents, and a couple of extra adults. That's the best I've got without bringing ghosts into it." Danny explained, recalling the time that Youngblood and Ember had kidnapped the town's adults. Clark frowned. According to a quick mental calculation that was close to six and a half tons. That was more than twice the weight of the tractor, but just to be sure...

"Danny, why don't you try the tractor?" Danny looked at his cousin. Now he was equally as strong in both forms, so he should be able to substantiate his claim without going ghost. Danny nodded. Clark smiled and ran down to the tractor, pulling the cover off. Danny ran after his cousin.

The two elder Kent's blinked. One second they were listening to the boys talk, the next second both could be heard downstairs. They were used to Clark doing this, but the only other person they'd met that could keep pace with their son was Bart, and he'd disappeared last year. It would take some time to get used to the idea that apparently both boys had their own gifts. Martha and Jon walked over towards the railing to watch as Clark gave Danny a demonstration. The tractor groaned slightly as it was lifted, perfectly balanced off its wheels. Clark held the tractor's back end with both hands, before slowly pulling one away.

Danny was awestruck. He knew ghosts were capable of doing amazing things, but here Clark was, a living, breathing person lifting a tractor without breaking a sweat. Clark gently placed it down, the axle's groaning as they once more supported the weight of the vehicle above. With a gesture from Clark he realised it was his turn. Shoving all embarrassment aside, he stepped behind the tractor. Taking a firm grip on the back end, careful not to do any damage – he'd only just fixed it – he lifted. Danny was shocked to find no resistance as he lifted it up, above the level of his head. Imitating Clark he pulled one hand away, and then set the tractor back on the ground.

Jon and Martha were stunned. It was one thing to see their burly son bench-press a tractor. They'd seen him do it for years, and he somewhat looked the part. It was another thing entirely to watch a scrawny sixteen year old, who barely looked strong enough to lift a kitten perform the exact same task as their Kryptonian son. Clark shared a significant look with his parents. Suddenly his suspicions seemed much more realistic.

By silent agreement the two boys re-covered the tractor and went back up to the loft. The four of them took their seats and sat in silence for a minute. Clark was tossing up about which of his powers to ask about next. The silence became so deep you could hear a pin drop, and that gave Clark his next idea. Clark excused himself for a minute to go back to the house. He put the radio in his room on. He could always hear it from the barn, but he knew nobody else could. It made it pleasant to work out in the barn last year when Lois had taken over the house.

Clark raced back to the barn to his parents questioning glances. He just looked expectantly at Danny. "What's with the music Clark?" Danny asked seeming bemused "as much as I like their music, I'm not sure that Remy Zero is the right backing music for this conversation." His parents looked confusedly between the two boys. Clark laughed. "Well, I guess that answers that question. Danny's hearing is as good as mine."

"Thanks, I think." Danny commented "But is there any chance you could turn it off, even if Aunt Martha and Uncle Jon can't hear it, it kinda spoils the mood." Five seconds later it had stopped and Clark had resumed his seat on the couch opposite Danny. Clark had a somewhat goofy grin plastered on his face. So Danny was strong, invulnerable, had super speed and super hearing and if Clark was right he had heat vision too. Clark was pretty sure he'd found a Kryptonian who had grown up on Earth, just like him. Clark was getting excited now, and he wasn't the most excitable person. Danny grimaced slightly and moved further back in the chair away from all of them. Clark missed this action, and proceeded, hoping to push Danny into admitting that he was from Krypton.

"I can shoot fire from my eyes." Clark said. Jon put a candle on the trunk next to the thermos. Danny opened his eyes to watch as a surge of heat energy pulsed from Clark's eyes, igniting the candle on contact. Given the warmth that constantly poured off of Clark, Danny wasn't too surprised that he could shoot fire. The question was what was Clark? He wasn't a ghost. His aura had become overwhelming with how _alive_ he was. And he wasn't meteor infected if Sean was anything to go off. There was something more that Danny was missing, something that he half remembered reading in a book somewhere.

Clark noticed Danny's reflective face, and decided not to press this. By the lack of recognition it seemed that Danny couldn't do that, but then, what was that flash? There was one more power that Clark had that he wondered if Danny had too. "I can see through things." Danny looked at him at first shocked, and then it sunk into confusion. Clark deflated. It was obvious that this was a talent Danny hadn't developed yet. Still, he clarified "Sometimes it's like whatever is in the way isn't there, others it's more like an X-ray." Danny nodded.

Jon and Martha reflected on this. It seemed that Danny didn't have two of the powers that Clark had come to rely on. But then Martha thought of something. Through Clark's development he'd gradually developed these powers, and they seemingly popped up when they were most needed. Clark had needed the X-ray vision to stop Tina Greer from hurting Lana, and the Heat Vision had developed in time to stop the vixen Desiree. Martha also remembered something significant that Clark had done when he was Kal-El. He had flown. Not just a super-powered jump, but actually flown. If Danny was Kryptonian it was entirely possible that he could fly.

"Danny" Martha asked gently "Can you fly?"

Danny froze. He barely managed to keep control of his tangibility. This conversation was putting so much stress on his mental control, Clark demonstrating his powers and the sheer awesome power that was radiating from his aura was drawing on his concentration. That shattered with that one question from Aunt Martha. There was no way they'd figured out he was a ghost. Only ghosts could fly, right? Clark would've said if he could. And he hadn't, so... Danny didn't know what to think.

Danny nodded slightly, and noticed the three expectant stares directed at him. He let go of his hold on gravity, feeling himself rise up from the couch. Carefully controlling himself he sat in the lotus position, in the air, drifting away from the couch and coming to rest a little away from the telescope. This was the first time he'd done this in his human form with humans around other than with Sam, Jazz and Tuck. The Kent's seemed to take the demonstration in stride. It was almost as if Jon and Martha had expected something like this, and Clark's eyes betrayed a hint of jealousy.

"Clark," Jon said, taking a step over to lay a hand on his Son's shoulder. His tone was slow and measured. "I think it's time to tell the full truth, comparing powers will only get you so far. You need to do this properly, son."

Clark nodded and set his eyes on his cousin, and possible fellow Kryptonian. Still, it wasn't exactly often that Clark had to explain his origins. He'd needed to tell Pete and Chloe, but then the circumstances called for it, and he needed to explain quickly and concisely. Danny was different; since it was possible they came from the same planet. Clark wanted to be careful about it.

Clark looked to his father who sent him an encouraging smile, and then he looked at his Mom who mirrored Jon's smile. "Danny" Clark almost whispered, before gathering both his thoughts and strength. "You know I'm adopted." Danny nodded slowly "well, the truth is, I'm not exactly from around here. My birth name is Kal-El. And I come from..." Clark paused; silently mourning the life he could have had "I come from a planet called Krypton. Mom and Dad found me the day of the first meteor shower in a field. I have been told that I am the Last Son of Krypton..." Clark trailed off; surprised at the actions Danny was taking.

Clark watched as Danny stepped down from the air, took one step towards Clark and then bowed down on one knee, his right hand crossing his chest. "Kal of the Noble House of El" Danny said, slipping into a manner that was common only to medieval nobility. "Heir to the last great empire of the Rao Star system. I humbly thank you for the service of your family and mourn your loss." Clark stood temporarily dumbfounded. He looked over to his parents to see them equally confused by his display.

"You Know about Krypton?" Clark breathed, trying to dispel the slight tension that had crept into the loft. Danny stood to look Clark in the eye and nodded slightly. There was a swirl of compassion, concern and respect that could be seen in his bright green eyes. Wait, green? Danny blinked and his eyes were blue. Perhaps it was just a trick of the light.

"I know what Krypton was, and of the last Great War. I know of Zod and the destruction he wrought in his quest for power. Clark, if you really are Kal, then I know of your father, and the good that he has done for all three worlds." Clark was confused when Danny said this; he'd been told that Jor-El had done many great things for Krypton, but he couldn't think of a single thing he'd done for Earth aside from sending lark here, and what was the third world?

Yet, the fact that Danny knew of Krypton at all coupled with his powers proved to Clark that he was Kryptonian. "Danny," Clark said, allowing his excitement to override his curiosity. "I'm super-strong, have enhanced hearing, can run at supersonic speeds. You, are super-strong, have enhanced hearing, can run at supersonic speeds and you can fly, something which I know Kryptonian's can do. Danny, are you from Krypton?"

Clark watched as Danny looked up into his eyes, blue meeting blue. Clark watched the intense swirl of emotion that pooled through his cousin's eyes. The strongest was a deep sense of longing that Clark couldn't fathom. "Clark" Danny murmured, seeming to weigh how best to phrase his reply. "Listen to your heart and mine and you will have your answer."

Clark was confused at this instruction. His heart screamed yes, Danny was Kryptonian. But the way that Danny had phrased it made Clark think he meant something different. Was it possible that Danny meant literally listen to his heart? Clark expanded his senses, listening for the steady thumping of his own heart. He heard his heart, beating a steady rhythm, close to the pace of his Mom and Dad. This was familiar, something he occasionally did to make himself feel more human. Still he listened for the fourth heartbeat. It was much quieter than his, or even his Mom and Dad's, despite the fact that Danny was closest to him. What really scared Clark was that it was slow, barely beating once for every two of his.

Clark reached to place his hand over Danny's chest to confirm his suspicions. Clark was concerned by the coolness of Danny's chest, despite the summer evening. But there it was; the soft, slow heart beat definitely belonged to Danny. Clark met his cousin's eyes. For his part, he could see that Danny didn't want to hurt Clark with the truth. It was obvious in his eyes. But Clark could see a deeper sadness that clung to Danny. Quietly, Danny said "No Clark, I'm so sorry, but I'm not from Krypton. In a way I wish I were. But I was... born here on earth."

"I think you need to sit down. Uncle Jon... um, maybe you should sit next to Aunt Martha." Clark sat back down in his sofa as his father moved next to his Mom, taking her hand in his. Clark offered the seat next to him to Danny, but he declined, taking a seat mid-air again. Danny took a deep breath before letting out a deep sigh. Looking significantly at Clark he began "earlier this evening you said you were much more complicated than a Meteor Freak. Now, it's obvious that that is true. You are a being from an extinct planet, which for most people is much harder to believe than a genetic mutation from a rock." Danny paused, then proceeded carefully tasting each word as he said it "I think, I'm more complicated still. Strictly speaking... what I am... shouldn't even exist. See Clark, you exist properly within the order of the world. You come from another planet, true, but you have more right to _being_ than I do."

Martha squeezed her husband's hand. She was disappointed for Clark, but she wondered what had possibly happened to make her nephew believe that he shouldn't exist. Everyone was put in the world for a reason, and nobody had the right to make such a young boy think otherwise. Martha was about to offer words of comfort to her nephew, but he waved her off.

"Aunt Martha, it's okay. I've accepted my lot; it's just... hard to know where to start. See I've never really had to tell anyone before, Sam, Tucker and Jazz knew, but they're gone now. Sam and Tuck were there when it happened, and Jazz found out pretty soon after. I never even told my parents. Now they'll never know." Once more Danny paused. "I don't know. Should I tell you what I am, or how it happened? They both come from the other. I guess it all started with Mom and Dad and their obsession with ghosts."

"Even before Amity Park was attacked constantly by ghosts, even before anyone believed in them, Mom and Dad were researching into ghosts and the realm they live in; the Ghost Zone. I don't know if Mom ever told you, Aunt Martha, but the thing they wanted to do most was break through into that dimension for the sake of research. In their college years they built a prototype, which was an abysmal failure. Then, when I was beginning middle school they started again, bigger than the first. It took all the way 'till my freshman year at high school but they finally finished it. Jazz and I were sceptical, since this was before anyone in Amity had even seen a real ghost."

"It was a Saturday, and Mom and Dad invited Jazz and I down to watch them tear a hole into the Ghost Zone. Sam and Tuck were over, and so they came down too. Dad and Mom had a whole melodramatic speech planned out, which Jazz constantly interrupted, maintaining that ghosts didn't exist. They finished their speech, and Dad connected the power. The portal sparked, but did nothing. Mom and Dad headed back upstairs with Jazz behind them, demanding to know why they expected any differently. Sam, Tuck and I though, we stayed down there."

"It was only supposed to be a photo. One photo in front of the Portal. But Sam was curious, and to be honest, so was I. I wanted to see if I could get it working for Mom and Dad, they looked so heartbroken and I couldn't bear to see them like that. So I put on a white Hazmat Suit, and stepped into the Portal. I tripped on a stray wire, and put my hand against the wall for support. Something gave. I think dad put the on button inside the portal." Danny stopped, and stared into the distance, his form still floating in the air, but his mind seemed a thousand miles away. Looking at him in this moment, his eyes looked dead. Like a corpse. Several minutes passed before Danny continued quietly.

"That's how I died. The full power of the portal surged through me. I've since learned that it was over 10,000 Volts. It felt like every molecule of me was on fire. Half of my DNA structure was ripped away and destroyed by the electrical current. It was then that the portal started to open. The unrefined ecto-energy that makes up the Zone was pulled into the portal, flooding through it and me. The DNA codes that had been ripped out were replaced by the ectoplasmic structure that makes up ghosts. The electricity from the Human world was killing me, even as the energy from the Ghost world was keeping me alive. The last thought I had as a human was "I hope no-one else gets hurt like this"."

Once again Danny stopped, his eyes brimming with unfallen tears. Martha, Jon and Clark sat horrified. The pain that Danny had gone through was beyond anything that they could imagine, and that was only from his description. To have actually gone through it... and it sounded like he'd had his entire DNA structure rewritten. That shouldn't be possible to survive. Yet here he was, still alive... or was he? No, Clark dismissed this option, Danny had a heartbeat, he ate, and Clark had heard him breathe. Thus he was alive.

Danny sighed, resting his elbows on his legs, his eyes hidden as his raven hair fell in front of his downturned face. "When I came out of the portal... I was a ghost. It took a few minutes to understand what was going on, but Sam and Tuck were terrified to say the least. They said the sounds from the portal would haunt them forever. I think they blamed themselves, but I never did. It was something that would've happened eventually, I was always just glad that they were there." Danny pulled out the necklace to run his fingers over the pendant. The Kent's couldn't see what he was holding as it was concealed by his hand.

It was then that the Kent's realised that Danny wasn't just telling them about his powers or his secret. Part of this was probably therapeutic for him, helping him resolve his problems with the recent loss of his family. Danny was telling them his own origins. He was telling them about the most painful moment of his life. He was showing them in no unclear way that he trusted them. They all wondered what they had done to deserve such complete trust.

"When I got out of the portal, I looked different. The Hazmat suit that I wore had turned Black with white gloves and boots. That alone I could have dealt with, just take the suit off. But then Sam brought me over to the mirror. My skin had gone pale, almost translucent. My hair had gone white. All around me was a whitish green glow. But the worst thing was my eyes. They were glowing, bright green, but they were dead. They were the eyes of a stranger, but they were mine." Danny shuddered, sinking lower towards the ground, landing with a soft thump.

"I think that's when it first hit me, that I was dead. I was so terrified, because there I was looking in the eyes of a ghost. The thing my parents hunted. The thing my parents _hated_. I thought that meant that they would hate me too, since I was a ghost. I was panicking; I had no idea what to do. At that point I was seriously debating going through the Portal and staying there. That's when I felt a warm energy in the back of my mind. I reached towards it, and the next thing I knew _I_ was back. The blue eyed, black haired human that I knew to be _me_ was back."

"Over time I realised how much I'd changed. I gradually learned that I could choose when to be human, and when to _look_ like a ghost. At that point I thought I was a kid with cool ghost powers. Mom and Dad's portal started letting other ghosts through, and it also stabilised the local natural portals. I figured it was my responsibility to keep people safe. I had the power to help, so it was my duty to. It wasn't until I met a particular ghost that I really realised what I was."

"Sidney Poindexter, he was a ghost that haunted one of the lockers at school. I did some stupid things and attracted his attention. He called me a Halfa. Half human, half ghost. So the portal _did_ kill me, but only half. I shouldn't exist. Science can explain ghosts. They're dead. And people are alive. Science says there is no middle ground. But I walk it. I have a foot in the world of the living, and one in the world of the dead. I _shouldn't_ exist, science says I _can't_ exist, and yet I do. I don't belong to either world, not really. I'm too alive to exist as a ghost, but I'm too dead to exist as a human. That's what I meant when I said I'm complicated. Really I have no place in any world, I've resigned myself to it, but it doesn't make it any less true."

The four of them sat in silence for several long minutes. By now the sun had long since set, and the stars had come out. The moon was hidden behind one of the few clouds that spotted the summer night sky. Clark reflected on what Danny had said. He knew that his father Jor-El had sent him here for a purpose. While he may not _agree_ with his birth father, he couldn't deny that it felt good to have a reason for being on the planet. He knew that he belonged here, with his parents, Chloe, Lana and even Lois. He couldn't imagine feeling like he shouldn't belong in the world. Yet Danny had had his place in the world ripped from him. Half-dead, half-alive he'd said. Clark couldn't fathom the difficulty of walking such a precarious line, and yet Danny had done so for two years.

Jonathan was astounded. He'd grown up in Smallville, and many of the advances of the scientific world were beyond him. He was a farmer at heart, and the most complex thing he'd had to deal with was the adoption of Clark into his family, and getting out of the grip of the Luthor's. Life had always been simple. Like the grain that grew in the sun, everything lived and everything died. There had never been a middle ground. Now, thanks to his sister-in-law's invention his world view had to shift. While Danny may say that he shouldn't exist, the fact was he did. He was here, talking to them. This simple fact threw him; it seemed Danny existence complicated the natural order.

Martha couldn't believe what she'd just heard. She recalled Maddie telling her about the portal, and the sheer joy she'd felt when she and Jack had felt to find it working. They never once mentioned Danny getting hurt by it. That meant that they never knew what Danny had sacrificed for them to get it working. He'd literally given up half of his life for them. Danny said he had never told them his secret. Maddie had never known the struggle her boy went through. Danny would have been terrified, knowing their occupation. And he did that just to make them happy. Martha promised herself, and to Maddie's memory that she would take care of her boy, and look after him as if he were her own.

Danny for his part reflected on what it meant to be what he was. He no longer considered himself to be human. He couldn't after everything that had happened. Part of him desperately yearned to be fully alive again. The warmth of his human half never made up for all that he had lost. He knew there were many good things he'd done since he'd become a Halfa, but it was painful to know that he'd never again feel like he belonged. He couldn't even consider Vlad. For all that he was "half-ghost" he was not a Halfa. It was a fine distinction, but Vlad had only ever been a human with ghost powers. Danny was the balance between the two. He was eternally stuck in twilight.

It was Martha who interrupted the silence. If she was going to take care of Danny she needed to know how to. "What does being a Halfa mean, exactly?" Danny looked up at her, dropping the necklace. It was still too shadowed for anyone to see. "You mean aside from a wicked case of hypothermia?" Martha nodded "When I'm like this my heart rate is about 34 beats a minute. Roughly half a normal human's, or Kryptonian's I guess." Danny sent a wry smile at Clark before returning his gaze to Martha. "My temperature is 85°F in both forms. When I'm a ghost, I don't have a heart beat at all. If I want to I can stop my heart as a human, but I prefer not to. I don't think I need to breathe; I did when it first happened, but not anymore. Ghosts don't breathe, nor do they have a heart to beat. But I still have enough human in me to be able to do both."

"At first, after the accident there was a clear difference between human me, and ghost me. But over the two years the halves have bled together. Really the only reason I need to use my ghost form is to protect the identity of Fenton. I'll expand on the need for that in a bit. It's harder to explain." Danny responded to the confused look from Martha. After all, this was the second time he'd spoken about _himself_ in the third person.

"Okay, I think that covers basic human biology. But basic to ghost biology are three, no four things. The first thing I should explain is that ghosts are ectoplasmic manifestations. Their very being is comprised purely of ectoplasm, a sort of semi-solid energy. With me it's weird, and I still don't understand it fully. The ectoplasm that bonded to my DNA altered my human biology so it operates more like ghost energy. I still _have_ muscles, blood, bones and all that, but there is pure ectoplasm that pulses in my bloodstream. My human form operates like the solid energy that ghosts are made from; it's just a bit more drawn to the solid side. My ghost form also has some human blood; I know it has bones to break, unlike all the other ghosts."

Acknowledging the incredulous look from the Kent elders he said simply "I had to fight ghosts, it was never risk free and I often wound up finding out about myself in the most painful way possible. More than once I came home with a broken bone." Martha looked alarmed, how could Maddie not have noticed _that_? Martha knew her sister had been obsessed with ghosts, but there was no way she would have missed Danny arriving home with broken bones. "I heal fast." Danny said by way of explanation. "If I got home at midnight with a fractured leg, I'd only have a limp the next morning. It'd be fully healed by the end of the day." This seemed to calm Martha a bit.

"I think that's enough biology for now. Only reason I bothered is that Clark could probably tell when I had broken a bone with his X-ray power; just figured I'd save you the worry." Danny commented with shrug before continuing "There are three basic ghost powers. You already know I can fly. Ghosts can become intangible, this allows us to walk through walls and phase through solid objects." Jon looked disbelievingly at him. Danny stood up, and walked over to Jon, holding his hand out. "Uncle Jon, try to shake my hand." Jon reached his own out, expecting the same strong resistance he'd felt just yesterday morning. Instead it was as if his hand was clasping the air. He could see his nephew's hand, but it was as if it wasn't there. As if his nephew had become nothing more than a hologram.

Martha gasped, and Clark chuckled. It seemed as if his cousin could have a bit of fun after all. Danny pulled his hand away from that of Clark's father for a moment, "try now" Danny half laughed. A look of relief came over his Father's face as he was met with a firm shake once again. "Sorry, felt like that was the easiest way to demonstrate it. You have no idea how many times reporters asked my ghost half if I was a projection or some high-tech hologram."

"The third basic power is invisibility; pretty self explanatory really." A sneaky look crossed his face. "Hey Clark, you want to play hide and seek?" Danny said before vanishing completely from sight. Recalling the time when someone had turned themself invisible using meteor-infected roses, Clark focused on his X-ray vision. Clark scanned the loft, before seeing a skeleton shape hanging in the air just beyond the staircase. "You'll have to find somewhere better to hide than that." Clark laughed. "Some_where_, or some _way_" Danny asked. His disembodied voice made Clark's parents jump. Clark stared at the place where Danny floated when he suddenly vanished from his X-ray vision. Clark searched around further, looking for any sign of his cousin, electing to see if he could hear him when...

"Boo!" Danny whispered in Clark's ear as he reappeared on the visible spectrum. He stepped around the friendly punch Clark threw at him before resuming his cross-legged floating. "Hey, I _am_ a ghost. Besides, that was a valuable experiment." Clark looked at him sceptically "Really?" he asked "and that would be?" Danny looked at him as if it was obvious. "I went intangible" Clark still didn't get it and that must have shown on his face. "Your X-ray vision can't see intangible things. Sorta makes sense; you can't _"see"_ what isn't there to be seen."

Danny's face took on an inquisitive angle "Actually I wonder..." Danny held his hand out to Clark "Shake my hand" Clark looked at him incredulously. "You're not getting me with that same trick Danny." Clark said bluntly. "Not exactly trying to... What? I'm the son of two paranormal scientists. Of course I'm gonna be curious. I want to know if ghosts interact differently to Kryptonian's than humans. Please" Danny looked at Clark, his eyes begging Clark to comply. Reluctantly Clark reached out for his hand, and was met with a slightly cold, but form handshake. "Interesting, so you could hit an intangible ghost; or at least a standard one..."

Danny took on a look of concentration, looking at Clark intensely. For a moment Clark felt like Danny was searching his soul. He instinctively grabbed tighter onto Danny's hand, only to find he couldn't feel it anymore. He looked, he could see it, but it was as if it was not there. He wondered if this was how his father had felt a few minutes ago. Danny's face betrayed nothing of what that experiment had confirmed "What did you do?" Clark asked. Danny shook his head and took a minute to breathe. He reflectively rubbed his hand through his hair before he decided to explain.

"Most ghosts wouldn't be able to do that. Um, it's sorta hard to explain. I'll get to the how in a minute. But for most ghosts intangibility is based on the physics they knew when they were alive. You've got to know the rules to be able to break them. The Zone is mostly ghosts from the human world, so they can become intangible to humans. Your dad couldn't touch my hand if I didn't want him to. But you work under different laws of physics. Sure you're bound by those of Earth, but you were born to handle those on Krypton. Your molecular structure is much denser than anything on Earth, so no Earthly ghost would be able to phase through you."

"You were able to. Aren't you an "Earthly" ghost?" Clark asked. While he was glad to know that intangibility wouldn't stop him if a ghost became a problem, there was the fact that Danny ultimately had been able to become intangible to him too. "Yes" Danny sighed "Strictly speaking I am an Earthly ghost. But I'm weird, even for ghosts. First of all, I am human too. Second, I operate different to the most of them and third... well I have a habit of complicating the rules." He finished with a wry smile.

Danny absently flipped so he was hanging upside down in the air. "Okay, so where to start explaining? I as a ghost I know the physics of the human world, and how to break them. But as a human I can break the laws of physics in the Zone. Basically, being unattached to both worlds means if I know the physics I can break the rules. It's one of few benefits to being a Halfa. There are a few ghosts in the Zone that I _think_ lived on Krypton, but I'm not sure... ghosts don't remember much of their life when they wake up in the Zone."

"Anyway, the more powerful ghosts can choose to become intangible to humans, but not ghosts and vice versa. Still comes back to the physics you know. But I can sorta... read people." Clark interrupted, remembering something Danny had mentioned earlier. "Auras?" Clark interrupted. "No questions until the end of the tour please." Danny jested lightly, but seeing Clark wasn't going to let it drop he answered "Yes, now where was I? I got a read on what the laws of physics that bind you Clark, and that is what allowed me to become intangible to you. If you met a Kryptonian ghost, I'd be worried. But most of the ghosts here aren't powerful enough to be able to choose to be intangible to you, and of those that are I don't think there's any that could figure out _how_."

"Okay, now I'll explain the aura thing. See ghosts don't need to eat. They _can_ eat food that is made in the Zone, which is the only exception. But in order to exist, everything needs an energy source. For most ghosts, there's enough ambient energy drifting through the Zone to sustain them. But the more malevolent ones aren't content with that. The main reason _those_ ghosts bother crossing into the Real World is to feed off negative emotions; thus the desire to wreak havoc. See emotions are a form of energy. In essence ghosts are formed around emotional energy, so they need that to sustain themselves."

"Human emotion is an expression of energy. It's sort of like a light bulb. The human feels the emotion, which is the light, but there is excess energy emitted like the heat from the bulb. Most of the ghosts that come here feed off of emotions like fear and anger, so they provoke the humans into it... I've gone off on a tangent. While I am human and I do need to eat human food, my ghost half needs energy too." At the look of disgust that came from the three Kent's he added "I need positive emotions, happiness, contentment, love. That's why being in Social Services made me so sick. There's very little happiness there, and I don't even want to think of Mr Masters."

"No matter what I'll always try to make those around me happy. I need to, but more than that I want to. About a year ago I figured out that I can sense the aura of energy that surrounds a person. I know there are some humans who are more sensitive to auras, but so far as I know there aren't any ghosts that are. I can pretty much tell what a person is like by their aura. When I first met you Aunt Martha and Uncle Jon. I knew you were two of the kindest, most loving people I'd ever met. Just being near you for those few minutes helped reduce how much my ghost half had been starved. I always try not to be like the other ghosts. But ultimately I have little choice. I'm sorry it just seems... parasitic."

Danny flipped back to be upright, and once again slouched in on himself, hovering only a few inches off the ground. Clark took note of the self hatred in his cousin's blue eyes. It did sound off putting that ghosts would feed off of emotions, but if it was as Danny described, with them drawing only the excess, and since Danny had admitted that he tried to act for the benefit of those around him; Clark saw no justification for such a deep level of self loathing. "Hey, you can't help it. It doesn't sound like you hurt people for it, so it's not parasitic. I think it's more of a symbiotic relationship by the sound of it." Danny smiled at that idea and floated a bit higher.

"Anyway, that's how I knew you were different, Clark, and how I made myself intangible to you. You have the warmest aura I've ever felt. It's like the sun. I knew you were a good person the second I met you, just from that. But it is so strong. I think I'm going to have to learn how to filter it out, sorry, but your excitement earlier was overwhelming. I won't need any human food until at least tomorrow. Sorry Aunt Martha. That's why I don't eat much. More than the fact that I physically can't, I simply don't need to. I've never come across an aura like yours Clark, but with a bit of concentration I was able to understand it, and thus the physics that were designed for you. I couldn't explain them, but I know how to break them. Like I said, I have a habit of complicating the rules."

"So you're sure that most ghosts won't be able to do the intangibility thing like you did?" Clark asked. "Pretty sure." Came Danny's quick reply. "Well, that's the ghost basics down. As the ghost gets more powerful they can generally emit ecto-energy. Kinda like how you lit the candle, but a bit more versatile. I can shoot an energy ray, Danny pointed a finger at the Thermos and a beam of emerald energy shot towards it, knocking it over. Danny righted it after a second, before drifting back to where he had originally been floating. "Since it's just manipulating energy I can also just make a light." For a few seconds Danny's hand was encased in a soft glowing green before an emerald orb lit the room above their heads. They hadn't even realised how dark it had gotten. "That's easier than carrying around a flashlight. Although I have pretty good night vision, so it's mostly for my friends. So more powerful ghosts emit and manipulate a ghost blast."

"After that, each ghost has their own powers which are oriented around their obsession. Skulker is obsessed with hunting, so his powers allow him to create weaponry that helps him with his hunting. He's powerless without his suit. Don't know if you saw, but he's really just a six inch frog-like blob. The box ghost is obsessed with boxes, and the occasional roll of bubble wrap. He can telekinetically control boxes. He's pretty harmless. Um, there's Technus, who can manipulate all technology. Desiree, who grants wishes. As you can see, their powers are related to their obsession."

Clark was astounded by the amount of information he was getting on ghosts. With an inward smile he imagined Chloe's face if she'd listened to even half of what Danny had said tonight. But with all this talk of ghosts and obsessions Clark couldn't help but ask "Do you have an obsession?" Danny froze up then nodded. "What is it?" Danny physically shuddered, and Clark watched as Danny fought to repress something.

"Quick few things on ghost etiquette. One, don't ask how the ghost died. It's the most painful thing they can remember and you'll probably make the ghost angry. I told you of my own accord, otherwise you would never have found out. Two, be careful when you call a ghost names. We chose it for a reason, and some are fierce when it's challenged. Three, never ask a ghost what its obsession is. It's the barest essence of its soul, and it's like ordering someone to show you themself naked. Asking what the obsession is the easiest way to make a ghost go into a violent rage. I'm only half ghost, so it's not quite as personal, and I can control myself. I'll probably tell you eventually, but not when asked."

Clark noted Danny's clipped tone and realised that he'd unknowingly offended him. "Sorry." Danny sighed. "It's okay; you had no way to know. The people in Amity Park only clued in towards the end of last year. If you figure it out, that's all well and good. But you should never ask." Searching for something else to talk about Clark elected to ask "So what other powers do you have?" Danny laughed. "Actually, you probably know most of them. There's only one that I never really use." Clark was actually a bit disappointed. Most of what Danny could do were things he could replicate with the powers he'd had all his life. "That's all? You're strong, you're super-fast, and you can fly, phase through stuff and turn invisible. What makes you different from the other ghosts?"

Danny chuckled. This was fun, but it was time. "I am a Halfa; half-human and half-ghost. I've already told you I have a human form, that's this. But I also have a ghost form. I say you already know most of my powers, not because I've shown you, but because I'm sure you know _me_. Chloe does." Before anyone had the chance to ask what Danny meant a white-blue halo of light formed around Danny's middle. It split in two, one going up, the other down. Danny's cargo pants disappeared to be traded into loose fitting black breeches. His worn sandshoes morphed into silvery combat boots. The deep blue t-shirt that Danny was wearing was replaced by a loose fitting black tunic, with something silver embroidered over his heart. Sliver-white fingerless gloves encircled his hands. A billowing white cloak materialised around Danny's shoulders, fastened by an emerald stone. The hood was down, so you could see the soft white hair that adorned his head. Danny opened his eyes, and the deep cerulean had been replaced by two glowing green emeralds.

It was then that the cloud in front of the moon parted, bathing the loft in its gentle white light. But the moonlight only served to enhance the unearthly elegance of Danny's ghost form. The white glow that surrounded his cousin made the moonlight seem dull. The cloak billowed gently around him, shifting in a breeze that was not there. Clark recognised him. He knew his parents recognised him. Still, Danny stated simply, his voice echoing with an other-worldly resonance "Clark, Uncle Jon, Aunt Martha. I am Danny Phantom." Clark stared at his cousin, _the_ Phantom of Amity Park. His cousin looked more like a medieval prince than the simple boy that had floated in his place a moment ago.

Seeing the transformation was surreal. It was a wonder nobody had put it together before now. But then again, the Danny that had accompanied him to the Talon this morning could not seem more different than the one before him. The Danny he had been with today was shy, pretty clumsy and easily slid into the background. The same could not be said for the being that floated in front of him. He exuded power, subtly demanding attention with the ghostly glow. This Danny was confidant, and commanding; every bit the nobility that his outfit depicted. This Danny was the hero that could defeat armies of ghosts without strain. The mannerisms of the two Danny's were a tale in opposites. And perhaps that's just how he wanted it to be.

Danny had changed the out of the hazmat suit shortly after the Gregor incident. There were many contributing factors; he had wanted a change from the Haz-Mat suit, a year and a half of fighting in that thing was trying. It wasn't particularly comfortable, and while the addition of his own insignia had been a welcome change he had eventually decided that it was time to alter the outfit. Sam had demanded that he keep the black and white colour scheme, he wasn't sure if it was because of her gothic inclination or the fact that it was an institution.

Danny had tried several changes in the Real World, but human clothes wouldn't stay on his ghost form after he changed. He'd eventually gone to the Zone, where Dora had leaped at the idea. It was her who decided upon his tunic and gloves, claiming that they suited a Knight of her realm. Sam had convinced Dora that combat boots were of practical use, so Dora had commissioned a pair. It was Sam who had designed the cloak, and he could never be thankful enough for her. She had gone off on her own to some of the Zone's seamstresses to arrange it for him as an anniversary present. The white offset the basic black of the rest of his outfit, and the emerald stone matched his eyes.

But his favourite part of his new outfit was one that very few knew about. Together Dora and Sam had arranged the necklace. It was the only thing that he was able to carry through both forms and he never took it off. The chain was unbreakable, even in the worst ghost fights. On his ghost form hung two pendants, the third he could only access as a human. The first pendant was a silver D with a P hollowed out of the middle; the emblem that Sam had designed for him, and would always remind him of her. The second pendant had practical use. It was a sword, which gave him access to a beautiful ghostly hand-and-a-half sword that Dora had demanded he carried. The blade was made of ghostly steel, and the hilt glittered with silver and green emeralds. These two pendants he had carried since he had changed his outfit.

The third was a much more recent addition. It was made on Earth, so did not come through to his ghost form. Danny liked to imagine that it went into his heart, for that is what it represented. It was the red jewelled class ring that had been engraved "SAM" by his father. He had retrieved it from Sam's house after the meteor struck, one of the few things he had left of her. But it was this third pendant that was the most significant; it reminded him of why he fought and what he had to lose. It was Sam who first encouraged him to fight the ghosts. It was Sam who saw him through the tough times when Amity Park declared him a villain. And it was for Sam that he would continue fighting, so he could be the hero that she had wanted him to be.

Clark thought of how often he had to put things on hold for Meteor Freaks. It seemed that there was maybe one a fortnight, one a week if he was really unlucky. But if the reports from Amity Park held true, the town was in a perpetual state of ghost attacks. There was at least one that made the news a day. And Phantom was always there to stop them. Clark was brought out of his astonishment to ask "how often did you have to fight ghosts?"

"Sorta depends what you mean. Actual _fights_ there were usually four, maybe five a day. Only two if I was lucky or during summer. Ghosts really don't like heat. On bad days there'd be as many as ten. But small five minute captures there was about one every hour or so." For Martha things suddenly clicked. All the troubled behaviour; the late nights, the bad grades, detentions and skipped school, all of it was Danny _Phantom_ going off to be a hero. Saving his town, much like Clark did. Yet like Clark, Danny seemed to eschew fame. He lived two lives, one the shy invisible boy, and the other a hero. The young boy in front of him had dealt with as much, if not more than her own son, and yet he wasn't even out of high school. Martha couldn't help the surge of pride from knowing that Danny had used his powers to do the right thing.

"This last month has been the longest break I've had in nearly two years... although it's probably down to the destruction of the portal as much as anything. Then again it may be that the ghosts can't find me. Skulker was able to track me, but he's a hunter. Still don't know what to do with him..." Danny's eyes went wide "if he found me, the others will follow too. The ghosts will come here. I'm so sorry; I've brought my stupid ghost problems here." Danny sunk his head in defeat. The glow around him dimmed and he silently sunk to the floor.

Clark felt like he had to say something to comfort the ghost in front of him. "Hey, it's all-right. We already have our own problem with the meteor freaks, so we're prepared for the unexplained. Chloe will be thrilled to be able to study ghosts first hand, and I'm sure Smallville wouldn't mind getting to meet you. You just show us how to handle ghosts and we'll handle the rest. The town's already schizo, so there's nothing a few ghosts can do to change it."

Danny smiled thankfully at Clark, and nodded firmly. "Thanks. If it's any help, I think I can help identify the meteor infected people. There was something off about Sean, I first sensed him in the Talon, he followed us through town. But if he's anything to go by..." Clark was surprised at this bit of information. Chloe would be ecstatic if she found out Danny could identify them before they went completely mental.

Thinking that over, there were some questionable things that Phantom – Danny – had done and Clark had a couple of questions to ask. There was the puzzle of the first ghost invasion, which according to most internet sources was Phantom's first attempt to take over the town. Then there was also the issue of when he had led a partition of ghosts into stealing from innocent businesses. "The first invasion. What really happened, did you really kidnap the Mayor?"

Danny shook his head, "No, the mayor was being overshadowed by a ghost. He grabbed on to me, so I couldn't phase out and framed me. He wanted to make Amity Park my personal prison, and for the most part he succeeded. It took close to a year and the town being ripped into the Zone for me to repair some of the damage."

"In the Real World there's a million dollar bounty on my head. Not that anyone but the GIW is interested in that anymore. But in the Zone there's three million for my capture. That was set up by the Zone's warden Walker. He handles the criminal human ghosts."

Martha gasped. That was nearly as much as the most deplorable wanted criminals in the States. "What did you do?" Danny looked over at her. "For both the real reason is that I exist. In the real World it's because I'm a ghost and all ghosts are evil. Therefore I need to be captured, contained, dissected and ultimately destroyed. In the Zone it's because I'm too powerful. Most ghosts take a decade to be able to pull off half of what I can do after just two years. But the official reason is that I brought a real world item into the Zone."

Clark pondered this. There was a very real chance that should anyone ever find out that he was Kryptonian he would wind up in a similar situation. Yet Danny just accepted it, as if it was natural for people to be out to destroy you. Clark wondered why he just took that, but that could be asked later. "And the crime spree?" Danny's eyes darkened as he looked at Clark.

"That is one of the worst things I've ever gone through. It started when a circus came to town; Circus Gothica. It was a darker style of circus, oriented around the gothic culture. No one knew it, but the performers were ghosts. When the circus first arrived I stopped them from robbing a jewellery store, but got blamed for it all the same. No, I'm not denying what I did, that comes later. The ringmaster; Frederich Isak Showenhower, or Freakshow by his ring name was controlling the ghosts. I was stupid, and wound up at the circus with my friend Sam for the opening preview." Danny shivered and turned away, his emerald eyes distant.

"He came out of his train carriage, but all I remember seeing is the red orb of his staff. He said _"surrender to your dark side"_ and it was like I was hypnotized. There was something unnatural about the orb. It was beautiful, but looking into it I felt myself, everything l know as me, disappear. When Freakshow held it, it was like I had no choice but to do as he said. Most of that time is a blur, but what I do remember... it's not good. The staff had been in his family for generations, most of them used the ghosts for harmless entertainment. It was uncomfortable for the ghosts, but we don't really matter. Freakshow was greedy. He wanted more than the pittance that the circus brought in. He made us steal; he used me to marshal the ghosts since I was the most powerful."

"He used us all in his act. I don't think I was home the whole time the circus was in town. He wouldn't let the ghosts leave. He caught Sam who was trying to free me, and incorporated her into the act. I was on the high-wire. He made me look like the grim reaper. Sam was to cross the wire, and Freakshow ordered me to sever it. I complied, but as she fell I felt some of _me_ come back. Freakshow didn't know but he had asked me to act against my obsession, and ghosts just _can't_ do that."

"I saved Sam, but he came and I was trapped in the orb again. The next thing I really remember is a fight on the top of the train as he tried to escape. Sam and Tuck were both there, trying to get the staff away to free me. Freakshow treated us like dogs, and we were helpless to do anything about it. We were crossing the bridge that left town when Sam was pushed over the edge. At that point I had the staff in my hand and it fell even as I went to save her. It shattered on the rocks below, and we were freed. We caught Freakshow for thieving, but I will always feel guilty for what I did, what I could have done. I nearly killed my best friend."

That was a sobering story. It put paid to the idea that Phantom was just acting the hero while secretly plotting against the humans. But it was disturbing that someone had been able to take away Danny's free will. At this, Martha left the couch and went to give her nephew a hug. The ignored the cold skin, but was surprised at the silent sobs that wracked his body. It took a moment, but she felt his cool arms reaching out to return the hug, even as he calmed himself. Martha was temporarily blinded by a white-blue light as Danny changed back to human.

His blue eyes searched hers. "Thanks, Aunt Martha. Those days were painful; I'd almost take another fight with the Pariah over that." Danny calmed himself, and looked into the faces of his family, for that is what the Kent's were. He'd never been able to share so much, even with his own parents, but the Kent's were so trustworthy that he felt like he needed to tell them. "Freakshow demanded that I act against what makes me who I am. And that was beyond painful. The mind of a ghost works different to that of a human, it's like someone telling you to stop the blood moving around your body, or prevent your heart beating. You just can't and it hurts to try."

"Clark, earlier you asked what all my powers are, but first you need to understand how they came to be. Yours, I know to be drawn from the sun. I'll tell you how I know eventually. But my powers are drawn from my obsession; from my soul. A ghost's obsession is often oriented around the last emotion it had when it died in the Real World. I told you earlier what my last thought as a human was." Danny paused to look at Clark. Clark thought back to when Danny had told them how he died.

"I hope no-one else gets hurt like this" Clark whispered. "Exactly" Danny said. "The last emotion I had when I was alive was to protect others. Every fibre of my being is oriented for the sole purpose of protection. My human half dampens the need, so I can at least _behave_ human, but if someone is in trouble I don't really have a choice."

"That's part of why I couldn't say Phantom is a hero in the Talon when Chloe asked. I don't know the point where my obsession ends and my human half begins. I'm not sure that it counts as heroic to save people given my obsession. And I can't exactly be called a hero if I couldn't even protect my own family. I was there; I should have done something, but... I can't even remember what really happened. All I know is that I woke up in a hospital where Mr Masters had the doctors on the payroll. I'm not a hero, just a freaky half-dead kid who struggles to help people."

"Danny" Jonathan said, standing up from the couch. "In this world everyone has a choice. You may be more drawn to protecting people, but what makes a person a hero is the reason that they do it. You said it yourself; it's based around your last human thought. Yours was a noble one, and if that's the reason that you need to protect people then it is a noble reason. More than that you could have chosen to use your powers for the wrong reasons. You protect anyone; that much is clear from the news that gets here. You may not see yourself as a hero, but what you do says you are."

Danny was vaguely comforted by his Uncle's words. He still felt guilty for not saving his family, but he had seen what happened when he used his obsession selfishly. In that alternate timeline being around Vlad had shifted the protection from others to himself. Coupled with the extreme emotion from losing his family it had driven his ghost half mad. That's what made Dan so powerful, he needed to protect himself, and the only way to do it was to gain power. He had to fight that away every day, knowing what would happen if he became protective only of himself. He felt his aunt give him one more tight squeeze before she went back to stand at her husband's side.

Clark noticed the subtle shift in Danny's mood, so elected to ask another question. "So what exactly are your other powers?" Danny shook his head, raven hair shuffling in the light breeze. "Other than the basics, I can make a shield, or dome, that blocks human weapons, and most ghost weapons. It takes energy to sustain for long though. Um, I can redirect ghost electrical energy, not sure about real electricity. I can duplicate myself... be in two places at once. But that's a head rush. When I reabsorb the duplicates there can be too much information. My powers seem to pop up when I need them. There are some things I've only done once or twice, but don't know what to name them since the situation never called for me to practice."

"Everything comes back to protecting people. I get whatever powers are needed in order to protect people, or ghosts. Whoever is in need of protection." Danny paused, his gaze landing on the thermos. "I feel bad for Skulker; usually I can just capture the ghost and release it back into the Zone, but there aren't any natural portals near here, and my parents' one was destroyed with the house. Sometimes I wish I could just wave my hand and..." Danny paused as a small green and blue swirl formed in the air in front of him. He felt a tug, drawing on his energy reserves and the swirl grew to over a metre in diameter. Danny was shocked, he recognised this as something Dan - his alternate future self - had been able to do, but hadn't imagined he'd be able to do it. That said he needed to get Skulker back into the Zone.

Danny felt the pull as the portal continued to tap into his ghost energy, making him both tired and hungry. He was aware enough to note the confusion in the Kent's eyes. After all it wasn't often that a cross-dimensional portal opened up in your barn loft. Danny half smiled as he realised that he was getting more powerful, few ghosts could summon portals. Somewhat wearily he explained "New power, that's a portal to the Zone." He looked at Clark, unable to move from the newness of the power and the energy drain. "Clark, can you please put Skulker back in the Zone. Take the cap off the Thermos, aim it into the portal and press the red button. It's a release."

Clark kindly obliged and watched transfixed at the blur of blue green and silver that was pulled through the portal. The energy stopped, and the portal flickered out of existence. Danny slumped. "Okay Aunt Martha, I changed my mind. I think I will be able to eat dinner." Danny's eyes blinked tiredly and he yawned. "Then again maybe in the morning." And with that Danny fell asleep, exhausted from the energy required to summon the portal and looking the complete picture of innocent bliss. Jon looked between the two boys. "I think it's time for a late bite to eat. Clark, can you put Danny in bed. We all have a bit to think about."

Clark looked at his cousin, and gently picked him up. As Clark carried the tiny sixteen year old back to the house he lost himself in thought. _He's not from Krypton, but in a way he's the same as me. I'm the last Kryptonian, and from what he said he's the only Halfa. We're both just trying to make this a better world for those around us. Both of us are lonely, trying to find a place in a world we really don't belong to. But maybe we can be less alone together. _The sleeping boy in his arms shivered slightly, even as Clark laid him on the bed. As Clark went downstairs to join his parents he mused. _One thing's for certain, with Danny here things are going to be different. _

* * *

><p>AN: Okay, so both boys' powers are fully revealed. Some of the powers look a bit different to how they do in the show, like Danny's intangibility just meaning you can't touch him. I figured that's how it would manifest in the real world, like how he's completely invisible unlike the outline you see in the show.<p>

I'd like to give a big thanks to everyone who favourite and reviewed. You know who you are and you're awesome.

Also, do you want me to split up the updates, two a week at around 5,000 words each? Or wait for the full 10,000 on the weekend?

Fare thee well

Bluerose


	5. Aquatic

Chapter 4

Aquatic 

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

A fortnight passed, and Danny found himself happy to be living with the Kent's. He missed his family, but the loving atmosphere of the Kent farm made him feel welcome. He was quite happy to help Clark out with his chores, which amused Uncle Jon. Jon said he didn't know how he managed to end up with the two best farmhands in the county living under his roof. Danny had begun to regard Clark as something like a brother, and it seemed Clark felt the same. Danny had spent a week learning to control his new portal power. Now he could maintain it safely without nearly passing out from the energy use.

He grew into liking the farm, it was quiet and peaceful. Danny enjoyed the helping Jon and Clark out around the farm, although they puzzled over his insistence of wearing long sleeves all the time. Mostly it was habit. The long sleeves made it easy to conceal the various wounds he got from ghost-fights as they healed, and without them he felt bare. But it was also shyness. He had gotten a number of scars from the worst of his fights, and while they were faint he didn't want to worry his family. It was his burden, not theirs.

Still, he seemed to fit in with them well enough. Well, as much as a half-ghost can fit in with a Kryptonian and his adoptive family. Clark had caught him up on the events in Smallville of the last few years, talking about the various Meteor Freaks and the events of the second shower. Danny couldn't believe that the Disciples of Zod had come to Earth. They were all supposed to have been destroyed or imprisoned in the Phantom Zone.

Danny still hadn't told Clark what he knew of Krypton, or how. But Clockwork as his guardian had deemed that he needed to know the history of Ghost Zone and that involved the interactions between Krypton and the Zone. However that was under the strict directive not to inform anyone of what he knew. Danny wondered how that affected Clark.

The Zone used to be as tied to Krypton as it was to Earth, with ghosts coming from both planets, although there were fewer from Krypton as they were a more stoic society. When Krypton fell the Zone shuddered. Many ghosts were eliminated and the Zone was nearly destroyed. It was the ties to Earth that had kept it in tact.

Thirty years prior to the destruction of Krypton there was an invasion of forces too strong for the Kryptonian's to defend against. Many were simply species from another planet, but some were the strongest ghosts from the Zone. It was this invasion that began Krypton's final war. It came to the point where the Prisons on Krypton could not contain the prisoners. The ghosts were too powerful for Walker's prison in the Zone, and both worlds feared for their safety.

It was the young scientist Jor-El that came up with the idea of creating a prison within the Ghost Zone to contain the worst of the worst. With some assistance from Clockwork (although no one knew of it) Jor-El was able to seal off an area behind one of the Zone's doors. It was a barren wasteland that stripped the powers of anyone who was sent there. Those who still lived were allowed their mortal bodies, but the ghosts were devoid of their powers. They became little more than grey shades, violent phantoms that terrorised the landscape. If the Observants ever ruled against Danny, he knew that is where he would be sent.

But Danny wasn't allowed to tell Clark about any of that. Danny thought he might get away with saying that he had read some Kryptonian literature when the time came. Hopefully that would be vague enough for Clockwork, but answer the question of how he had known of Krypton in the first place. Still, there was no denying that Clark and he were becoming closer. Danny couldn't convince Clark to come out flying, despite how amazing the view over Smallville was. They'd challenged each other to races though, seeing who could retrieve or find things faster. Clark tended to win when they were just headed down a straight line, but there was no denying that Danny's agility made him the favourite when they had to dodge things. He didn't even bother using intangibility.

Aside from spending time on the farm Clark took Danny into town. Most days they'd meet up with Chloe or Lana or both at the Talon before exploring a bit. Neither seemed to mind Danny's company, and he wasn't ready to seek out people in his own peer group yet. Danny was glad to be so far away from any natural portals. He'd only had to deal with two weak ghosts a day and nobody had noticed him slip away. Well, maybe Clark had once, but he'd not mentioned it. There had been nothing big since Skulker. This meant that he hadn't needed to be Phantom for close to two months.

Clark had taken a while to get used to the change between the carefree Danny on the farm as opposed to the shy klutz that came to the Talon with him. Observing this it became much easier to see why nobody in Amity Park had picked up on the fact that Danny was Phantom, even with how similar they looked. Danny wasn't the best liar, but he was a very good actor. Clark had told Danny that Chloe knew his secret, so it would probably be safe to tell her about Phantom.

Danny wouldn't hear of it. He said if she figured it out then he'd deal with it, but it wasn't safe to know. Danny had explained that he had many enemies that would happily take advantage of a human who knew and he simply didn't want to take that risk. Danny said that Clark's parents had needed to know, and Clark himself had already found out an unsafe amount when Danny had told them. But he was adamant that his secret stay within the family for now; reminding him that he was scientifically impossible as opposed to implausible. That was enough for Clark to keep quiet with Danny's dual identity.

The summer was coming to an end. It was the last week before Clark went to College. He was going to Central Kansas A&M, and had been talking about it for much of the time Danny had been there. Danny had developed what he deemed "Clark Filters" to lessen the overwhelming nature of his cousin's aura. It could be painful when Clark got too excited. Subsequent to Clark going to college, Monday was to be Danny's first day at Smallville High. The Kent's had kindly enrolled him there, and Clark was trying to convince him to follow in his football footsteps even as Danny reminded him of the need to stay metaphorically invisible.

_Line Break_

This week had been the hottest the in summer, and Clark and Lana wanted to go to Crater Lake to cool down. Danny and Chloe were invited to come, and Chloe was going to bring her cousin Lois along since she'd just got back from overseas. Danny was glad for the idea since he, being half-ghost didn't deal too well with the heat. Although he had noticed that lately he'd have a random cold shiver. But it was always gone before he thought twice of it. Clark and Danny finished the last of the morning's chores, and then Clark got in the truck to drive to the lake. Danny elected to fly ahead invisible.

He spent twenty minutes exploring the bottom of the lake, noticing that it was unusually devoid of aquatic life. There was no way that his ghost half would scare away that many of the fish. Eventually he returned to the surface, turning intangible to dry himself off. He invisibly retreated to the tree-line as there were already people here. He popped up behind Clark as he came through the trees. He hid his annoyance at Danny as they came up to Lana.

Lana made a small fuss over the bandage that was still on Clark's chest. Clark had explained how he had been shot while he was mortal, and how Jor-El had revived him. While there was no wound there anymore Clark needed to pretend there was to protect his secret. Having been in the same situation himself Danny could completely respect this. However he did wonder how good such secrecy was for their relationship.

Danny shifted away while Lana and Clark were doing the couple thing. Sure he was the only guy there in long sleeves, but he couldn't find it in him to care. He just sat, bathing in the sun and letting the various auras wash over him. Sitting here was starting to make him drowsy, but for the first time in a long time the summer sun felt good on his half-ghost skin. Danny was slowly drifting off when he felt the approach of Chloe, and another unfamiliar aura. Danny opened his eyes to look at the two approaching girls. Chloe wore a modest orange summer dress, but the other girl was clothed only in a bold red bikini.

"Well, I know what you two did this summer." The girl joked. Clark was quick to stand up; breaking free of what had been a very public kiss between the couple.

"Lois?" Clark asked. Oh, so this was Lois. Danny stood up behind Clark and Lana, taking in her aura. Danny felt that she was very much like Sam, minus the Gothic outlook. Lois was strong and brave, probably leapt into things rather than planning fully, but made up for it with the kindness that was in her heart. Danny felt as her aura sparked against Clark's, there was something or at least potential between the two. But Clark loved Lana, and that took priority. The four friends joked about how she was back from Europe early before Lois took note of him standing in the background.

"What's with the kid?" She asked, gesturing her head towards Danny. The other three turned to look towards Danny who gave an awkward wave. It was Chloe who took pity on him, and explained. "Lois, this is Danny. I think I told you that he was staying with the Kent's."

"Oh, so you're Danny. You know you're the reason I haven't got a bunk to stay at in Smallville right?" Danny looked between her and Clark, not sure what to say. Lois laughed. "Kid, I'm kidding. I'm staying in a hotel until an apartment frees up." Danny broke into a goofy grin. Yep, she was a lot like Sam. "Nice to meet you." Danny stepped forward to shake her hand, but she elected to rustle his hair instead. "You're lucky kid; the Kent's looked after me last year when I had nowhere to go. They'll take good care of you." Danny looked at her disgruntled. Lois looked at the rest of the group "Glad introductions are done, don't mind me, I'm going for a dip." And with that Lois walked over to the water's edge.

Danny looked blankly after her, shocked. Chloe and Lana laughed, and Clark clapped a hand over his shoulder. "Don't worry about her, that's just Lois being Lois." Lana moved off, teasing Clark about staying in the sun and getting sunburnt. Chloe stared at Danny enough for him to feel awkward, so he followed Lana as she went to pick up something from her car. He suspected that Chloe wanted to talk about Clark's not telling Lana the secret. Danny could see where Clark was coming from. Secrets like theirs weren't safe for people to know. As much as he had loved Sam, he would never have told her if it meant there was a chance she'd be in danger.

Danny and Lana were coming back towards their small party when he felt the tug that meant that someone close by needed help. Danny dropped back behind Lana, expanding his senses "Something's wrong" Danny heard Clark say through the trees. "She's been under way too long" came Chloe's concerned reply. "Go" she ordered. He heard the sound of Clark running, but he could only go human speed until he was beneath the water. Danny invisibly ran through the trees, faster than the eye could see. He saw Clark as he dove into the water, but Danny was in first, letting intangibility consume him so he didn't make a splash. Danny paused to let Clark lead the way, the two of them speeding towards the Lake's floating pier.

Danny watched as another figure sped through the water, racing to save Lois as she sank. He wore only a pair of green board shorts as he cut through the water. The figure looked at Clark, but ignored Danny. Not surprising since he was still invisible. The figure's blond hair floated in the water for a moment before he caught Lois and carried her back to the lake's shore. Seeing she was safe Danny sped back to where he had left Lana, and the two of them ran to the small crowd that was gathering around Lois and her rescuer.

"Is she alright?" Lana asked, even as the figure commenced CPR.

"I'm working on it." He said, firmly compressing Lois' chest with his hands. Lois choked out the water that had been trapped in her lungs, and slowly came back to consciousness. Danny looked over at Clark, who had a hint of suspicion in his eye, as well as vaguely veiled confusion. It obviously wasn't often that someone else saved the day. Danny was just glad that Lois was safe.

The figure flirtingly teased Lois for almost drowning, who seemed a little off-put by his obvious flirtation. He introduced himself as Arthur Curry, or "AC" as he preferred to be known. Lana suggested taking Lois to the farm to recover; AC and her leading a still disoriented Lois towards Lana's car. As they were leaving AC looked at Danny and visibly flinched before he let his bravado overcome it. Danny was confused; it was only animals that reacted to him that way, why would a human have that reaction to him? That said... the impression he'd got off of him was a bit... fishy. He felt like the ocean. He'd saved Lois, so he obviously was a decent person, but still he was... different.

He heard Clark express to Chloe his concern over the newcomer, after all AC had swum faster than either Clark or Danny could, and had saved Lois to boot. The three of them headed back to the farm, Chloe following Danny and Clark in the truck to check that Lois was alright. When they got there Lois was lying down on the couch, resting. Danny offered her his bed for the night, seeing how it'd been hers last year and she should be around people for the night just in case. AC didn't hang around long with Danny there, his fearful reaction shifted to confusion at the shy clumsy boy. Okay, so Danny played it up, and withdrew his aura as much as possible but it was unnerving that he had to do that around someone so human.

Danny elected to stay in the loft that night, or more precisely on the barn roof, looking at the stars. But Lois didn't need to know that. Lately he'd found that he was only needing three hours sleep a night as opposed to his usual four. Danny stared up at the sky with wonder as he watched the night pass. He shivered slightly, but passed it off as nothing. Around four AM his ghost sense went off, and he chased off the Corn Ghost for about two minutes before tricking him back into the Zone. The Corn Ghost was a similar calibre to the Box Ghost and appeared just as frequently, but it was no trouble to put him away.

Danny fell asleep on the loft sofa two hours before sunrise. He was surprised to have an early morning visitor in the form of Lois. She came to thank him for letting her sleep in his room. "Really, it was no problem. I'm hardly moved in, and you needed a safe place to crash."

Lois looked at Danny as he sat up in the sofa. He absently folded the thin blanked he'd slept under and threw it over the chair's arm.

"Still" she said "you didn't have to. And you didn't have to sleep in the barn." Lois took the seat that Danny invited her to.

"I wanted to. And I like the barn; you can see the sky more easily here." Danny commented absently.

Lois looked at the young boy in front of her. His pale skin looked like he hadn't been in the sun all summer. Not that you could see much through the long-sleeved dark blue t-shirt he wore. He was scrawny really; he looked like he belonged in an apartment block rather than the farm. His raven hair was still rumpled by sleep and his blue eyes were still drowsy, yet seemed fully aware at the same time. He actually looked kinda cute, in a naive younger boy kind of way. AC was hot, like straight out of a surf magazine hot. But Danny had a sweet innocence about him.

"Come on Casper, it's time for breakfast." Lois said, pausing as she noticing his confused reaction to the nickname. "Clark is Smallville" she explained "if you're living here you get a nickname too. You're pale as a ghost, and you come from Amity Park. Come on Casper, it's not that bad." Lois finished with a laugh at the incredulous look on Danny's face.

The two of them left the barn, Danny tripping on the bottom step on the way. Mrs Kent waved them in with a "Morning Danny" as they came into the kitchen. The five of them took a seat and Martha put a heaping plate of pancakes on the table.

Mr Kent and Clark took a big portion of the stack between them. Mrs Kent herself took two pancakes, and Lois grabbed three. Lois looked over at Danny to see he had just grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl.

"Come on Casper, a kid like you needs to eat more than that for breakfast." Lois demanded. Clark burst out laughing, though Lois couldn't figure out why. Mr and Mrs Kent looked concerned at each other.

"Um," Danny said "I had a big dinner last night?" He made that sound like a question. "Not really hungry." Danny looked over at Clark, scowling. "Be quiet _Smallville._ Lois thought it would be funny if someone from America's most haunted town was called Casper."

Lois was unsure what to make of the exchange. So she simply said "Thanks for letting me stay last night Mrs Kent. Sorry to impose again." Mrs Kent smiled at her and replied "Really Lois, you're no bother at all. Danny was more than happy to have you here, and otherwise it's just like old times for us." The four of them finished, but before she could offer Danny was up doing the washing up. He seemed to be trying hard to make the Kent's happy. Lois smiled, clumsy he may be, but Danny was a good kid. Now if they could just bring _Smallville_ around...

Lois once again thanked them for looking after her. Then she went to work, she was waitressing at the Talon, so she expected to see them soon. "_Casper?_" Clark asked as soon as she was out the door, his eyes glittering with silent laughter. Danny just hung his head in defeat. "I know, when she first said it I almost went intangible. Glad it's just for being from Amity, not for actually being a ghost." Clark bit down his laughter as the two set out to do the day's chores. Danny was grumbling the whole way.

_Line Break_

Monday arrived. Danny was awake fairly early, so he decided to make breakfast for the family. By the time Aunt Martha was coming down the stairs there was a heaping plate of Maple syrup bacon and eggs on the table. "That smells lovely Danny." Danny smiled at his Aunt, glad to have made her happy. Uncle Jon came down the stairs then. "Martha, I haven't smelled something so delightful in a long while." Martha just replied that it was Danny.

Jon laughed. "Breakfast or no, you still have to go to school." Danny nodded glumly. He could do well in school; it's just that he had always had to leave back in Amity Park. He hoped that things would be different here. But between ghosts and what Clark had told him about Meteor Freaks, he really doubted it.

Danny had wanted to take the aerial route to school today, but Aunt Martha and Uncle Jon had insisted that he at least catch the bus on his first day. Clark was running late for his first lecture, so all Danny saw of him was a blur before Danny had to go to the fence to wait for the bus. It seemed like it took an age, but eventually the yellow bus rolled up to the gate. Danny shyly stepped on; at Casper High he'd always walked or later flown to school if Jazz couldn't drive him. Relying on a bus was fairly new.

"You know" the driver said "I thought I'd seen the last of this farm when Clark Graduated. Only one rule, be here on time. If you're late I won't wait. Clark missed the bus more times than he caught it. I hope you don't follow in his mould. Now take a seat." Danny was stunned silent by that display, so quietly moved towards the back of the bus. He allowed himself to stumble as the bus pulled away, and quickly took one of the few empty seats at the back of the bus. The trip was silent, and Danny realised that this was the first time he'd ever gone to school without Tucker or Sam by his side. He looked out the window, tears glinting in his eyes as the bus slowly made its way to Smallville High.

Once he got there he quickly took in the lay of the building, looking for places to change if necessary. Parts of the building looked really new, repaired after the damage of the Meteor shower two months ago. Overall Smallville High felt more welcoming than Casper did; the flower beds outside the front doors made a huge difference to the utilitarian feel of Casper. Once he got inside he was overloaded with a barrage of school spirit paraphernalia. The Smallville Crow was plastered somewhere on every wall as Danny made his way to the office.

The lady in the office smiled as she handed him his timetable and a map, and told him how to get to his home room. He arrived slightly early and took a seat at the back of the class. Two years worth of constant ghost attacks had taught him to keep his back to the wall at all times. The rest of the class came in, some giving him curious glances as they all took their own seats. The first bell rang just as the teacher came in. He introduced himself as Mr Strong "but most of you already know me. Today we have a new student, he's new to Smallville. He originally comes from Amity Park, but has moved in with the Kent's. Mr Daniel Fenton would you please come up to the front and introduce yourself."

Danny walked to the front of the room. He got the feeling that he'd have to do this more than once today. He ignored the feeling of eyes on the back of his neck, he would have preferred if Mr Strong hadn't said he was from Amity Park. "Hi, I'm Danny." He said allowing awkwardness to come through. He didn't want anyone to even think that there could be a connection between Fenton and Phantom. That was why he'd taken on all the ghosts invisibly so far when he was in town. "Um, yeah I'm staying with my Aunt and Uncle out on the farm..." he trailed off unsure of what to say.

"Why are you staying with them? Did the ghosts get to be too much for you?" A boy wearing a yellow and red football jacket said, and was met with snickers from around the room. Obviously most of the people at Smallville went with the idea that the ghosts were an elaborate hoax. If only they were. Danny desperately wished that Sam was there for him. He put his fingers to the ring on his necklace before he replied. "No, actually. I'm staying with Aunt Martha and Uncle Jon because they're all the family I have left. They were killed by a meteor that destroyed my home. It was an offshoot from what you had here." All of them sat in stunned silence.

The second shower had caused a lot of damage, but miraculously (although Danny suspected Clark had something to do with it) very few people had actually been killed. For Danny, who wasn't even in Smallville to have lost his whole family was beyond most of the class. Danny quietly slid back into his seat, hoping that he could escape any notoriety for coming from Amity Park. He let himself drift into the background; something which he was only too used to. He no longer bought into the illusion of popularity, but he already missed having Sam's scepticism biting over his shoulder. He missed Tucker and his bad pick up lines. He even missed Jazz coming up to him between classes to check his mental health.

Danny passed the rest of the day hidden in the background. He quickly familiarised himself with the layout of the school, and even found the Torch, although he wasn't tempted to join. He got through four classes before he had to chase a ghost off. He shivered as his ghost sense went off; it felt a lot colder than usual as it passed through his lips. The ghost was easily handled and the teacher only shook his head somewhat amused when he came back to class five minutes later. Danny wondered how long it would be before it became a look of disappointment. This teacher, Mr Taylor was his English teacher, and actually reminded him of Mr Lancer, if Lancer had a full head of grey hair.

It wasn't that he set out to disappoint his teachers; it was just a side effect of having to run off to save people. If a ghost attacked during a test there was only one choice, despite the fact that it meant a failing grade. Last year he'd managed to scrape a B- average, but that was mostly down to Jazz tutoring him and extra credit projects. If there weren't too many ghosts here he could maybe manage to get by on his own. Danny was relieved when the final bell of the day rang, and he decided to fly back to the farm to practice in one of the fields.

It was about five in the afternoon by the time that Danny resolved to go back to the farmhouse. When he got there he found a distraught Lois and a semi conscious AC on the living room sofa. Lois said that they'd been swimming at the lake when he'd suddenly reached to his ears like he was in pain and fallen in the water. Next thing she knew he was on the shore bleeding out of his ears. Lois didn't know what else to do so she'd brought him here. AC seemed to be recovering, but it would be safest for him to stay at the Farm overnight. Danny elected to stay out in the barn again that evening so that Lois could take care of AC. Knowing how AC reacted when he was around Danny figured it'd be best to stay clear of the house.

_Line Break_

Clark came home late that night. After his first lecture with Milton Fine he had wondered around campus for a while reflecting over what he'd said. Lex had done some questionable things, but surely he wasn't in the same league as the villains Fine had mentioned like Hitler and Stalin. But still... all of them had started with a good purpose. They'd tried to make life better for those around them. Fine had said white knights train dragons for their own dark purposes. But what did that mean for him, or his cousin for that matter. Danny had been described as Amity Park's knight in shining armour, what about him? What dragon was he training? Danny had no dark purposes... well, he was a ghost... but he was still a good person.

Lex had started out as a good person. When Clark met him on the bridge all he'd tried to do was the right thing by him and Smallville. When did he become as corrupt as he was? Where was the line between a black knight and a white knight? Was there a difference between a white knight, if that is what Lex was and a knight in shining armour who saves everybody like Danny tried to? Where did Clark himself fit? This line of thinking brought him all the way to his front door at ten in the evening. He opened the door, expecting to find Danny in the lounge to tell him about his first day as Smallville High.

Clark was shocked to find not Danny, but Lois and Arthur Curry lip-locked in the lounge. Clark's stunned entrance interrupted the two, an awkward moment passed between the three of them. Clark didn't know what to make of this. Arthur had appeared out of nowhere, saved Lois and was now kissing her all in the space of three days. There was something wrong here, and he suspected that it had something to do with Arthur. He would not trust someone who just waltzed in to their lives like that. No, he was definitely going to get Chloe to do some digging.

Thus, the following afternoon when Clark and Chloe had both come back from college they went to the barn. Danny was already up there doing homework, which he stopped as soon as Chloe pulled out her laptop. Danny looked at Clark questioningly and then at Chloe "What's up?" He asked as Chloe sat down on the couch. Clark positioned himself near the loft window so he could see the screen. Chloe looked over at Danny and dryly stated "Arthur, Clark doesn't trust him."

Clark tried to swallow down his indignation. "Lois is all over this guy, and all we know about him is that he can swim faster than I can." Chloe still didn't know that Danny knew his secret. Danny was very careful with regards to it, and it probably came from having his own. Knowing this it was no surprise when Chloe said "you're not the fastest man alive Clark, there are better swimmers than you." Clark still pushed "Still, there's something up. Maybe a meteor power?"

Chloe sighed and said exasperatedly "Well, let me look him up." There was a brief pause, which seemed forever to Clark's impatient mind. "He's a sophomore at the University of Miami, majoring in marine biology. Oh, and here's a shocker. He's on the swim team, leaving all of his competition in the wake." So Arthur was using his powers to cheat at sports. That was the reason he'd abandoned football at the end of High School. If Arthur was happy to do that then what other unethical behaviour could he see fit to do?

"Does he have a criminal record?" Clark asked, hoping to prove his suspicions. Chloe paused for a minute, the look on her face darkening. "Umm, Yeah. Last year he broke into the Ocean Village Resort" Chloe said. So they were dealing with a criminal. "What'd he steal?" Clark asked, seriously.

Chloe's face brightened and she half laughed "Eight Dolphins." She paused to smile at Clark. "He busted open an underwater fence and released them back into the ocean. I don't know Clark it doesn't really sound like FBI's most wanted material to me."

That hardly proved anything. Bart had never been caught and Arthur moved through the water so fast nobody could catch him if he didn't want them to. "Maybe it's the only thing he's been caught for." Clark said his tone serious. Chloe frowned and turned her attention back to the screen. "Maybe, but according to all this he has never dipped a fin in Smallville until now. Sort of shoots down our meteor-freak theory."

Clark thought about the race he'd had just last week with Danny. Then there was Bart who'd run so fast he could walk on water. Absently Clark said "Not the first guy I met who didn't get his abilities from meteor rocks." There was a startled sound from across the room. Clark had forgotten that Danny was even there. Danny shot him an angry glare which luckily Chloe missed. Instead she turned to Clark and asked "Really?"

Danny sent him a scathing look and Clark realised how close they were treading to dangerous waters. Knowing Danny wouldn't forgive him if Clark revealed his secret he thought back to Bart and said lightly "There was this kid last year, kind of ran too fast for his own good." Danny sent him a look saying he wasn't entirely forgiven.

Chloe was still focused on the screen, but she turned to look Clark in the eyes. "Well, so far the only thing we have on Arthur Curry is that he saved Lois from being permanently waterlogged. Clark, are you sure you're not just upset that someone was stealing your hero thunder?" Clark looked at her darkly and replied "I don't know what it is about this guy, but I got a bad feeling."

It was then that Danny made his presence fully known; coughing slightly to grab their attention. Chloe looked at him abashed, from her perspective she had almost revealed Clark's secret. "Clark, can I speak to you?" Chloe was about to speak up when Danny interrupted her "_Alone?"_ Clark looked at his cousin and imagined he was about to get a berating for almost revealing his secret. Chloe didn't look like she was going to go anywhere. Danny looked up at her and said "Clark went to rescue her right? Clark would do anything within his power to save his friends."

Danny paused for a moment reflectively. "I know" he said gently to Chloe "that you tend to be the ones that stop the meteor freaks, so you Clark and Lana all have reason to consider yourselves heroes. But I want to talk to Clark about something else." Chloe closed her mouth, nodded and walk down the stairs. Clark was intrigued by this display, not only did he not betray what he knew, but he deflected the attention away from Clark and gave Chloe a subtle flattery that would put her at ease. Clark did realise though that Danny was not happy with him coming so close to revealing his secret and turned to face the music.

"How could you?" Danny shouted as soon as Chloe was beyond human hearing. Clark hung his head slightly. "I'm sorry Danny; I didn't intend to come so close to telling her, I was lost in other thoughts."

"At the moment I couldn't care less about my secret. What I'm mad about is those other thoughts!" Danny berated. "Do you even realise what you're doing?" Clark shook his head. Arthur had come out of nowhere; he probably had committed a long line of criminal acts and had only got caught once. Who knows what he would do while he was here? He was dangerous having the power he had. Clark wanted to make sure Lois and everyone else was safe. He said as much to Danny.

"So you're protecting people from his powers. All you've seen him do is save Lois and her give him a kiss. That's it." Clark gazed at Danny, he didn't seem to understand. Arthur had a criminal record, he could hurt them. There was too much unknown about Arthur, but all that Clark could see set off alarm bells. "You don't get it, do you Danny. If he has a criminal record there's probably so much more that he's done. I have to stop him before he finishes whatever he's started here."

Danny looked at him and his eyes flashed green. "_I_ don't get it? Clark I think I get it more than you. All I've ever been called is evil, a malevolent manifestation of post-human consciousness. I have been called wrong and evil just for being a ghost, for existing. I've saved people to have it thrown in my face. I've been shot at for just breathing. I've been blamed for crimes I haven't committed. I've been forced to commit crimes without my consent. Clark if anything you don't get it!"

"So you're saying you think Arthur is being controlled?" Clark said. He couldn't see the point in this tirade. He knew all the unfair judgement Danny had for being a ghost. But Danny was different to Arthur. He had done the right thing, and the allegations against him were unfair. Arthur had been convicted.

Danny looked at Clark incredulously "Clark this is about you judging people for existing. If you hadn't listened to me first, if I hadn't taken _four hours_ to tell you who I am and what I did. You wouldn't have given me a chance. If I had just come in and saved Lois or Lana before you had met Phantom would you have thanked me, or would you have attacked Phantom for being a ghost?" Clark's eyes widened at what Danny was implying, and the truth of it was that he probably would have stopped Phantom. He could have killed Danny without ever hearing his perspective.

Danny did not seem to want to stop with his tirade. "Can't you see that what you're doing to AC is just as baseless? He saved Lois' _life_. It should only matter that she's safe, not that AC used his powers to save her. So he freed a few dolphins, if you won't accept him for breaking the law to do the right thing, you have no right to accept me for being forced to do the wrong thing. Hell, me even _existing_ is against the law. Are you going to throw me in prison for it? He's only done the right thing since he's been there, sure he kissed Lois, but that doesn't give you the right to blow a gasket. You need to accept that people with powers are just people deep down, and until you do I have nothing left to say." With that Danny vanished, invisibly and intangibly leaving so Clark stood no chance of finding him.

Clark realised there may have been some truth to what Danny said, but it was still suspicious. He decided to go and find Arthur to talk about it. And if he raised his concerns to Lois in a subtle way what would really be the harm. That decided he walked towards the loft stairs, slipping slightly on the – _ice?_ – That was left where Danny had been standing. Clark walked over to the Talon to talk with Arthur.

When he got there though he found he couldn't help but become accusatory. Arthur mentioned that there was something killing the marine life, but Clark was too deep in his accusations. Lois even pulled Clark aside and rebuked him for behaving like an older brother, but Clark knew that they needed to be cautious. Why was it that nobody else could see there was something fishy about this guy? It was only when he left that he remembered what Danny had said about trying to accept Arthur as a person so Clark went out to apologise.

_Line Break_

Danny couldn't believe Clark; he was acting just like everyone in Amity Park treated ghosts. Danny had tried so hard to change public opinion, but the mentality of "it's a ghost, ghosts are evil" had stuck. And here Clark was using the same prejudice against someone who could swim fast. Although part of it may be a subconscious level of jealousy. Danny had left Clark in the barn to go for a fly and to blow off steam. Half an hour after Clark had left the barn Danny returned to finish his homework. There weren't many ghosts in Smallville to take up his time. He shivered once, despite the warm day and picked up his books.

Danny was getting stuck into his English essay when Lois came up. "Hey, Casper. Have you seen Clark around?" Danny could tell from her tone that she wasn't happy with him.

"No, haven't seen him since earlier. Kinda had a blowout." It was then that Clark came back to the barn. He walked up the stairs, flinching slightly under the irritated glares from Danny and Lois. It was Lois who spoke up; complaining about how he'd chased AC off. So much for Clark going to hear AC's side of the story. It was what Clark said next that was interesting. Clark said he saw AC trying to blow up some sort of lab. _That _warranted investigation in Danny's book. From upstairs Danny heard Lois stalk off, but he felt a familiar ocean-like aura enter the barn.

Danny abandoned the essay and floated down invisibly, allowing himself to float near where Clark stood as AC approached. "Man" AC said, somewhere between amazement and envy. "I thought I had the hook up, but the way you flak-jacketed that C4... that was awesome, bro."

Clark's response was slow and dark "Just trying to stop a bomb you were going to set off, bro." AC came to a stop just in front of Clark. He looked confusedly even as fear crossed his face. He had picked up that Danny was around. Instead of continuing to scare him, Danny floated back up to listen to the conversation, ready to intervene if necessary.

"Yeah. Nice work." Danny heard AC his awe dropping to seriousness. "Thanks to you, the oceans are one step closer to becoming a graveyard."

Danny listened intently as Clark asked "That thing you tried to blow up had something to do with the dead fish?" AC had found out why the lake was so empty? Whatever it was, it had to be powerful.

"No, not something." Arthur explained. "Everything. It's a sonar weapon called Leviathan. It emits some kind of focused sound wave that packs enough punch to rip a submarine in half." Danny gasped. That sounded too much like his Ghostly Wail. If it had even a quarter the strength then it was not good at all.

The two stopped talking and Clark called up to him. "Danny, what are you doing up there?" Danny heard AC whisper to Clark "There's someone up there?" the whole barn was dead silent for a minute before Clark called.

"Danny, come down. I know you heard that. You were right, I shouldn't have assumed about Arthur." Danny realised that this was about as much of an apology as Clark was up to for now. Deciding there was no real harm if AC found out a little about his abilities; Danny leaped over the banister and flipped midair to face the direction of AC and Clark. He landed in a crouch and stood up still in human form. Danny was careful to stay a bit away from AC.

"Bro, what's with the kid?" AC asked, tensing up. Which was fair since what they were talking about would be dangerous in the wrong hands. "Arthur, this is my cousin Danny. He's harm... well mostly harmless. He packs a mean right hook. Point is you can trust him. In a way he's like you." Danny rolled his eyes at Clark who was obviously teasing him. AC looked confused before a look of recognition crossed his face.

"Hey, you're the kid from the lake. Not cool, bro. You gave me the creeps." He stepped forward to shake his hand before stepping back as that look of fear crossed his face. "Why do you make me feel as if I should be running away as fast as possible?" Danny was only partly shocked by his bluntness.

"Sorry AC. The best answer comes from the question why do you react to me the same way as animals do?" AC looked confusedly at Danny. Danny could see the mental gears turning in AC's head as he decided whether to reveal the full extent of his gifts.

"My Mom was Atlantean." That was all it needed to make sense to Danny. "You are telepathic with aquatic life, yes?" he asked. AC nodded, obviously confused as to how a kid could know that. Truth was Clockwork had made Danny study so many odd cultures and histories that he had a semi-encyclopaedic knowledge of most species that could form ghosts. Still there was slightly more to the answer that needed saying before AC would be happy to finish the main topic at hand. "In order to communicate with them, you draw on some of their instincts. Most animals find... what I am dangerous, and their instincts tell them to run. I'm not gunna hurt you, or anyone. I want to help."

"And what are you?" AC asked suspiciously. Danny shrugged and gave him a goofy grin. "Weird" He didn't want to tell him about Phantom if necessary. AC seemed mollified enough by Danny's response. Danny elected to ask "How do you know what Leviathan does?"

"I peeked at some documents at the lab." AC said before looking significantly at Clark. "They had LuthorCorp stamped all over them."

Danny watched as Clark paused for a moment, thinking "You mean Lex is trying to develop some sort of weapon." Clark stated, starting to understand the seriousness of the situation.

"One that also happens to kill any sea life around it. Even when it's on standby. In four hours he's demoing Leviathan to the Pentagon." AC said worriedly. Danny's eyes widened as he flashed back to the wasteland of a now extinct future and the destruction Dan wrought. "Clark," Danny said scared "If they like it and start dropping those things into the water it'll be a disaster. Something like this could kill hundreds, and that's not just marine life." AC nodded his agreement "We have to stop him."

"I'll go talk to Lex." Clark said. Danny wasn't positive that that would do anything, and apparently AC agreed. "There isn't enough time. Come on super boy, dunno 'bout the kid, but with you on the turf and me in the surf, we could stop this thing." AC said with passion.

"By blowing up his lab?" and there was the crux of it. Danny couldn't let AC blow up the lab when innocent people could get hurt, but Clark didn't seem to understand the true danger of the Leviathan. "Clark," Danny said, allowing some of Phantom's power to come into his voice. "You can't let this happen. The Leviathan sounds similar to the one power that Phantom refuses to use because it's too powerful. You can't afford for the military to use it, it will be abused."

AC seemed encouraged by Danny's argument, and continued "Clark. I was born with an amazing gift, and I plan to use it to help protect this planet. Kid here seems to agree with me."

"I'm not going to let you put innocent lives at risk." Danny thought on this, they needed to destroy the device, make sure that it couldn't be recreated, dissuade the Pentagon and get out unseen. But AC wasn't thinking like that. "Like your buddy Lex Luthor?" He asked vehemently. Clark answered "He's not my buddy. Not anymore. But I think we can get him to listen to..."

"You think he doesn't know what this thing does? He doesn't care." Ac interrupted him. This was getting nowhere. The two were going to keep arguing like Sam and Tuck used to over lunch. "AC," Danny said calmly. "You're probably right, but we need to at least try to convince him. If you blow it up he'll try again, I've seen it. But if we can convince him, bring him around he won't try again." AC looked to acknowledge Danny, then turned to Clark with some of his earlier aggression and said. "All right, we'll try it your way, boy scout. Let's have words with the cue ball."

_Line Break_

Danny sat in awe as Clark drove him up to the Luthor Mansion. It looked like a castle from one of his history books. Danny was sitting in the middle of AC and Clark, mostly because they were close to fighting again. They got there, but Clark ignored the butler at the door and stormed off towards what Danny could only imagine was Lex's office. Clark barged in, AC close behind and Danny bringing up the rear. Danny took a quick inventory of the two storey room. It was large, glass desk in front of the window, a piano in one corner and a lounge suite in front of the fireplace. There was a staircase that led to a small library on a mezzanine level. Overall the room screamed opulence.

At the desk was Lex Luthor, the man that Danny had saved from Skulker only a fortnight ago. "Clark," he said "you got here fast." There was a glint in his eyes that said he knew more than he was letting on. "And Daniel, I've been looking forward to meeting you in more civilised circumstances." Something about the way Lex said that made Danny immediately think of Vlad. "Thanks for seeing us Lex." Clark said. Well at least Clark was being civil.

"I have to be on my way out soon" Lex commented keeping his tone light "but I can spare a few minutes." At that point AC angrily interrupted "yeah, we know, bro." At this point Lex lost some of his cool, standing up from the desk "now I don't believe we've had the pleasure." It was Clark who saw fit to introduce AC as a friend from out of town. Lex held out his hand, but AC approached him aggressively saying "you have to stop it."

"Stop what?" Lex said, reminding Danny of Vlad when he caught Vlad in one of his more froot-loopy schemes. "We know about the weapon you're testing. Lex." Clark said. _Good_, Danny thought_ short and to the point. Now if you just..._ "I guess the billions you make in agriculture isn't enough" _No! _Danny gave Clark a quick glare _you don't insult the person you're trying to convince, that tends to send them into a froot-loopy rage. _Lex replied "One day of college and he's already an activist. Clark the only weapon I'm developing these days is the kind that fights hunger." _Or it sends them on the defensive. Lex isn't the froot-loop, like him, maybe, but not him._ Lex continued explaining about some type of high protein kelp that was probably just a cover.

"Leviathan has nothing to do with feeding the hungry Luthor!" AC angrily interrupted. "It's a weapon that'll kill everything in the water around it!" _And off AC goes, sending Lex further onto the defensive. _It seemed neither of them knew how to convince Lex, only accuse him. Danny knew how well doing that worked out with Vlad – not at all – and had learned that it was better to try and convince using logic. That was the only way Danny had escaped his clutches and been allowed to go to the Kent's in the first place. From there it all went to pieces, AC demanded that Lex shut it down and Clark finished it off saying "the days of me believing your lies are over".

AC stormed off and Clark followed behind him. Danny was about to follow when Lex requested he stay in a much calmer tone than before. While Danny wanted to stop AC and Clark from doing anything stupid he figured maybe he could do more good here. Danny slipped more into his goofy sixteen year old facade and took the offered lounge seat opposite Lex. "You know," Lex said, eyeing Danny very carefully "I never got to thank you properly for saving me that day."

Danny shrugged, "Really, it was no problem. I know ghosts, you don't. Just did my part."

"Ah, yes, see Daniel..." Lex began with an air of superiority when Danny interrupted "Danny." Lex continued "Danny, I have been curious. You come from Amity Park, and are the last heir to the Fenton heritage. How much do you know about their work?" Just what Danny needed, Danny saw through Lex, but there was still hope for him. He just needed someone to bring him out of the darkness. Danny shrugged "Some, but most of their work was destroyed."

Lex looked at Danny keenly, setting Danny on edge. "But you know how they work. I've seen some of the patents; imagine the defences that could be built if they were to go into mass production." So Lex wanted to have access to his parent's inventions? Those could only hurt ghosts and Lex didn't seem too interested in ghosts. The first thing he'd asked about was weapons. "The only things that those hurt are ghosts Mr Luthor. Since Amity Park isn't seeing so many anymore and they aren't making headlines anywhere else, isn't it better to leave the information where it can't fall into the wrong hands?"

Lex looked at Danny, considering him. "The protection of people should always come first. Just because they aren't here now doesn't mean they won't come back. Surely you wouldn't want to leave people unprotected." Danny looked at Lex. It would do no good to continue playing the fool. "I came with Clark and Arthur. They said you were developing a weapon. Please don't deny it; your actions earlier said it's true. Let's talk about that as well." Lex looked at Danny, interestedly. The teen realised this would be a very narrow line to walk. He didn't want to accuse, but he needed to drive the point through.

"With any weapon, it can be used for good or bad. Yes?" Danny asked, looking at the elder man. Lex nodded. ""A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand." _Lucius Annaeus Seneca_" A quote. This would be as fun as talking with Vlad.

Danny remarked "So if one makes a weapon it can be used for good if in the right hands." Lex nodded. "When you designed your weapon you wanted to use it to protect the country, yes?" Lex looked slightly confused. "That was the purpose."

Danny sent a stern look at Lex. "What happens if in battle a knight's sword is thrown from him?" Lex looked at Danny "The knight is left defenceless. This weapon could not be thrown from us though."

"So in a situation where the sword is thrown, both parties lose out. That's fine. What happens if our knight is captured, his sword confiscated, and the enemy points it back at the knight?" Danny pressed, hoping to get through to him. "Then the sword is being used by the enemy for the wrong purposes." Well at least Lex understood that. "What if instead of pointing the knights own sword, the enemy uses its design to make a superior sword?"

"Then the knight and his own army are in trouble. However with this weapon that would not be the case. As I said earlier in this case it could not be taken." Danny looked at Lex, and then realised that perhaps the geeky Fenton wouldn't be enough. Oh well, so long as it was only in front of Lex it was worth the sacrifice of that bit of cover. "Mr Luthor, any weapon can be taken from you. Any weapon can be used against you. In fact," Danny looked to the two swords that were hanging on the wall. Lex had already seen Danny fight Skulker hands on and the swords were obviously imitation so... "Mr Luthor, how about a deal. I'll tell you about some of my parents' tech if you can best me in a sword fight. If you win, I'll let you look at some of the patents. You lose, rethink Leviathan. If that falls into the wrong hands, or even the right hands with the wrong purpose you are in trouble."

Lex looked at Danny; it was obvious that he was weighing what was worth more. On the one hand he could make millions off Leviathan if the Pentagon bought it. On the other he was curious about Fenton technology. Quickly examining his watch as he had to meet with the Admiral soon, Lex went over to the wall and plucked the two swords off the wall. "Deal" Lex threw one of the swords at Danny who caught it gracefully.

The sword was off balance, and felt very different from his own blade, but it would do for his purposes. They were imitation so he couldn't hurt Lex and Lex wouldn't be surprised if his didn't harm Danny. Lex and Danny moved to the centre of the room. Danny thought of Dora and hoped she would not be too mad if he forwent the traditional bow, which could give away his secret. Lex and Danny's blades met in the centre of the room. Danny waited, allowing Lex to make the first move.

Lex struck, Danny agilely twirled out of the way, tapping his sword on Lex's arm as he went. Danny parried another blow before gracefully tapping Lex's other arm. This was fun, he'd not had a proper sword fight since the last time he visited Aragon. Lex's moves were predictable and lacked finesse, and his style was more suited to fencing than fighting with a sabre... still, it was fun. Danny let Lex hit him once, positioning his own blade so that he could block Lex' next attack. The two blades met, Danny flicked his wrist and Lex's blade was thrown into the air. Danny caught the blade in his left hand before switching it to his right hand. He held the blade in his left hand across his own chest in a defensive position, letting the blade Lex had chosen point to Lex's heart.

"Do you submit?" Danny asked the elder man who had a look of confused awe on his face. Lex nodded, and Danny tossed Lex his blade back, laying his own on the coffee table. "Any weapon can be used against its owner. Mr Luthor, if a sixteen year old can claim the weapon of someone whose fenced for years, then how can you expect a dangerous weapon such as Leviathan to stay in safe hands. Something to think about." With that Danny left to follow Clark and AC. Danny just hoped he'd done enough and that his secret was still safe. He'd stuck within human limits, so he should be fine. As Danny left he heard Lex pull out his computer.

_Line Break_

Thirst. AC was dancing on the edge of consciousness. He'd just awoken to find himself strapped down to a metal table. He could feel himself drying out, and if he didn't get back to the water soon he'd shrivel into nothingness. The last thing he remembered before waking up in this lab was walking out on the jetty at Crater Lake. There was a sharp sting on his neck and then nothing until he got here. He felt a pull at his arm and realised some weird scientist lady was taking his blood.

He asked why they were doing this to him, but it was Lex Luthor who answered "One, you called me a tool." Okay, maybe that wasn't the best thing to have said, but still true. Lex continued "And two, most people I know heed scuba gear to breathe underwater." Dazedly AC said something about holding his breath. It was getting desperate, if he didn't get water soon he'd die. AC heard Lex saying that he shouldn't have been surprised since he was a friend of Clark's. AC thought of Danny, but he'd done nothing other than set his instincts off. All he knew was that he needed to protect Clark. Guys with powers should protect each other.

AC wasn't really aware of much now. He knew there was water nearby, but Lex wouldn't give it to him. Lex asked if he was with an environmental group, and AC just replied "I don't travel with an entourage". He really couldn't think straight. He needed water. Lex asked again how he breathed underwater. Well, if he was going to get stuck he may as well get Lex to get rid of that stupid weapon. "Shut down Leviathan and I'll tell you everything you want to know." AC blearily heard a female voice over an intercom and Lex left. That was it. He'd failed. He was going to die of dehydration and the oceans would be destroyed by the Leviathan. It was over.

Suddenly something told him he was in danger. A feeling of wrongness that pervaded his senses telling him to run, get out of there, swim away as fast as he could. Like how he felt around that Danny kid, but a hundred times worse. He looked up and there was Clark. His face must have shown his terror because Clark poked the air next to him and a white haired kid came into view. The kid looked a bit younger than him, but he glowed. He was wearing some fancy dress costume that made him look like he stepped out of Robin Hood's time. He was floating about an inch above the floor, but the worst thing were his eyes. They looked dead; they held the emptiness that takes over in death. This was Phantom, the "ghost" who'd made national headlines for his involvement in an affair called the Ghost King Incident.

Clark twisted a wheel and a shower sprinkled over AC, giving him strength. "There's not enough time, we gotta get him out." Clark said, looking over at AC. The white haired kid thing stepped towards AC, the feeling of terror grew and AC shrunk in his bonds even as the water returned his strength to him. The kid looked sad for a moment, and then AC felt the most amazing wave of energy wash over him. It felt comforting, a rush of goodness that saturated him down to his soul. It felt like what he'd wanted in a mother's hug, but bore the strength of a warrior's soul. It felt like love and kindness in its purest form. All he knew was that he was no longer afraid. The kid stepped up to him.

AC looked into the concerned green eyes that bore down on him. They no longer looked dead, but brimmed with emotion. But there was far more to it than felt a cold hand grip his wrist and a cool tingly sensation wash through his body. The kid picked him up and for a second AC could no longer feel the water falling on him. He had the oddest sensation of something passing through him, but it was over in a second. He looked at the kid who had pulled him off the lab table. The same kid who'd made him want to run just a minute ago. There was something familiar about the eyes. AC thought of the kid in the barn who'd made him want to run too.

"Danny?" he asked, he was pretty sure, but wanted to know. "Phantom, please" the Kid said with a cheeky smile, his voice echoed in a way that the lab just couldn't have made happen. Clark said "We knew we'd find you here." And the Phantom asked "Are you okay?" AC thought for a moment, determination setting in. Leviathan was going down. "Wet and ready, bro's. You owe me an explanation later, but the test is going down. The security's everywhere. I'll never make it through in time."

Phantom stepped towards him with a knowing smile "You might be able to with a little help." AC, Clark and Phantom all jumped down into the water, using the escape tunnel to get access to the lake. The three of them were speeding off underwater towards Leviathan when AC and Clark ran into a green shield that was suddenly blocking their way. The two turned to Phantom who held up a hand. AC could talk underwater, so he yelled "Not cool bro, we gotta get there now!" AC didn't expect the kid to reply, or at least for them to have to return to the surface to get an explanation and by then they'd probably miss it.

Phantom opened his mouth to speak, and it was as if he was in the open air. Come to think of it, it didn't look as if his outfit was wet at all. "We need a better plan than just going in and blowing it up. Lex saw you; he has a video feed on the device. That's how he knew to catch you. We can't just go in and blow it up. He'll see all of us."

"You got a better plan, little bro. We don't have time." Suddenly there were two of the kid swimming towards Clark and AC. AC felt something really cold grab onto him and a different tingling go through him. He looked over to Clark, but there was no one there. He looked to his hands and couldn't see them in front of him. "Invisibility." Came Phantom's voice from somewhere to his left. AC noticed they were speeding through the water as if it wasn't there. He didn't have to move himself. "Here's the plan." The Phantom holding AC took over "AC, you'll use your hydro-kinesis to loosen the Leviathan and weaken it. Send the fish away too please." The other Phantom said "Clark, you're gonna use your heat vision to make it explode. I'll put a shield around it so it looks like a self destruct and contains the blast."

The four of them came up to the metallic device as it sat in the water. The red light was flashing so they had just moments to spare. "You're next to each other, you won't anyone. Get going." With that AC sent a blast of water at the machine, a reddish distortion of the water told him that Clark's heat beams had struck. There was a faint trace of green around the machine as it exploded in a flash of bubbles. AC felt himself being dragged away from the site before the cold pressure on his wrist was removed. AC felt relieved to be back in the water under his own power. The second Phantom vanished and the three of them headed back to the lake shore.

_Line Break_

Clark was upset. He, Danny and Arthur had destroyed the Leviathan, and that was a good thing. Clark had just gone to Lex to talk about it. Lex had reminded him that the world isn't just black and white. Lex could justify it all he wanted, but there was no way the Leviathan was good. Clark had realised that there was no way he could ally himself with Lex, not anymore. Not after everything he's done. Part of him missed who Lex used to be, but really Lex was beyond redemption.

Clark and Danny were hanging out in the barn. Danny had finished his third day at Smallville high, and was actually on top of his work. The two of them were downstairs. Since Danny had first fixed the tractor it was working perfectly, but Clark had been curious to see the other improvements he could make to her. Danny was sitting cross legged with a completely disassembled engine in front of him. He was gradually converting each of the pieces to... well it had gone over Clark's head, but Danny had said it'd make it four times more fuel efficient, cleaner to run and not need to be repaired for a good few years.

"Got some cool stuff in here, bro." Arthur came into the barn, having a bit of a look around. He stopped to look at Danny who was highly involved in infusing a green light through a piston. Danny's eyes closed for a moment and the piston glowed white before dimming back to grey metal. Neither Clark nor Arthur knew what to say to that so Clark just joked "I got the feeling the ocean floor is a little more interesting." Danny finished laying the piston and stood up to look at Arthur. He was back to the Danny that hung around the farm. Clark found it interesting that the kid could go between Fenton, Phantom and Danny so easily. Really he seemed to have three lives. Arthur took a seat on a bench and Clark dug up an old stool. It was obvious that Arthur wanted to talk, so Danny came over to join them, sitting in a lotus position in mid-air.

"So you _are_ Phantom, bro." Arthur stated. Danny nodded "didn't want you know, but not much point denying it now." Arthur looked at Danny curiously "What are you doing here. Don't you haunt Amity Park?" Clark watched as Danny tried not to look offended. "Mom and Dad are gone, and the Kent's were kind enough to let me have a bed."

"Ghosts sleep?" Arthur asked incredulously. He obviously didn't know what Danny was. Then again, as Danny keeps saying he _was_ a scientific impossibility. "I do" Danny stated. "Like I said earlier, I'm weird." Arthur seemed to accept that well enough. Then an inquisitive look crossed his face. "Hey, why aren't my instincts telling me to run. I mean when I first met you it was like, not cool, get away fast. Like five minutes ago fast. What did you do in the lab?" Danny looked awkward for a moment before he buried it. "You want the easy to swallow version, or the truth?" Danny asked.

Arthur looked at the boy askance, and Clark wondered what it was that could make Danny look so uncomfortable. "Easy to swallow." Danny looked at Arthur, slightly disappointed. "I sent you a wave of positive emotions to override the fear instinct." Arthur looked at him confused for a moment, to Clark that didn't sound like such a bad thing. If Danny could do that for Arthur who was terrified then imagine the possibilities with the next Meteor Freak. Arthur pushed "And the truth?" Danny sighed. "Animals are scared of ghosts. It's a basic survival instinct. Ghosts are dangerous. You, being part Atlantean share those instincts. So coming across me, a powerful ghost was enough to send you into a panic."

"Yeah, little bro, I know that. So what did you actually do?" Arthur asked a bit rudely.

Danny looked to the floor "I cheated. I hate to cheat, but I didn't want you too terrified to help. What do you do when an animal is frightened?" Danny asked. Clark responded "You show it you mean it no harm"

Arthur looked at Clark, then back to Danny puzzled "So what did you do?" Danny looked Arthur squarely in the eye and said "I let you feel my heart." Danny blinked out of view. Clark heard the sound of him settling on the barn roof. Clark looked at Arthur, who looked astounded. "His heart" he mouthed. "Little bro, what are you?" Arthur asked the spot where Danny had been floating.

Clark looked at Arthur and said "A good kid." Arthur looked back to Clark and shook his head as if to clear it. "A very good kid." Clark didn't know what Arthur had felt, but knowing Danny it would have been nice.

"We did the right thing" Clark said. "Yeah," Arthur commented, lightness returning to his voice "We made a pretty good team." Clark just smiled "Maybe" Arthur continued "we should start up a Junior Lifeguard Association or something."

Clark immediately replied "I'm not sure I'm ready for the JLA just yet. Unless you promise to stop blowing things up." But there was a smile in his blue eyes.

"They stay outta the water, I'll stay away from them. But if anyone messes with my home..." A voice from above them interrupted. "Leviathan won't be a problem, but Lex might." Danny said as he faded back into visibility. Clark nodded, adding in "he's seen your abilities; he'll turn the world upside down looking for you."

Arthur resumed his cocky grin. "World's three-quarters water. Good luck finding me." Danny came to land next to Clark, half smiling at the joke. Clark had a sad thought "What about school, in Miami?"

Arthur responded sadly "Guess the swim team will just have to find another handsome stud." Clark thought it was a shame that Arthur had to give all that up.

"Just stay out of trouble" Clark said with a warm smile "alright, AC?"

AC smiled brightly at Clark for calling him his preferred name. "Try to get in some, Clark" he replied.

"See you around, Aquaman." Danny said. He shivered slightly, despite the cool night, but Arthur missed it.

"Stay super, bro's" AC said with a smile as he gently pounded each of their fists. The two of them watched as AC left, Clark was gladdened to see that AC was using his gifts for good, even if he was a little misguided.

Clark was about to suggest that the two of them head into the house for the night when Danny shivered more violently. Clark looked to his cousin and realised that his face was really pale. "I-is it-t c-cold in h-here, o-or is-s it-t j-just m-me?" Danny stuttered with chattering teeth. Clark was worried, it was still summer, and not cold at all. Clark watched as ice crystals formed in his hair and eyelashes. Danny was gradually freezing. Clark grabbed Danny and ran to the house, desperate for his parent's advice.

"Mom! Dad!" Clark called through the house. His mom came running down the stairs at his cry. "Sweetie, what's wrong?" Clark indicated to where he had laid Danny on the couch. "Not me, Danny. Mom, he's freezing. I don't know what to do."

Clark's mom went to feel his temperature, but pulled her hand back, a few ice crystals clung to her fingers. "This is beyond blankets and chicken soup."

By then Clark's Dad had arrived on the scene. "He knows about Krypton." Clark's dad said.

"So, that doesn't help." Clark said defiantly. He didn't want to think about Jor-El for the moment.

Clark's Mom seemed to understand what his Father was saying. "If he knows about Krypton then Jor-El may know what's wrong." Clark paused, torn between disdain for his birth-father and wanting to help Danny. "Son" His dad said "This isn't something we know how to help. If he freezes completely we don't know if he'll come out of it." Clark's Mom continued "If Jor-El can cure this, then it's worth asking." Clark thought. If this was Jor-El trying to balance a life for his, then it couldn't be Danny's. He'd only just come into their lives. It wasn't right for him or his parents to lose him so soon. Not when Clark was coming to look at him as a brother.

His parents were right. It was at least worth asking. That decided Clark raced to the barn to fetch the key. Then he picked Danny up, he was so cold, colder than a freezer. Clark hadn't noticed before but he was also really light. Was there something wrong, or was that a side effect of being half-ghost? With a final wave to his parents he sped off to the cave. He lay Danny on the alter-like table and plunged the key in the key hole. The two were surrounded by a bright light, transporting them into an icy wilderness. The portal closed and Clark found himself surrounded by snow with Danny frozen by his side.

Neither boy noticed the strange green root that curled out from the cave's roof.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Finally into the actual series. For this story I plan to mix Smallville Season 5 and DP, I hope you enjoy the mix. Please enjoy, and tell me what you think.

Bluerose


	6. Frozen

Chapter 5

Frozen 

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

_With a final wave to his parents he sped off to the cave. He lay Danny on the alter-like key hole and plunged the key in. The two were surrounded by a bright light, transporting them into an icy wilderness. The portal closed and Clark found himself surrounded by snow with Danny frozen by his side._

_Neither boy noticed the strange green root that curled out from the cave's roof._

_Line Break_

Clark looked around at the snowy landscape. It was cold, colder than he remembered it being at the fortress. It was actually cold enough that it started to bother Clark. Looking around he couldn't find anything that looked like the Fortress. The landscape was different than the arctic. There were caves of ice twisting above him, spires of white crystal. If it weren't for the pervading cold Clark would have thought it beautiful. There was one more problem; he had no idea where he was.

Clark picked Danny up, hoping that he could survive long enough to find anyone. Clark carried his cousin through the icy wilderness. He had been walking for about an hour, and was beginning to believe that he'd ended up lost where there was no way home. He wondered if Jor-El would suck him out of here once Danny was gone. At this rate he'd believe anything of him. It was getting to the point where he thought he'd been walking in circles when he heard it. There was a distant whirring, sort of like an engine, but different.

A strange craft came towards him, speeding from just beyond the horizon. It was metallic and hovered about a metre above the ground. Two _beings_ sat in the craft as it approached them. They were big; they would probably stand taller than Clark. One of them wore a red one-shoulder cloak and the other a royal blue one with gold bands encircling his arm. The closest thing that Clark could describe them as was yeti. Their white fur shone against the landscape, only just noticeable against the bright snow glare was the faint aura that surrounded them. It was like Danny's! That meant these were ghosts. By the time he thought that through the two yeti-like ghosts were upon them. Clark stood protectively over Danny as they approached.

"Who goes there?" the red cloaked one demanded. The one in blue looked between Clark and Danny's frozen face. There was a moment of consideration in his blue eyes which then widened in recognition. "Icepick, worry not. It is a friend." The blur robed one called out to them, well Clark since Danny was frozen. "What brings you to the Realm of the Far Frozen, Guardian of the Great One?" Clark looked up at the yeti, unsure of what to make of this form of address. "Great One?" Clark questioned.

"The Great One, he who by himself did what no other ghost could and entrapped the Ghost King, at great personal risk. The Great One saved both worlds from destruction, how can we not call him Great?" The blue cloaked yeti responded. Clark was temporarily dumbfounded, but was able to snap himself out of it. "My cousin is frozen, and I don't know what to do. I was going to ask my Father for help, but we came here. Please, if you can, please help him." The two yeti ghosts looked between themselves and then down to Danny. The blue cloaked one smiled "We would be honoured to assist the Great One. Please, come with us."

In Clark's mind there were two options. One; he could keep wandering in this winter landscape until Danny was gone, or two; he could trust these ghosts and hope they would act in Danny's best interests. Clark knew that Danny didn't have many ghost friends, but he hoped these would be okay. Clark nodded at the yetis and they carefully lifted Danny onto the craft, indicating that Clark should jump on too. Clark noticed that the blue robed yeti's left arm was made of ice with a few bones visibly frozen inside.

The craft quietly flew through the ice fields, Clark would have gotten lost here. Everything was beautiful, but there were no real markers. At least the Fortress stood out in its landscape. Eventually they came to a city of ice. It seemed so natural, the homes carved with dense crystal, jutting against an icy mountain wall. There were a few icy caves that peeked out of the mountain. Clark had never seen anything so elegant. There were yeti ghosts that came out to look at them as they flew into the city. The craft flew towards the mountain wall.

Deep shadow embraced the craft as it entered an icy cave. They dismounted and the blue robed yeti gently picked Danny up, hastily moving through the icy passageways. The cave walls while icy seemed welcoming and bright. This frosty realm was obviously a home to the yetis. Clark followed closely behind the yetis as they entered a laboratory looking room. Clark flinched. His own fear of laboratories ran deep, but this was for Danny. Clark watched as the blue robed yeti ghost waved a silvery device over Danny before looking at a reading. He then placed Danny in what looked like a glass tube. It was only when the tube began filling with a turquoise coloured liquid that Clark began to get worried.

"What are you doing?" Clark asked a hint of fear in his voice. The blue robed yeti looked to Clark. "Fear not, Guardian of the Great One." He said with his warm voice "The Great One was frozen. This chamber will gradually serve to warm him such that he can function again." Clark calmed a bit. It sounded like a different version of the electric blanket for treating hypothermia. Reassured, Clark took the time to ask some of the questions that had plagued him since he arrived.

"Please excuse me, but who are you? Where am I? And how did I get here?" the yeti ghost looked at him and smiled. "Forgive me, Guardian of the Great one, I am Frostbite, Ruler of the Far Frozen. My people are an ancient one and we have some of the greatest medical knowledge in either world. You are in the Ice Realm, one of the most noble and ancient realms of the Ghost Zone. As to how you got here, that is a question only you can answer. May I ask your name, Guardian of the Great One?"

"My name is Clark Kent. I tried to open a... door to visit my Father. I thought he could help. But we wound up here." Frostbite looked at Clark puzzled for a moment "Forgive me, Clark, but that is not your name. I can tell that you come from Krypton. Why do you hide your identity?" Clark looked shocked. Then he remembered that Danny had known he was different from the beginning. It wasn't too great a leap for him to imagine that other ghosts may know he was Kryptonian from the beginning as well. "Most of my life I have been Clark Kent. I found out about my Kryptonian name only recently, and I don't like to identify myself by it."

Frostbite looked Clark over curiously as if he were a puzzle to be solved. There was a momentary look of recognition before Frostbite asked "Why do you not like to identify yourself by your Kryptonian name. It is part of your history, a part of who you are. Kryptonian's prided themselves by their house names; they believed that your house could explain much of who you could be. Please, Guardian of the Great One, tell me your birth name." Clark felt he was stuck. Frostbite would not let him get out of it. It was only reluctantly that he'd told Danny. "My Kryptonian name is Kal-El. Son of Jor-El."

Frostbite went wide-eyed and smiled. Then he kneeled on one knee, bowing with his right arm crossed against his chest. It was the same gesture that Danny had made over two weeks ago when he first explained his secret. "I humbly thank you for the service of your family and mourn your loss." The yeti ghost said respectfully. Once Frostbite had stood up again Clark couldn't help but ask "Why did you do that? Danny did the same thing when I gave him my Kryptonian name." Frostbite looked over at Danny; a strange look that Clark could not place crossed his face. "The Great One knows?" Frostbite murmured before turning back to Clark.

"The Ghost Zone has a very long history. It has survived much, but the house of El rendered a great service for the safety of the denizens of the entire Zone. Please do not ask, you will only know if Time deems you ready. That the Great One knows is significant, for no ghost who was not there is supposed to know." Frostbite looked once more at Danny's unconscious form, hiding his face from Clark. "You said you opened a door to lead you to your father. Please, tell me how that is possible as your father passed with the death of Krypton, and he did not join with the denizens of this world."

"Jor-El created a Fortress, an exact replica of Krypton's geography on Earth for me. He left behind an... well I don't fully understand what it is, but I can talk to him." Frostbite beamed. "I should have known that he would do something like this. Your father always was like that, planning everything in advance." Frostbite's smile dropped. "How did you plan to get there?"

"There is a key-slot in a cave near my home. I took Danny there, hoping to get Danny to the fortress and get Jor-El's help, but we came here instead. How does that work?" Frostbite looked baffled for a moment. "There are two reasons that I can imagine. The first is that the portal was simply confused by the Great One's cold temperature, and sent him to where it would be safest. The other is that there is a being... well, he has the Great One's best interests at heart." Figuring that he'd get no further answers for now, Clark elected to ask about his cousin.

"What happened to Danny?" Clark asked. Frostbite moved over to Danny's chamber, and pressed a few buttons on the panel. A smile crossed his sleeping face and Danny was engulfed by the blue-white rings that transformed him into Phantom. The light faded and a white haired Danny was left in his black and white noble's outfit. Frostbite pressed two more buttons and that too disappeared, leaving Danny only in a pair of boxers and his necklace. This was the first time Clark had seen the necklace in full. There were two charms hanging from it. One was a tiny silver DP symbol, and the other was a tiny sword. Clark looked again, his cousins chest had lean muscle, usually hidden by his t-shirt. What concerned him though was the patchwork of thin silvery lines that laced all over his chest and arms. He doubted a human would notice, but to Clark they were obvious. Clark wondered how Danny had gotten all these scars.

Frostbite pushed one further button and a ring of light passed through the whole chamber. There was a mechanical whirring behind Clark, and whole lot of readings came out on a screen behind him. Clark turned to look, the writing was in a language that he couldn't understand, but there was a shaded image of Danny with a blue orb near where his heart would be. Clark looked to Frostbite for an explanation. Seeing Clark's confused expression Frostbite murmured "Of course, Kryptonian, Kal-El, you cannot understand this language can you?" Clark shook his head, slightly annoyed at the ghost's insistence on using his Kryptonian name. Frostbite pressed another button and a second screen lit up, revealing a whole bunch of statistics in Kryptonian. "The original language is one native to the Ghost Zone. It cannot be learned by any who live. I believe the Great One can read it, but he is not truly alive. Then again he is not truly dead." Frostbite said with a smile.

Clark turned to examine the second screen. On one of the readings he read a number only ten degrees off absolute zero. "How'd he get so cold?" Clark asked the ghost. Frostbite looked over at Clark. "I'd prefer to explain that to both of you once the Great One is awake. That should be soon, once his temperature is raised to a more normal level." There was silence for a few minutes as Clark looked over the lab, it really was more like a high tech medical facility. Clark turned to look at the statistics on the screen when he heard Danny blearily ask "What happened? Where am I?"

Clark turned to look over at the chamber. He walked towards it, but Frostbite got there first. "Great One!" he exclaimed "You are awake." Danny looked at the Yeti confused as if he didn't know what to make of him. This was the first time that Clark had seen Danny have such a reaction to a person, and then he remembered that Danny relied on understanding the person's aura. Ghosts didn't have the same aura, so he probably couldn't tell how to react. Danny really wasn't kidding when he said he was complicated.

Danny stayed quiet for the time being. Clark noticed that Danny had given the room a quick look over, and having seen that Clark was safe and free seemed to have decided that the ghosts didn't mean any harm. Frostbite looked between Danny and the readings on his screen which had just shifted. Frostbite seemed to have decided that it was safe to allow Danny out of the chamber as the turquoise fluid began to drain. "Perhaps," Frostbite commented with an air of command "We should all take all take a seat, this will take some explanation." It took a moment, but eventually Danny was allowed out to sit on a silvery couch that Clark had not noticed before.

Frostbite handed Danny a snow white blanket as Danny was still only in his boxers. Clark went over to take a seat too and was given a red blanket. It was still pretty cold, so he was grateful for the warmth. "Great One" Frostbite began, but Danny interrupted

"Please, sire. Why do you call me Great One?" This held a level of respect that Clark was unfamiliar with, although he wasn't sure why Danny referred to Frostbite as sire. Frostbite smiled down at the white haired teenager.

"Great One, your name was earned in your deeds when you saved this world from the grips of Pariah Dark. Perhaps later we can take a tour of the grounds to visit our humble shrine to your honour." Danny looked aghast, but Clark smiled. He'd love to see that.

Danny paused for a moment and then said with deep respect "Sire Frostbite of the Far Frozen Realm, I thank you for your kindness. However, this level of formality hardly befits the situation. Sire Frostbite I ask to be viewed on equal standing that we may speak as friends." How did Danny know that before being introduced? And why was he being so formal? This level of formality went over Clark's head. He didn't know why Danny had started speaking like that, but it seemed as if Frostbite understood the request. "Great One, it would please me greatly if you considered me friend. You may call me Frostbite, but please indulge me the honour of calling you Great One."

Clark watched Danny sigh and then shrug it off. Now seemed like a good time to get some questions answered to Clark, but the problem which ones? He wanted to know why Danny was speaking like that, but he also wanted to know why Danny had frozen. Deciding that that was more important he asked Frostbite "Why did Danny become a human popsicle?" Frostbite looked to Clark and then back to Danny. "Great one, how much do you know of ghost biology? Do you know of ghost cores?"

Danny looked confused for a moment and then said "A ghost's core is where it draws its energy from. Each ability and power is emanated from the core. There are seven different core types which dictate the abilities a ghost will have. Norma; which are most low level ghosts, Magus; like Desiree, Electra; like Skulker and Technus, then there's the four elementals; Fire being the most common, followed by earth, then air with ice being the least common. Pretty much it's you of the Far Frozen and Klemper with ice cores."

Frostbite seemed to smile with what Danny knew. To Clark this proved once again that the kid was smart. He'd just never had the chance to prove it... although when did he have the time to study this when he was fighting ghosts all the time? Frostbite smiled at Danny and then frowned. "Do you know what your core is Great One?" Danny shrugged. "When I first found out about cores I figured I had to be Norma if anything, since I can't do anything particularly specialised. But then I figured that maybe I didn't have one, since I'm not a proper ghost. There has never been a true Halfa before, so there's no precedent."

Frostbite looked wistful at Danny's isolation. Clark hadn't known how alone he was, Clark knew there were others like him. But Danny was completely alone. "It is true; there has not been another Halfa before you. But Great One, you do have a core, like all true ghosts." Danny smiled relief at this. Clark wondered if there was something more than biology to the concept of a core. It sounded like a heart. If a human didn't have a heart it meant they were mean spirited or cruel. A core could have a metaphorical meaning too.

"Great One, when was the last time you fought a ghost, a proper fight?" Frostbite asked "Apart from a hands on fight without powers against Skulker?" Danny answered "Probably two months ago. Before..." Danny trailed off. Clark understood Danny's drop in mood. Here was a painful reminder of what he had lost. Clark was surprised that Danny hadn't been more depressed. If anything happened to his family (he refused to think when) he'd probably be lashing out at the world for months. Just how much was Danny internalising?

Frostbite nodded, but that turned to a frown. "How long ago did the cold feeling start Great One?" Danny looked at Frostbite and said "That day, after the fight with Skulker. Why?" Frostbite shook his head. "This should not have happened for another month. Tell me great one, Did Skulker have a new weapon, something to draw heat away perhaps?" Danny shook his head no. Frostbite looked pensive. But Clark remembered something else about that day. "Sean" he stated bluntly.

Frostbite looked questioningly at Clark, who decided to elaborate. "Sean Kelvin was meteor infected. See, after the meteor shower that brought me to Earth, some of the kryptonite started infecting the people in Smallville, giving them weird powers. Sean Kelvin sucked the body heat out of people to keep himself warm. He killed people by freezing them. He tried to do it to Danny, but I didn't think it worked. Are you saying that he was just taking longer to freeze?" Clark was really concerned for his cousin if Sean had affected him so badly.

"Thank you, Kal-El that does answer the question, but it was not this Sean who made the Great one freeze. He simply precipitated what was to come." The big yeti turned to face Daniel. "Great One, as I have already said you have a ghost core, it is one of the strongest I've ever seen, but I expected nothing less from the one who defeated Pariah Dark. You draw energy from your ghost core when you fight a ghost, which releases some of the pressure. However, you have not released the right energy."

"Young one, you have only released the energy in small doses, such as when another ghost is around." Danny looked at Frostbite wide eyed. "You mean my ghost sense?" Clark watched as the yeti ghost smiled proudly, but frowned as he watched Danny shiver once more. He still didn't understand the concept of a ghost core, but felt he was getting what was going on.

The yeti ghost spoke in a calm and measured tone. "Great One, you, like us, possess an ice core. With no way to release the growing energy in your core your body started freezing from the inside out. Had Kal-El not so fortuitously brought you here you would have frozen completely and been ended. You need to learn to release the cold energy from within your core so that this does not happen again."

Clark pondered this; Danny had frozen because he had not released the energy in his ghostly core? It seemed that ghost biology was far more confusing than he'd first thought. Then again, ghosts were based on a completely different compound to humans and Kryptonian's for that matter. This was just something more to add to the growing list of "complicated" things about his cousin.

Frostbite smiled at the white haired teen. "Fortunately, Great One, you are in one of the few places where you can safely learn to release the cold energy building in your core." Frostbite summoned a snowball that hovered above his icy left hand. Clark watched as the snowball shifted into an icy diamond. The yeti handed the diamond to Danny who looked longingly at its simple beauty. The yeti reached out his hand and a life size statue of Danny in his original Haz-Mat suit appeared. Frostbite summoned an icy blade and cut it clean in two. Clark paled at the sight, but Danny simply said "Teach me". Frostbite grinned at Danny and said "Great One, my people would be honoured to teach you."

Another yeti came over to them, bearing a pile of black and white cloth. Danny smiled at the yeti and said "thank you kind sir" slipping back into his "noble" voice as Clark was coming to think of it. Danny hastily put his clothes back on and Clark observed the moment of pure bliss as the white cloak settled over his shoulders. Danny once more shivered, Clark realised that his cousin had been shivering more and more frequently over the fortnight and he had not done anything about it. Frostbite seemed to notice the guilty expression on his face "Kal-El," he said "This was something that had to happen. The Great One needs to learn to use his core properly. I am grateful that you were able to guide him safely to us where he is among friends. You have done all of us a great service. Thank you Guardian of the Great One."

Once Danny was fully clothed Frostbite led them through the icy tunnels. He pointed out various aspects of his home which Danny seemed to understand far more than Clark did. Clark was still wrapped in his red blanket, but Danny had left his white one behind. They were about to leave the cave when Frostbite suddenly stopped. He looked over to Clark with a slight frown and then said something in a language that Clark did not understand. Another of the red-robed yeti's appeared from behind him, startling him slightly. For such big beings they were very light on their feet.

"Kal-El, for the first part of the Great One's training you should not be present. You may have the powers of the yellow sun Sol, but as you saw, The Great One's core temperature is only just above absolute zero. It would not do you good to be there when he releases it. However, may I suggest you visit our shrine, it would be very informative to you, and Glacies" He indicated to the other Yeti "Would be glad to guide you through the city." Frostbite quickly slipped into the other language, and Danny frowned. He said something in the same language that Clark believed to be an apology.

The four of them split up, Frostbite and Danny went outside and Clark followed Glacies down the icy tunnel. It was fairly quiet, there didn't seem to be many people moving around. In fact on reflection, Clark had only seen the three Far Frozen that he'd been introduced to. Glacies led Clark through the icy caverns, he was not as informative as Frostbite had been, but pointed out some things here and there. Eventually they came to a large cavern. In the centre was a large crystalline altar, carved with delicate writing in the language of the dead. It looked beautiful. Clark walked over to it and saw that the top bore the DP symbol, laced by the writing in an elegant script.

Clark looked up from the altar to observe the cavern walls. Each wall held an exquisite carving, visually detailing the story. On the border of each panel was writing to explain what was detailed. It was written in two languages. The outer border held the ghostly language, while the inner border was English. Glacies spoke "The border is written for all ghosts to understand, however the Great One is of Earth too. We respect this by showing the balance of living and ghost within him; balancing the two languages." Glacies then went on to explain the battle of Pariah Dark. Clark was given a brief description of how the first rule of the tyrant king was to live – _or exist? – _through, and also the defeat of Pariah Dark by the ancients.

Clark found himself astounded by the events that his cousin had survived. He was drawn into the tale of how the young boy had managed to get all the ghosts to come together to fight the common enemy. The boy had fought down the army, but when it came down for the final battle it was him alone. The boy had beaten the odds with the help of the ecto-skeleton, and he had once more sealed the tyrant in the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep. Listening to the tale sounded like one of the exploits of an ancient legend. It was impossible for Clark to match the Legend from the story to the young boy who had come to live on his farm.

Clark had been entranced by the story and had not noticed that several hours had passed. Eventually Glacies guided him to a large arena area, but he was instructed that he must keep the blanket on. It must cover as much of him as possible. Clark couldn't figure out why it was so important, but since the blanket was the only thing keeping the cold from getting to him, Clark was only too happy to comply. He was taken to the front row of the arena, there were hundreds of the Yeti's all around. A few had bandages on, but most were staring excitedly at the two beings that stood in the arena's centre.

Clark watched as Frostbite summoned another sword made of ice. He then spoke to Danny, who concentrated and summoned his own. Danny's blade looked more elegant than that of the Far Frozen's leader. The yeti moved to an offensive stance, but Danny held out his hand and shook his head. Danny's ice blade vanished, and he held his hand to the necklace. Suddenly a sword appeared, but not an ice one. Danny's blade was elegant and beautiful. The silvery blade glittered in the light; the hilt was encrusted with a blend of silver and emerald stones. The sword looked like a silver and green version of Excalibur to Clark. It was a blade that would befit a king, but how did Danny come to own something like that?

The two took a step back and bowed to the other. Slowly they raised their swords which met in the middle resting for a moment. Frostbite drew his sword back and Clark winced, expecting a Danny shish-kebab. Danny parried the blow, and then swung his own. Frostbite despite his bulk was skilled with the blade. But as the fight wore on it was apparent that Danny's agility was to his advantage. The skill with which the fighters fought would have made a knight green with envy. The two moved with such fluidity that they seemed locked in an elegant dance.

A signal passed between the two and the fight shifted. The aura around the yeti brightened and a beam of ice shot out of his eyes, Danny dodged, curling his blade around for a strike. The two fighters incorporated their ghost powers into the dance and there was a swirl of green and blue energy as they fought. Danny looked briefly over at the stand at where Clark sat, meeting his eyes for a moment. A cheeky smile lit his green eyes as he turned his attention back to the fight. Suddenly Danny's blade took on a blue sheen, and as it met Frostbites the other blade disappeared, absorbed into Danny's. Danny's eyes closed and his sword disappeared as the two fighters bowed to each other.

"Well met" Frostbite proclaimed, loud enough for all to hear "Well met indeed" came Danny's reply. The two laughed, shaking each other's hands. Clark cheered along with the rest of the crowd. While Danny may feign clumsiness, the pure elegance of his moves awed Clark. In every fight he'd had he'd used his brute strength to overcome his enemies, but Danny had obviously trained hard to get to this skill level. The two ghosts drifted over to where Clark sat and smiled at his blanketed form. "Having fun there?" Danny asked with laughter in his green eyes.

"How... Where did you learn that?" Clark asked, still awed by the fight. Frostbite looked down at Danny, and then back to Clark with the glint of a parent about to embarrass their child. "Has the Great One not told you of his title Guardian?" Clark did note that Frostbite was calling him Guardian in the public, rather than Kal-El. But he looked puzzled at Danny who bore no signs of saying anything. In fact he looked distinctly uncomfortable. Clark shook his head and told Frostbite no, other than Great One which he's heard here.

Frostbite looked down at Danny, proud as punch and said to Clark, "Then please allow me the honour of presenting to you The Great One, Sir Danny Phantom of the Principality of Aragon." Clark sputtered, Danny was a knight! A Knight knight? As in proper swords and shields and quests Knight? Clark looked at Danny and demanded "How?" Danny looked down shyly and explained "I didn't mean for it to happen, Sam got kidnapped and to get her back I helped the ghost overthrow her tyrannical brother. Princess Dora became monarch, and gave me a knighthood for serving her."

Danny paused for a moment before saying "After a while she deemed it necessary for me to learn how to fight with a sword as "no knight of her realm would be bereft of a blade." So I learned. Last year I spent spring break in the Zone, Mom and Dad thought I went on camp, and Sam and Tuck thought I was with them. Dora had one of her fighters train me. Frostbite here wanted to test my skill. He is a masterful swordsman. Had we gone for much longer he probably would have won." Clark looked at his cousin. It seemed the half-ghost would never cease to surprise him.

That did at least explain why Danny spoke so deferentially to the Far Frozen. From what little he knew of knights they were the emissaries of their monarch. Any poor behaviour was a bad reflection upon their sovereign, and could start wars. Yet there was something he was missing. The Far Frozen seemed to hold Danny in equal deference; did that mean that this Princess Dora was sovereign over them too? No, Frostbite was the ruler of the Far Frozen, and Dora ruled Aragon. So what was the missing piece?

Eventually it came time to leave. Danny went over to thank the citizens for their hospitality when Frostbite pulled Clark aside. "Kal-El, your family has already done a great service to the Ghost Zone. However, I must ask more of you. Please look out for the Great One. He has a destiny similar to your own. Soon the time will come when he learns what it means to single-handedly defeat a King. Until that day he has much to learn. Please continue helping him, Guardian of the Great One." Frostbite finished just as Danny came back over. Danny summoned a portal and the two of them stepped through to Smallville.

_Line Break – Several hours previous_

Danny silently waved goodbye to Clark as Frostbite led him off to begin his training. He could hardly believe that he had an ice core. The only known ice cores were the denizens of the Ice Realms (Frostbite's People) and Klemper. He wasn't sure what to make of it. But he did know that he needed to train. He could feel the cold creeping up inside him again. It was much faster than it had been before, and Danny did not want to freeze over again. Eventually he found himself in the centre of a massive arena. Danny could have sworn that the entire populous of the Far Frozen had come to watch him.

On one hand this was really bad because he was sure to embarrass himself. On the other hand it was a good thing, fewer people to notice Clark. Clark, being living shouldn't even be in the Zone, but so long as he wore the blanket he'd be safe, it'd disguise the fact that he was alive by clouding him in ecto-energy. Danny listened to Frostbite as he instructed him on how to get rid of the cold.

"You must let the cold build inside you until it has no place to go but out" Danny nodded. He drew his concentration in on himself. This was just like learning any other power. Concentration was key. He focused and felt for the cold feeling. He imagined holding it in his hands. The feeling was similar, but stronger than what allowed him to pull himself into his ghost form. He imagined the cold getting smaller, denser. The cold feeling became colder still; he could feel his body freezing around him. Still, he intensified the coldness inside himself. Denser and denser, colder and colder. The coldness got to the point where it was so dense and so cold that he could no longer hold it. He released it in an enormous wave of icy blue light.

He no longer felt cold. It was a relief after three weeks of fighting it back, even without realising it. He looked happily over to Frostbite to see that he had accidentally frozen him. Danny cringed at his mistake, hopefully next time he could control it better. Half an hour later Frostbite was defrosted, dismissing it as a casual mistake that many made. Danny looked back to the centre of the arena to see that several targets had been set up. Frostbite proceeded to show Danny how to summon and guide shards of ice.

Hours passed, Frostbite demonstrating technique after technique. It was intense, and Frostbite was a kind, but demanding instructor. It felt like being in a history lesson with Clockwork. Clockwork would insist he visit the same thing over and over again until the message was perfectly clear. It was fun learning how to control the ice, although he did accidentally injure some of the spectators. Frostbite took it gracefully, but Danny felt terrible for hurting the people who had been so kind to him.

Eventually Frostbite came to the final technique, summoning an ice sword. Frostbite talked through the theory, it demanded focus and a crystal image of how it was to appear. The sword had to be ultra dense and sharp in order to be more than a pretty decoration. Danny concentrated, focusing on how he wanted the blade to look. He felt the tug of energy as the icy blade materialised in his hand. Frostbite deemed it acceptable. Then the leader got a curious look in his eye. "Care to match blades with me, Great One?"

Danny smiled, and Frostbite raised his sword. Danny paused for a moment and raised his hand. If this was to be a test of skill then it shouldn't matter if he used his own blade. He released the icy one and then touched his hand to his necklace, summoning the blade that Dora had given him. Danny and Frostbite took a step back and bowed, according to the traditional rules of combat. They touched blades, pausing and then Frostbite struck.

Danny parried the blow away. Frostbite's blow was firm, flowing from the strength of his muscular body. Danny did not have that advantage. He dodged out of the way of a second blow, allowing his battle honed reflexes to take control while he tried to get a measure of Frostbite's fighting style. He blocked a blow and spun to take his own, which Frostbite stopped with his own blade. Unlike with his fight with Lex, this required every bit of concentration to keep in the fight. The fight with Frostbite was an enjoyable test of skill. With Lex he'd just wanted to prove a point. Danny wove between the blows, finding himself blocking and dodging just as often as Frostbite had to. Neither of them was able to land a hit nor a decisive blow on the other. Neither of them could gain an advantage.

Frostbite looked at Danny and both understood the silent question between the two of them. They nodded to each other. Now it was a match of blades and powers. Frostbite sent a beam of ice towards Danny who twirled to dodge it. Danny returned the favour and melted some of the ice beneath Frostbite with an ecto-blast. They exchanged blows with the swords and then switched to using their powers. Danny sent an elaborate combination of ecto-blast, sword strike and then an ice-infused ecto-beam, but Frostbite threw it off, blocking the attack. Frostbite returned the favour with an intense ice beam. Danny blocked this.

It seemed even with powers the two were evenly matched. Danny thought to himself that the reputation of the Far Frozen's leader was well earned. Still they fought. Danny glanced into the stands and his gaze fell on Clark. Okay, when it was just the Far Frozen watching it would be okay to lose, but with Clark here he really wanted to win. An idea crossed his mind. Really it shouldn't work, it only worked if the ghost was stronger than the other, and Danny believed that Frostbite was the more powerful out of them. It would either work, or it wouldn't and they'd keep fighting until they got bored. Danny concentrated on his own blade, coating it in his own ice energy. The two blades struck and Danny concentrated, allowing the energy of his own ice to swallow that of Frostbite's blade.

Danny was shocked as the Frostbite's icy sword poured into his own blade, disappearing as if it had never been. Danny was more powerful than Frostbite? Where did that place him in the Zone? Frostbite was one of the most powerful Kings; to be above him was almost unheard of. Danny swallowed his concern and looked to Frostbite who was smiling proudly at him. According to the tradition of the Zone it was up to the defeated to start the conclusion. "Well met" Frostbite proclaimed, his voice carrying to the stands. According to tradition Danny issued the response "Well met indeed" Danny smiled at Frostbite and they laughed even as they shook each other's hands. The fight was over and they had concluded as friends.

Danny and Frostbite floated over to Clark. Danny wasn't sure he wanted to know what Clark made of the fight. It had been fun, and it was so long since Danny had had a proper sword fight... probably six months ago at Dora's tournament. He'd won that, so it was good to test his skill against such a renowned adversary as Frostbite. "Having fun there?" Danny asked allowing the mirth of his triumph to enter his eyes. Clark looked at him with a mixture of awe and confusion. "How... Where did you learn that?" Clark asked. Danny didn't particularly feel like responding.

"Has the Great One not told you of his title Guardian?" Danny squirmed uncomfortably. Knighthoods didn't happen much in this age, let alone in America. That he was an active knight would confuse so many people in the Real World. He never admitted it to humans, and it had only been Sam and Tuck who'd known. Jazz never found out about that bit of notoriety. Clark shook his head and Danny couldn't stop Frostbite from proclaiming "Then please allow me the honour of presenting to you The Great One, Sir Danny Phantom of the Principality of Aragon."

Danny watched as confusion crossed his cousin's face "How?" Danny looked to the ground. There was no way out of it now. "I didn't mean for it to happen," He explained "Sam got kidnapped and to get her back I helped the ghost overthrow her tyrannical brother. Princess Dora became monarch, and gave me a knighthood for serving her." Danny reflected on the months after that which were in relative peace. It was just after he had destroyed the Reality Gauntlet that Dora had proclaimed her first tournament as monarch. Danny had failed abysmally, and Dora had demanded he learn so as not to embarrass her.

Danny continued his explanation to Clark "After a while she deemed it necessary for me to learn how to fight with a sword as "no knight of her realm would be bereft of a blade." So I learned. Last year I spent spring break in the Zone, Mom and Dad thought I went on camp, and Sam and Tuck thought I was with them." That had been an interesting week. He had taken to it fairly quickly and surprised Garth who was training him. Dora couldn't stop time like Clockwork, so she couldn't have him come after school for lessons like Clockwork did. "Dora had one of her fighters train me. Frostbite here wanted to test my skill. He is a masterful swordsman. Had we gone for much longer he probably would have won." This was all too true. Had Danny not taken a chance on that last technique they could have kept fighting until midnight.

Eventually it was time to return to Smallville. He didn't know how long he'd been out, but Danny was sure that by now Uncle Martha and Uncle Jon would be getting worried about them. They'd at least spent overnight in the Zone, and it was time to go home. Having long since switched back to human form, Danny opened a portal that should go straight back to the storm cellar on the farm. He had to choose somewhere that people were unlikely to be, and he couldn't go to the cave since he hadn't been there while he was awake so he couldn't form the mental image. Clark and Danny stepped through, but the cellar was not how Danny remembered it.

_Line Break_

Clark and Danny emerged from the portal to see it covered in thick roots and vines. A small stream of icy breath flew out of Danny's parted lips. Carefully they edged over the vegetative mass and headed up the stairs. The farm had been transformed. Instead of the fields of grass and wheat that were growing there was an almost endless field of snapping Venus-fly-trap heads. Clark ran over to the house, but Danny looked to the skyline over Smallville. Sure enough there was the darkness that came with a Ghost attack. The sunny day faded into a dark green the closer to Smallville you looked.

Judging from the colour it was an earth core ghost, and a very powerful one at that. The question was what was it doing in Smallville? Clark raced back from the house, declaring it empty. Danny pointed towards the town, "They're probably in town. Clark, we need to stop whatever that ghost is." The two boys nodded to each other and sped towards town arriving barely a minute later. The town was in even worse condition than the farm. The vines were thicker here and the Venus-fly-traps were as big as a person. There was a cluster of giant pod like flowers clustered towards the centre of town.

Danny and Clark walked through the eerily empty town. They occasionally felt movement, but it was gone by the time they'd turn to look. They walked towards the centre of the town, looking for any sign of the ghost. They were coming up to the field of weird flowers when "I AM UNDERGROWTH" the ghost finally spoke. A large beak and glowing red eyes soared up from the vines beneath their feet. His entire being seemed to be made of thick vines as he soared up into the air.

"WHO DARES TO DISTURB THE GROWTH OF MY CHILDREN!" Two darker vines crossed his chest forming a green chest plate. Two large, thick and green mushrooms formed shoulder plates which held the leafy cloak behind his shoulders in place. Sharp thorns jutted out from his shoulders and ran in a spiky Mohawk up to the top of his head. Two beady red eyes sat beneath long vinelike eyebrows. His face was ensnared with his big green beak-like mouth. He stood twenty feet above them and his countenance radiated violent menace. Danny's response to the monolithic ghost was to send a powerful ecto-blast at him. Clark sent a heat blast at Undergrowth and the ghost found itself without its arms.

The two boys looked happily at each other it seemed this would be fairly easy. They looked to the ghost, vines sprouted from its missing arms, replacing them entirely. "YOU CANNOT DESTROY A BEING THAT CAN REGENERATE! MIND VINES ATTACH!" Suddenly two dark vines sprung from the green mass. They had evil probe looking things on the end and Danny knew he did not want that to get anywhere near him. One tried to bury itself into the back of his neck, but it seemed their energy was incompatible. Thank Hecate for small blessings. Clark though was in trouble. One had buried himself in the back of his neck. Danny watched as Clark fought it, his eyes flickering between blue and green. The blue was overwhelmed by solid green, consuming even the whites of his eyes. The veins in the side of Clark's neck were strained with an awful dark blackness. There was a momentary pause.

"What did you do to him?" Danny screeched at the plant ghost. "The mind vine" the ghost responded in a creepily evil voice "Allows me to control the body of the worthless humans. The humans are nothing more than a weed in the Earth's garden. Destroying all that is natural in search of progress. If it is not enough that they must destroy my children with their so called progress, they must throw stones to make it impossible to grow. No more. My children will grow, and the humans will give their nutrients to feed my children. Eventually my children will grow, and the human weeds will be eliminated from my garden. Now, FLESH-WALKER ATTACK!"

Danny was caught off guard as Clark's body threw a super-sonic punch at him. Danny felt one of his ribs shattered from the blow as he was sent flying across town. He landed blearily on the street just in time to see a little red car pull up. Danny pulled himself off the ground and looked over at the car. Whoever it was would be better off far away from the town until the ghost Undergrowth was gone. Danny was about to say as much when a feminine voice yelled out "Danny!" it was Chloe. Undergrowth hadn't gotten her. Thank goodness.

"Are you alright?" She asked. Danny looked at her and ignoring his rib nodded. "I'm all right, but the ghost's got Clark." Chloe visibly paled. Danny knew she was thinking that without Clark they were done for. Knowing her there was no way she'd just leave until Clark was back on their side. This was an emergency. With Undergrowth able to regenerate the way he could Danny had no idea how to weaken him enough to get him in the thermos. "What can we do?" Chloe asked. Danny thought for a moment. It wasn't the best plan, but...

"Can I see some of the weaponry in your trunk?" Chloe looked at him alarmed. Danny knew he wasn't supposed to know about it since it was only on a secret mission with Clark that Chloe had told Clark about it. "Now isn't the time. Yes, I know about the weaponry, I know you needed it when Clark's powers were gone." Chloe's eyes widened "You know?" Darn, Danny hadn't wanted to get stuck into this just now. "Yes, found out the day Sean attacked near the school. We can talk about that later. Yes, I know, no I won't tell anyone. For now Clark's in trouble and I need your help to get rid of the ghost." Chloe looked at him suspiciously for a moment and then nodded her head.

"Can I please have a look at the weapons in your car? I want to see if there's anything that could help." Chloe moved to the back of the car and opened the trunk. _Whoa_ Danny had never seen so many human weapons all together. Danny looked to Chloe and then back at what was there. He could already see that there was nothing that would be really helpful. Out of everything, maybe he could tweak a few to give her an ecto-gun, but that would only be for defence in this situation. And he still didn't know how to get rid of the ghost.

Chloe looked at him questioningly and Danny turned to her with a slight frown. "Okay, the ghost is like a giant plant, I can't see anything that will get rid of it. You have any idea how to kill a plant?" Chloe sighed, Danny hoped she could come up with anything since he was at a loss. "What in here do you not mind me tinkering with?" Danny asked. He may as well do something helpful, and the attention of the ghost was elsewhere at the moment. Now was the time to come up with a plan. He had learned that just racing in with brute strength was not enough for ghosts like this. Chloe looked at him confused "If I have something to work with I may be able to make you a ghost weapon. It'll at least keep that thing at bay."

Chloe looked actually a bit excited at the prospect. She pulled out two hand guns, a couple of grenades and a tin of pepper spray. Okay, so the pepper spray was useless, but the guns and grenades he could work with. Nimbly he pulled apart the grenades, careful to remove the explosive first. He sat on the ground and laid out all the components. He did the same to one of the guns. He was just glad that he had a Swiss-Army knife on him. He usually didn't bother with human weaponry, but had brought it along when they went to retrieve AC. His human form still had it on him when Clark and he had gone to the Far Frozen.

Danny sat on the ground, slightly nervous under Chloe's interested gaze. He looked up at her and said. "Since we're here, may as well multitask. Any chance you can research how to kill a plant?" Chloe obligingly pulled out her laptop and started researching. Danny went through the familiar motions of constructing a basic ecto-ray. He didn't have any of the components to render it harmless to humans, nor did he have the lead crystal for the focusing system that his parents used. He'd pretend to use the Thermos as the energy source, so that would be okay.

Danny mused over how to make the focus. There was nothing in the bullets or the grenades that would do it. Then it hit him, he could make an ice crystal for the focus. He just had to hope that Chloe wouldn't take it apart later to look at it. Danny opened up the shell of the second gun and gutted it. All it would be was a case. The silver gun was quickly filled with the springs, and levers that would allow the energy to charge. When Chloe wasn't looking he summoned a crystal to focus the beam. Finally, he filled the small tube from one of the grenades with pure ecto-energy. It would last longer than his parents' without a recharge, and it would be much more powerful because most of the ghosts they had used were low class Norma ghosts.

Chloe's eyes lit up just as Danny sealed the gun's case. He carved the word ecto into the barrel just in case so that Chloe wouldn't mistake it for a regular gun. "Well," she said "Plants burn easily if they're dry, but looking around it seems that it would take a huge fire to wipe this one out."

Danny looked at her "About the same as the Great Fire of London which last I checked, killed most people in it. The whole town's in there."

Chloe looked at him grimly. "I know. Electricity denatures enzymes, but the charge would have the same problem. The only other thing is cold, like when the plants die off for the winter." Danny smiled, cold he could do. But how to manage it and protect his secret?

Danny shook his head. First things first. Keeping Chloe protected was the priority for now. Carefully he handed the gun to Chloe. "It's pretty slap-dash, but that will keep most small ghosts away. When this is over I'll have to reconfigure it. It'll hurt humans too, third degree burns. I'll fix it when this is all done. Otherwise treat it like a normal gun. Point, aim and shoot. It'll be bright and won't kick back the same way, but it's the best I could manage."

Chloe looked at him curiously. He'd just proven that he was smarter than he acted, and he needed the act to keep Fenton and Phantom separate. Oh well, more pressing concerns for now. "What about you?" Chloe asked concerned. _Well, all of me is pretty much a weapon_ he thought, but pulled out the Thermos. "Thermos; it's a ghost capturing device. There wasn't enough for two guns so this'll have to do me. I'm a terrible aim anyway." With that Chloe and Danny proceeded into town, still no real plan on hand, well at least from Chloe's perspective.

Danny meanwhile duplicated himself, having a second invisible Danny behind them. He wasn't looking forward to the head rush, but it was safer this way. A Venus-fly-trap thing came towards them and Chloe shot at it. While she was distracted the Danny's switched places. The original transformed and flew ahead, ready to meet them further on. Phantom got a head start, icing some of the roots that were buried into the town. Just as Chloe and Danny ran up he came up from the ground, his white cloak billowing out around him.

"Phantom?" Chloe asked sounding stunned. Which was fair, he was a bit far from his usual "haunting ground", and most of the world thought he was a myth. Phantom turned to Chloe and said "It's not safe for you here, you should leave." He couldn't help it, the urge to protect her was stronger this close to the threat. "What are you doing here?" Chloe demanded. Well at least she hadn't run screaming. "I go where I'm needed. I got stuck in this world and decided to float around. I saw Undergrowth and came here to help." They had no more time as Undergrowth decided to pay attention to them.

"YOU AGAIN!" he said, bellowing at Danny "I THOUGHT YOU HAD BEEN ENSLAVED! YOU WILL SERVE AS NUTRIENTS FOR MY CHILDREN!" Before Danny knew what was happening he was swallowed by a big flower thing. He could feel the flower moving, he assumed towards the centre of town. Slimy mucus covered him and he could feel his human energy being drained away. Dazedly he felt the edges of unconscious grasping at him...

Phantom reabsorbed the duplicate, ignoring the head rush and the fear of losing consciousness inside a flower. That Danny had served his purpose; Chloe had seen both of them at the same time. Phantom turned his attention back to Undergrowth, "You two will make a fine meal for the children too." He said. Danny fired an ecto-beam, and heard Chloe firing her gun behind him. He flew to float beside her, and cactus-like things came towards them. "How'd you get that" Phantom asked, already knowing the answer. Both of them continued fighting back the things, firing green beams at them.

"Danny Fenton, the kid who came with me made it. Phantom, what do we do? That thing has got the whole town hostage, they'll die soon." Phantom looked to Chloe and said "I'll stop him." Phantom sent a blast of icy energy towards the cactuses, freezing them in place. Chloe fired at them and they shattered. "I advise you take cover, it's going to get a little chilly." Phantom advised Chloe, hoping she'd take the hint and run. She didn't.

Phantom dove under the ground and continued freezing Undergrowth's massive roots. "NOOO MY ROOOOTS!" came bellowing down towards him. Phantom took that as an indication to come up and attack the ghost head on. He threw an icy blast at the ghost. Undergrowth froze in place for a moment, but then he broke free. Danny tried again, and he could see that Undergrowth was weakening from each icy blast. Chloe ran up, and one of the energy streams mixed with Phantom's blast. The two together caused more damage and the ghost roared in pain.

This gave Phantom an idea. He summoned a ball of icy energy, infusing it with his ecto-energy and threw it towards the ghost. A ball of swirling blue and green struck at undergrowth's middle. The ball was encircled by the ghost's vine regeneration, but Phantom was still in control. He forced the ball of energy to expand outwards and Undergrowth was consumed by a wave of icy blue light. The plants withered and faded away, there was only minor damage caused by the masses of plants. The sky returned to blue as the last traces of Undergrowth vanished.

Phantom offered a hand to Chloe and flew her bridal style into the centre of town where everyone was waking up. Phantom sent a duplicate Danny to join the masses. As they landed, Phantom sensed a ghost. He looked down at the ground and there was a small shrub that cried "I am Regenerating!" to the sky. Chloe shot it and Phantom sucked it up with the thermos. "Thank you" Phantom said to Chloe. "Now let's find your friends." It took five minutes of wandering through the crowd of dizzy and confused people, but they eventually found Clark, Lana and the Kent's. A minute later Danny wandered up, tripping over a stray root on the way. Thirty seconds after that Lois stumbled across the group.

"Urgh, what happened?" Lana asked. Phantom stepped up, "This young lady here saved the day." as he indicated towards Chloe. Chloe blushed. "It was Phantom. He flew in and saved the town." Clark, Martha and Jon were looking confusedly between Danny and Phantom. Phantom just said "Didn't do much, just stopped a ghost. Thank you miss...?" he trailed off, hoping that Chloe would introduce himself. "Chloe" she said. Thank goodness. Phantom reached out his hand to take hers. He gently kissed the back of her hand and said "Then thank you Chloe. Without your assistance it would not have been so easy to capture this foe." Once more Chloe blushed. Okay, so Phantom was laying it on a bit thick, but it made it easier to keep himself separate.

Phantom turned to the rest of the group and courteously asked for their names. Clark laughed as he took his hand and said thanks. Lana stepped beside Clark and did the same. Then Phantom turned to Danny. "What are you doing all the way in Kansas Danny?" Phantom asked with a hint of concern. Danny replied sadly "Mom and Dad are gone. This is my aunt and uncle. They've kindly taken me in. I can't thank them enough for all they've done." Chloe interrupted "You two know each other?"

Phantom smiled warmly at Chloe. "Kid's parents were always shooting at me, most ghosts know the Fenton's. But Danny saw what I was doing, chucked the Thermos at me during a fight. That let me capture the ghost. Danny was always kinder to ghosts than his parents. He helped me figure out how to avoid some of the worst weapons." Phantom turned back to Danny. "I'm sorry to hear of your loss." Phantom hoped that this would be enough of a connection that Chloe wouldn't go digging for other connection between Fenton, Phantom and Amity.

Clark was the one who took the lead "So where are you off to now Phantom?" he asked. Phantom smiled at Clark and murmured thanks only he could here. More loudly he said "For the moment I'm just floating where the wind takes me. Don't really have access to the Zone, so I can't get back easy. Even if I did, I can't get out if you need help here. I might hang around for a while; could do with a bit of quiet." There, that covered if Phantom was seen again. It was unavoidable after today. He just hoped the GIW and the Red Huntress wouldn't come looking.

A news crew had appeared driving through the town towards them. Phantom really didn't want to talk to reporters, so faded into invisibility. He tailed Danny as the party split up. Chloe had come into town to go shopping with Lana, but after today they just decided to head to the Talon for coffee. Danny asked Chloe for the gun back, saying he wanted to make a few modifications. The two Kent elders looked at Clark and Danny who just said "When we get home."

Clark picked up his mum and super-sped her back home. Phantom grabbed Danny and Jon and flew the two back to the Kent farm. When they were there Phantom finally absorbed the duplicate and changed back to his human form. Martha made a cup of tea for all of them and they all sat in the lounge around the table. Danny had a headache from the duplicate, so allowed Clark to explain the adventure in the Far Frozen. He explained what had happened when they got back, and their trip into town. Then Clark said something that really concerned Danny.

"I'm so sorry for hitting you. I heard something crack. Are you okay?" Danny had not expected that. Usually people who had been controlled by ghosts forgot everything they'd done. But Clark remembered, Hecate; that must have been horrible. He was aware the whole time but couldn't control himself. Danny looked at Clark and told him he was fine. Clark didn't seem to believe him, and so gave him an X-ray. The rib that Clark had broken was already almost healed, and Clark not being a doctor overlooked the small line where it still had to recover. Satisfied, he allowed Danny to explain how he and Chloe had got rid of the ghost.

Jon asked about the fuss he'd made over Chloe back in town. "A bit of subtle flattery" Danny explained "can convince a person not to go digging. I hope that thinking of her experience with Phantom will leave her too distracted to see the similarities between the two of us. Really, she did deserve thanks, and Phantom was the only one who could give it to her. That performance kills two birds with one stone." Danny finished with a shrug and that answer seemed to appease Uncle Jon.

Martha then asked "Why did you want the gun back?" Danny gave her a goofy grin which faded into a stern frown. "Aunt Martha, my parents would never have let me be if that gun was used. That I let Chloe use it at all was wrong of me. I was desperate to give her something to protect herself, and I didn't care at the time. In retrospect I should have just sent her away, but I wasn't completely thinking straight. The gun hurt the ghost, yes. But it would seriously harm a civilian too. Mom and Dad always made sure their weapons couldn't hurt a human."

Danny sighed sadly. "At the time I didn't have much to work with. Clark told me that Chloe had... access to weaponry, and I was able to covert a couple of grenades and guns into something functional. But it was wrong." Clark surveyed the weapon on the table. He gave it a quick X-ray. And noted there were two parts that couldn't have come from the guns or grenades. "Where did you get the crystal thing and the green tubey-thing?" Danny shook his head at Clark exasperatedly and then opened the side of the gun so Aunt Martha and Uncle Jon could see.

"The "green tubey-thing" is the power source. It's another thing I probably shouldn't have done when I made the thing. It's pure ecto-energy; _my _pure ecto-energy. It can cause a lot more damage that any of the ghosts that mom and dad took it from." Danny got sidetracked at their curious glances. "In the Zone, ghosts work on a power system. The more powerful ghosts hold more authority than the weaker ghosts. It's instinct, we know it, and generally can tell when we're outclassed. Humans don't know, not in the same way we do. The most powerful ghost could stand next to the weakest and a human could never tell the difference."

Danny paused for a moment "Thirty years ago the hunters came up with a class system. It's just a scale from one to ten. Level one's are amorphous blobs, those are what Mom and Dad drew their ecto-power from. They aren't really sentient and can hardly be called ghosts, but they can be caught fairly easily. Level twos have only basic powers, they have a form, but aren't worth much thought. I've fought a level nine, Pariah, and was almost ended" Danny paused and shook his head. They were living, they wouldn't understand _'ended'._ Danny clarified "almost died. There's two ghosts that I think are stronger, but nobody could ever got a read on them."

Clark was curious "What level are you?" he asked and Danny looked over at him with an inquiring glance. "Now? I don't know. Three months ago the GIW said I was a 7.2. But that was three months ago. When I started out I was about a level 4. No other ghost has grown so fast. I've only existed for two years, and I'm not sure how much my human half changes the ghost half. Still, I was 7.2 three months ago. That's the best answer that I can give."

Danny looked back to the open gun on the table. He smiled. "The crystal is far more innocent." Danny held out his hand and a small ice diamond appeared in his hand. He walked over to Aunt Martha and handed it to her. "Thank you, for giving me a home when mine was lost." Danny said, smiling at his aunt. Aunt Martha smiled and looked at the crystal.

"I'll have to fix the gun for Chloe, but maybe tomorrow. It's getting a bit late and to be honest, I'm exhausted." Danny excused himself to go off to bed. Clark yawned, but chose to elaborate on a few details that he had skimmed over when he explained their time with the Far Frozen.

"Mom, when I first met Lex" Clark said "I saw him practicing fencing. He fought well, but it was a fight. When Danny fought with Frostbite, they danced. That's the best way I can describe it. He may act clumsy, but that was beyond anything I've ever seen."

Clark still felt guilty for having hit his cousin, but Danny said it was fine. And he didn't have any broken bones. Eventually he too went up to bed. He'd had a long couple of days. Just before he lay down he retrieved the blanket from the storm cellar. He folded it up, wondering how he should go about getting it back to the Far Frozen. He was drifting off to sleep when he remembered something that Frostbite had told him. He'd have to ask Chloe what it meant to _"single-handedly defeat a King"_. But that was a job for the morning.

The Smallville Ledger the following morning had one story on the front page. _"Phantom Comes to Smallville"_

* * *

><p>AN: Danny finally has ice powers. Maybe I shouldn't have used Undergrowth without Sam around, but he is the only ghost that really needs ice to be beaten.<p>

Chloe has an ecto-gun, and suspects Danny of being smarter than he lets on. Suspicions are forming...

'Till next time

Bluerose


	7. Bite

Chapter 6

Bite 

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

"Fenton!" The cry echoed through the hallways as Danny once more found himself on the run from a bulky blue-eyed blonde footballer. It seemed some things would never change. Jay was one of the few people in the school that Danny knew by name. He had decided that he didn't want friends who could get hurt from being near him, or betray him to the GIW. Besides, he felt like he would be betraying Sam and Tucker if he replaced them. He was better off alone in Smallville. Danny Fenton could fly under the radar. "Fenton! Get here now! You owe me a Locker-Plant!" Well, mostly under the radar.

Okay, Danny _had _baited Jay to protect his intended victim, but the freshman couldn't take the hit. Danny could. Besides, Danny had found out that the football team had apparently strung him up out in a cornfield on the night of the homecoming dance. He'd already suffered enough for one year, so Danny had decided to subtly protect him, and Jay's other victims. If he was the new target, so what. It wasn't like anything Jay did would hurt him. So Danny let Jay chase him through the halls and down the stairs, drawing the attention away from the freshman class.

The bigger problem was that ghosts were appearing in Smallville more often. He'd have to stop a minor ghost once every few hours. It was as if the fight with Undergrowth broke a dam and now there was a big shining beacon saying "Danny Phantom is here!" to the sky. Sure it wasn't as bad as Amity had been, but it was still a nuisance. Perhaps more annoying was the Phantom paraphernalia that had showed up in some of the shops. Some of the kids had switched to the black and neon green shirts that had popped up seemingly overnight. It was actually kind of disturbing. Fortunately there was no-one here out to get him. Or at least not yet.

Although with all the added interruptions Danny wasn't the most popular student for the teachers. When he handed work in it was good. When he was in class he paid close attention. But when a ghost showed up he'd have to leave a duplicate until the end of class and then reabsorb it after the bell to save energy. He wasn't randomly running out anymore, but the teachers were wary of his semi-constant absences. The school had called Uncle Jon and Aunt Martha about it already, but they had seen him on the local news often enough and knew that was only in the longer confrontations. Danny was actually glad to have his guardians know about him. At least he didn't have to deal with the disappointment at home as well.

Danny had been living with the Kent's close to two months now. It was coming up to Halloween. All Hallows Eve was to fall on a full moon that year. That meant that the barrier between the Zone and the Real world would be dramatically weakened. Danny just hoped he could ride it out and not have to deal with the Fright Knight. He was currently free of the Pumpkin, but Vlad tended to keep him on a fairly tight leash. The froot-loop had his uses. Still, the other ghosts were likely to cause trouble. He'd noticed the gradual increase in the number of ghosts around the town. He felt responsible for all the ghosts that came to Smallville, but he didn't know how to stop them coming. All he could do was stop them when they arrived.

Danny turned a corner, but stumbled when two other football players blocked the corridor. _Fenton_ needed to be clumsy and foolish, hiding in plain sight. Danny slowly got up and spun as Jay joined the other three. "Fenton" the larger boy said with a grin as menacing as a human could make "you know, just because you're Kent's cousin doesn't mean you can waltz in here and expect us to bow down to you. Scrawny little loser like you, should be taught your place." Danny let himself be slammed up against the lockers, feigning pain as a punch was delivered to his stomach. The freshman would have gone home with a broken rib. Frankly, Danny had faced worse from the Box Ghost.

The bell rang and Jay dropped Danny, striding away as he headed towards his next class. Knowing Jay wasn't in it Danny moved freely to the classroom and took a seat in the back of the room. They were studying WWII and the bombing of Pearl Harbour, Danny reflected on his lessons from Clockwork about the Zone at the time. Many soldiers had passed on, but they didn't have the will to manifest into anything more than a level 1. Danny smiled; keen to learn about the human perspective. Twenty minutes into the lesson though Danny groaned as he sensed a ghost near. Leaving a duplicate for the last half of the lesson, he flew off to face the ghost. Halloween week had begun.

_Line Break_

Clark had a lot on his mind. Professor Milton Fine had offered him a position as a research assistant for a book on LuthorCorp, which Clark had accepted. But he had some ethical qualms about having done so. Professor Fine's lectures were interesting, he spent them pressing about battles of power. Clark was not fond of the might means right mentality, but it seemed so many of the great figures in history were. Fine gave many insights into the people in power of whatever time period they were studying, but the underlying message through all of them seemed always to somehow relate back to Lex Luthor. Fine had a very antagonistic view of Lex, and while Clark was not so fond of him anymore, Fine always seemed to ignore his redeeming qualities.

Clark had been at Central Kansas U for over a month now and had settled in well enough. It was a longer distance to run in the mornings, but he enjoyed the liberty of lectures and the more open plan of the University. It was different to Smallville High, but it was good. He often visited Chloe at Met U, she had taken to it like a fish to water, but after all, Journalism was her dream. She had even applied for an internship at the Daily Planet, and Clark thought there was no way that they'd refuse her.

Lana had surprised him by getting late acceptance into Met U. He was disappointed that she hadn't wanted to come to Central Kansas, but could respect that she wanted to do her own courses. At least she'd have Chloe for company. Clark hoped that Lana would find somewhere to stay. She was too independent to rely on always crashing in Chloe's dorm. All he knew was that she was trying out for a sorority. Lana had never really struck him as that type of girl, she was strong, but she was too innocent for it. He loved her with all his heart because she was so kind and honest towards everyone around her. People in sororities were renowned for being shallow and uncaring. Still, if it gave her a bed that was her own Clark was happy for her.

No, what was really pressing on his mind was Danny. In many ways Clark regarded him as a brother, despite their differences. The Kryptonian and the Halfa, both Danny and he were the only one of their kind on Earth. While the kid had let himself be friends with Clark, and his friends, Danny didn't seem to make any his own age. Clark worried as to why, but just hoped it was shock lag from moving to a new town and not having his family around anymore, and not anything more sinister. It was interesting to watch the difference between his characters. When Chloe, Lois or Lana was around he acted a clumsy fool, a kind-hearted but goofy person. When he was Phantom he was powerful, in control, confident and commanding. He acted every part the noble his costume portrayed. When he was on the farm with Clark or his parents he was a strange mixture of the two. He was a kind-hearted strong person who walked with confidence and purpose.

Sometimes Clark wondered who the real Danny was. He seemed to miss his friends and family, but he was not as lost as Clark was sure he would be. Or was his loss just concealed behind another mask? He couldn't understand his cousin, and while Clark enjoyed being around him, he couldn't help but wonder what Danny actually thought and felt. Clark was saddened when the school called his parents to say he was acting up. He knew that it meant that Danny was taking care of ghosts, although Danny never spoke about it. Phantom had been in the Smallville Ledger at least once a week since Undergrowth had come. Every time Danny saw the paper he cringed and switched to a different subject.

There was one other thing that bothered Clark. When they left the Far Frozen, Frostbite had pulled Clark aside. He had asked Clark to continue being a guardian for Danny, whatever that meant. But the thing that got to him was when Frostbite had said _"Soon the time will come when he learns what it means to single-handedly defeat a King"_. Clark had put that aside for a week, but eventually he went to Chloe to talk about it. She was better at searching for information and could better tell between rumour and fact than Clark could.

_Flashback_

_Clark and Chloe were sitting in her dorm room. The other half of the room was empty, and Chloe was hoping that she'd been put into the room alone. The two of them had been discussing their various courses and Clark decided to use that as an interlude. Since he was studying world history he asked Chloe about kings, kingdoms and wars. Chloe pulled out her laptop and spent a few minutes pulling up information on ancient battles and long-dead armies. Sifting through it all she came to one common theme. All the victors seized control of the land they had defeated._

"_The Right of Conquest" Chloe announced "Is a part of long-standing traditional law. It doesn't matter much today where all our disagreements are settled on paper and with treaties. In ancient times though, if an army defeated another they had the right to take possession of their lands. That principle is what led to the foundations of the UK."_

_That still didn't answer his question about Frostbite's words. "What if one person defeated the king alone?" He asked, hoping that Chloe wouldn't read too much into it. Chloe plugged away on her computer for a moment. "If someone were to defeat a king by themself, then they became king. It was not just a right, but a responsibility. The people tended to believe in having the strongest leader. If their king were defeated, it meant they weren't strong enough. The new king had to take responsibility for both his people and those of the king he defeated. Those were the rules."_

_She looked up from the computer "Good thing it doesn't work like that now, otherwise the President would be responsible for about half the world." Chloe made the comment lightly, but Clark's mind was reeling. Danny had single handedly overthrown Pariah Dark; the King of all Ghosts. _All_ ghosts. That meant that, according to the Right of Conquest, Danny would be King of all Ghosts himself. Wouldn't he? He remembered Frostbite's words. _"He has a destiny similar to your own."_ The message that had come with Clark in his spaceship had suggested that he was to Rule the human race. Could that be what Frostbite meant?_

_End Flashback_

Clark thought back to that day. Danny didn't act like a king. Phantom was a knight, sure, but he didn't do anything that kings did. He didn't have councils or war meetings. He didn't enforce laws. He wasn't a king. And yet it seemed it was his responsibility to be. Did he even know? Clark thought of all the fights between the ghosts and him. If he were King he could tell them to stop. No, he didn't know. And something told Clark that he wasn't supposed to. Maybe, Clark mused, he should help Danny learn to take care of people in all situations. That there was more than just ghost fighting out there. Perhaps that was what Frostbite had intended him to do.

Clark sighed as he headed off to his next lecture. Lex had shown up at the end of the last one, and Professor Fine had put Clark on the spot asking if he would have the courage to stop Lex should he turn out to be a megalomaniac. Fortunately he had been literally saved by the bell and hadn't had to answer in front of Lex. But the real answer... Clark honestly didn't know. He'd helped AC sure, but that wasn't stopping Lex, just a bad project. Clark didn't think he could ever do that to Lex himself. He had been a friend, but more than that, it felt wrong to even think about doing something that might hurt another person.

No, he could never do anything to harm a living person. That was the path he had chosen to walk. The path his parents had started him on. He would always go out of his way to make sure that the people around him were safe, but he would never put someone in harm's way to do so. He would walk the right path, he would not use his gifts to hurt others, and he would help his friends and family with them. This was his path, and he would happily walk it.

_Line Break_

Chloe looked over her laptop with glazed eyes. Pauline Kahn, Chief Editor of the Daily Planet had lain down the gauntlet. Chloe had to prove herself worthy to her. She desperately wanted the internship, but it was not going to be easy. She knew she'd have to start at the bottom, and she was prepared for it. But she couldn't find the right story. Most of her writing in Smallville had been for a largely ill read peer group, and she'd been able to report on the Meteor Freaks that populated the town. That wouldn't do here. She needed something big, something perhaps damning, and hopefully that played into her supernatural inclination.

The problem was that there was nothing. It was a dry spell for the meteor freaks, and there was literally nothing else happening. A story on Clark would make international headlines, but she would never betray him. She swore that on her grave. There was the issue of Phantom, if anyone could figure out what exactly he was and why he had come to Smallville then they'd have front page material. But short of that first meeting with the ghost Undergrowth she'd not spoken to him. He didn't talk to anyone except the ghost he was facing, and he disappeared at the end of his fights so no one could get an interview.

Ultimately this left Chloe with nothing. Zip. Nada. Zilch. She stared at the blank screen at the little flashing cursor with frustration. She randomly searched missing persons, obits, anything to give a sign for something to write about. She noticed that there were a few missing person's reports for young men. Looking into the files she found that most of them worked in the delivery service, but there was nothing else that linked them. This wasn't getting her anywhere. She shook her head and headed off to her lecture. Maybe she could think more clearly when she got back. She picked up her bag and headed out the door. On the plus side, her roommate was still asleep. Hopefully she'd be that way when Chloe got back.

The lecture passed quickly enough and Chloe soon found herself in her dorm room. Problem was her roommate was busy tearing down all her news articles. Gah, that girl... she'd arrived at college late and the best they'd been able to do was manage civility. Chloe stayed on her half of the room and kept quiet. She turned her laptop off before midnight, and had not had Clark over since she'd come in. What gave her the right to come in here and take down the Wall of Weird? It was an intrinsic part of who Chloe was. Not being able to see it would be like losing her hand.

Her roommate stormed out, leaving Chloe with a very out of it Lana Lang. It seemed the Pledge Party had hit her pretty hard. She laid down groaning as Chloe opened the curtains. Lana must have had far too much to drink last night. Chloe watched as she struggled to rouse herself, only to be greeted by Clark. Clark would be better able to take care of his hung-over girlfriend. Chloe had other things she needed to do, like come up with any idea for her story and maybe research ways to kill her roommate.

Chloe headed to the campus library. It had a good wireless network and a pretty decent paranormal section for a University library. Chloe was sitting at one of the tables, a small pile of books sitting next to her laptop. She was distracted from her search by the hushed whispers coming from a table near her. Normally she'd have tried to ignore them, but they were talking about the Tri Psi sorority. That was where Lana had been accepted. "Can you believe we didn't make it?" one of the girls asked angrily. "We were so close; I was excited to be there." Whined another. The third was no less aggrieved "There were so many of us. I don't see why they'd only let one in, much less that Lana girl. She didn't seem all that special to me." Chloe tuned them out, but a smile crossed her face. She'd found her story.

Half an hour of digging left Chloe with a lot more questions than answers. Okay, so what did she know? One, they had the highest number of pledges, but only accepted one person every year, this year it was Lana. Two, Tri Psi had only accepted one new girl every year since the new Leader Buffy Saunders had taken over. Three, no one had graduated from Tri Psi in the six years since that. Twenty minutes worth of hacking gave Chloe four; none of the girls' student ID's looked a day older than when Buffy had taken over, six years ago. And five, the missing delivery people; two years ago a pizza boy had been found on the outskirts of campus, closest to Tri Psi, drained of blood.

So, the girls were seemingly immortal, ridiculously exclusive, and seemed to have developed a taste for human blood. The first thought that crossed Chloe's mind was _Vampires_ but there was no such thing. _Then again, if Phantom's real and Clark's real then why not vampires too? _It seemed that the only way to find anything out for sure was to actually go there. But how could anyone get into an exclusive sorority house uninvited? Chloe headed back to the dorm. It was time to bring in the big guns. And by the big guns she meant Clark.

Chloe packed up her things, put a few books away and returned to her dorm. On the way she picked up a flyer. It seemed that Tri Psi was having a Halloween party. How fortuitous, she and Clark could get in, do a little digging and get out and no one would be the wiser. A cheeky smile crossed her lips as she called Clark. She'd missed this from the days of Smallville High, a mystery to solve and a paranormal being to stop. They'd bring Lana back in line, and stop whatever was going on at that Sorority. It felt good to be back in business.

_Line Break_

Phantom shook his head as he fell picked himself up from the ground. It was all Hallows Eve, and the barrier between the worlds was at its weakest. He had been fending ghosts off all week, and had probably missed more than half of school for the week. But protecting people would always come first. That's why he was here as the moon rose. This ghost fortunately wasn't the Fright Knight, today he'd be almost impossible to defeat. But the ghost was of a similar ilk.

Danny had just gotten out of his last class for the day and was going to head out for patrol when his ghost sense had gone off. Danny had hidden behind some of the bushes out the front of the school and transformed, flying off as Phantom. This would be his tenth ghost for the day, and something told Danny this would be the worst. He flew off towards where he sensed the ghost's energy, a tingle from its power shooting up his spine. This one was close to his own power level, and had the feeling of deranged maliciousness that so many of the ghosts that came to the Real World harboured.

Coming close to the scene Danny was overwhelmed by destruction. For two streets there were gutted cars laced with long incisions and burn marks. A few people lay unconscious on the sides of the street. Phantom flew over to check their pulse. Their vitals were all normal, but their auras were empty. It was as if their essence had been taken. Phantom puzzled over this as he followed the trail of destruction towards where the ghost was. He turned around a street corner and caught sight of a large dark figure.

"I am HARVESTER!" the ghost had proclaimed to the sky as Phantom approached. The ghost had his back to Danny, but looked like the grim reaper. Two skeletal hands came out from long black sleeves. A long scythe with a silvery red blade was clutched by one of the skeletal hands. The black robe had an aura of red danger encompassing it, and the sky had become a vicious shade of crimson. This ghost held a fire core, _brilliant_ Phantom thought sarcastically. The ghost turned to face him. From beneath the black hood of his robe was a terrifying rendition of a Jack-o-lantern. Solid blood red eyes sat in the orange-red face. Sharp metallic teeth pointed out of its mouth. The skin of the pumpkin was laced with scars and cracks, all glowing with the same sickening shade as its eyes.

For a moment Phantom lost his holding in the air before he steeled himself for the fight ahead. He shot a warning blast at the ghost, and cried "Hey, Pumpkin Head, Harvest's in, and you're out." The ghost faced Phantom and sneered menacingly.

"The mortal harvest is over, but now it's my turn." The ghost drew out his scythe and swung it towards some of the few people who were still out on the street. Phantom flew in front of the blade and felt as it split through his black tunic, tearing at the flesh of his stomach. Something in the blade pulled at him, it felt like his very essence was being drawn into the blade. Harvester's eyes widened.

"Halfa" it hissed, and sent him a wild grin. "I will harvest your soul and reap your power for my own" the ghost drew the Scythe back and swung it towards Phantom. The red blade struck Phantom's green shield, and the people below scattered, retreating to safety. Phantom felt his stomach; the ectoplasmic blood was already starting to clot. If he could hold the ghost off for a few minutes it would be safe to move again. Harvester continued the assault on Phantom's shield, blow after blow shaking Phantom's energy to his core.

With a strong blow the shield shattered, falling away in a shower of green dust. Harvester grinned, and pulled his scythe back for what could be a killing blow. Phantom retreated for a moment, charging his hand with blue energy. As Harvester's blade swung Phantom dodged in to land an icy punch on the ghost's chest. Ice swelled from around the impact, and Harvester flew back in the air, screaming. He halted his flight, and glared at Phantom.

"Foolish boy! You cannot defeat me!" the ghost sent a barrage of lavender fireballs towards the halfa. Phantom dodged, but one singed the flesh on his right shoulder. Harvester continued his rant "The souls I have already reaped have allowed me purchase in this mortal world. I shall harvest your soul, and be unstoppable!" Well, at least that explained what was wrong with the unconscious people on the street. Danny continued to dodge the ghost's attacks, struggling to form a plan in his mind.

He couldn't just shove Harvester in the Thermos, not until the souls were free, but he had no idea how to free them. Harvester swung his scythe towards Phantom's chest, towards his heart. The blade pierced the skin even as Phantom caught the blade. A thin trickle of glowing green escaped his torn flesh. The blade in his fingers felt weird. The red glow surrounded his fingers, but there was a trace of humanity escaping from the blade. Phantom focused his energy on this, his eyes glowed blue as he poured his own ice around the fiery blade.

Blue ice spread slowly over the scythe's blade, absorbing the evil red, the two combined into an unusual shade of lavender. Phantom felt another tug on his soul, the blade trying to summon his essence. Phantom concentrated, and like with Frostbite allowed his own energy to bleed off that of Harvester's. The blade glowed brighter as the two held their contest of wills, neither willing to back down. The pull on Phantom grew too great and he felt himself being pulled into Harvester's blade.

To an observer, the two ghosts were swallowed in a pool of lavender light, so bright as to eclipse the setting sun. The scythe clattered down to the street below in a loud clamour. The street lay empty for several minutes, tension pouring through the air. After ten minutes a few people ventured out from the shops they'd been hiding in. They went to examine the unconscious people that were gathered on the street. A middle aged man knelt down next to his daughter, she breathed and looked as if she merely slept, but nothing could awaken her. Silently he cursed the ghost Harvester as others confirmed the same for all the unconscious people. A small crowd gathered around the scythe that lay in the street. No-one seemed to want to get close to it, still bathed in a crackling aura of purple light.

Phantom shook his head; last he recalled he was battling the ghost Harvester in the streets of Smallville. Now, he was standing on a rocky platform. There was nothing around except for the rocks. No trees, no grass, nothing but the rocks. The sky above him was a curious swirling mass of ice blue, bright red and purple light. It seethed; the colours of the sky seeming to battle against each other, similar to the colours on the blade. Phantom intuitively knew he was not in the Ghost Zone. Somehow he could always tell. No, he was still in the Real World, but at the same time not. Phantom took a few steps forward and came across a pile of rocks.

The rock pile was probably ten feet high, and Phantom walked around it. He could feel a strange almost human energy coming from inside it. He stopped, steeling himself he let the energy pour out. The front wall of the rocks was blown away to reveal about twenty people trapped in a big cage. Phantom reached his hand out to the cage, but pulled back as the cage tried to pull him in.

"Boy!" the loud voice of Harvester echoed across the plain causing both human and halfa alike to flinch in its sheer power. "Fool, you have trapped us both here!" the monstrous ghost appeared out of a mist, emanating evil, but Phantom noticed he lacked his scythe. Phantom's eyes widened in realisation; they were all trapped inside the scythe. If he wanted to free the trapped souls, he had to defeat Harvester here.

"You shall perish in here, and I shall summon your strength to escape this confinement!" Harvester screeched, sending a blast towards Phantom. Phantom erected a shield to protect the prisoners, and charged off towards Harvester. This time Phantom was not dealing with escaping the scythe. Fast as lightning he struck, ice pouring out from his glowing wrist. Harvester didn't stand a chance; he was entrapped in a block of ice. Even his fire core could not withstand the cold exuding from Phantom's icy one. Phantom looked at the frozen ghost and calmly said.

"You only reap what you've sown. And Harvester you planted nothing." Phantom walked away from the frozen ghost and back towards the cage. He placed a hand on the bars and with all his energy pulled, the ghostly entrapment fading into nothing. The trapped souls vanished from his sight. Phantom blinked in confusion before being overwhelmed. He felt as though there was too much going on inside his head. Too many thoughts and emotions teemed through his mind. Fear poured through his being and he weakened, fumbling across the platform in his confused state.

With all his mental strength he pushed back, creating a barrier between the chaos and his own self. It took a moment to realise that these were the trapped souls that Harvester had taken. Phantom needed to find some way to put them back, to get them home safely. He closed his eyes, and suddenly he knew what to do. Phantom pulled the last reserves of his ghostly energy in towards himself, and pushed out. He was encircled in a flash of golden white light.

_Line Break_

The people on the street were still gathered around the scythe. It had been twenty minutes since the two ghosts had vanished, leaving behind the tainted weapon. The gathered people watched as the energy around it fought, the red, purple and blue light seething in some form of eternal struggle. "Should we pick it up?" one man asked. The rest of the group stood at a loss, and even the man seemed reluctant to. Occasionally a glance was spared for the unconscious people lying on the street. They had all been found and brought back to lie on blankets on the street together. All in all there were twenty two people in this strange sleeping state.

The ambulance service had arrived not too long ago, but couldn't figure out whether it was safe to move them to the hospital. They simply looked to be asleep, but nothing would wake them. The vitals were different to comatose victims as well; it was weird to say the least. The paramedics were observing the sleeping victims, checking for any sign of change. The crowd had eventually shifted away from the scythe, to try and help in any way they could. Suddenly the scene was enveloped in a pool of pure white light, it was so bright that all had to close their eyes.

The light cleared, and from a pool of silver-blue mist stepped the figure of Phantom. His white cloak fluttered around him, floating in the ethereal breeze. His black trousers and tunic had become a stark white. His snowy hair had traces of black spotting the ends as it fluttered lightly around his face. But it was his eyes that held them all transfixed. No longer were they that bright neon green. They glowed silver, bright as the moon, but encompassed flecks of icy blue and emerald green. To all present he looked more like an angel than a ghost, bathed in a pure white light.

The Phantom didn't seem to acknowledge them; instead he turned to walk towards the closest sleeping figure. He stopped to kneel beside the fourteen year old girl. He moved both of her hands to lie over her heart and then lay his right hand over them. His eyes closed, and a silvery gold mist swirled around him. A small tendril of silver poured from Phantom's right hand and into the unconscious girl. The paramedics stepped forward to stop him, but were held back by the stunned citizens.

The girl gasped, her brown eyes opening in confusion. The father raced over to his daughter to catch her in a smothering hug. Phantom had already moved on to awaken the next person. A paramedic raced over to the girl to check that she was okay. Pulse, breathing, and temperature; she was perfectly fine. "What happened?" the girl's father asked as she gathered the blanket up around her shoulders.

The girl looked over to Phantom and took in as much as she could. She closed her eyes and remembered all that had happened that afternoon. "I was hanging out with Chris and we heard this almighty crash. It sounded like metal tearing against metal and we both tried to run for it. Then this cloaked person came up to us. We didn't think much of it, since its Halloween, but then he swung his scythe thing at us. Next thing I know I'm trapped in this weird place with a blood red sky. I was in a cage and there were seven other people already there before me and Chris got there. We were all stuck in this cage thing, and more people would just appear every few minutes."

The paramedic and the father didn't know what to make of this. The girl had been there the whole time, unconscious. She hadn't gone anywhere with a cage, they were both inclined to believe she'd made the whole thing up. By now Phantom had moved onto the third person, and the second was waking up slowly. Another paramedic went over to this man as the girl continued her story.

"There were lots of us stuck in the cage and it was getting cramped. It had been a very long time since someone had appeared, and we were wondering what would happen next. Suddenly it got cold, and the sky changed. The red was still there, but there was blue too and purple. The colours swirled and it was like some scary battle between the colours. Then everything flashed purple."

The girl paused for a moment to look over to Phantom as he shifted the hands of a thirty year old woman over her heart. "There was a few minutes silence, and then a great green light smashed through the rocks around our cage. Then Phantom was there. He smiled at us, and it felt like the world was going to be okay. He reached out to the cage, but then the ghost was there."

"The ghost yelled at Phantom and shot fire at our cage. But Phantom waved his hand and a green shield protected us. Then Phantom charged at the ghost. In a flash there was a block of ice where the bad ghost had been and Phantom walked back to our cage. This time he touched the bars, and they sort of disappeared into him. Then it's hazy. I felt myself being pulled towards Phantom, and for a moment I think I saw through his eyes. The platform was so much clearer, so sharp and detailed. But then it was gone. I think we were all inside Phantom's head. It was confusing because there was so much going on, so many of us all cramped inside this space."

The paramedic looked confusedly towards the father who asked "So Phantom consumed you, instead of that other ghost?" The girl looked up at her father and quickly shook her head. "He wanted us safe dad. He wanted us away from there and back here with you. Dad, he's different. He isn't like us. His heart doesn't beat, he's not alive. I don't know how to describe it. But for a moment I was surrounded by this feeling of pure bliss. It was like when you and mom give me a hug on a rainy day. It was so loving and caring and purely good, like nothing I've ever felt before. But then it was gone, and I was waking up here, safe, just like he wanted."

Phantom had moved on to the eighth victim by now, and seemed to be growing weary. The other people who had been aroused were telling their own version of the story. For something so surreal surrounding, they all had the same details. Whatever it was that had happened appeared to have actually happened to them. The one place they all got lost was when they described what they had felt in Phantom's mind. They all felt the warmth, the kindness, the purity of his heart, but had no way to describe it. He was an ethereal being placed on Earth, and none present could place what that meant.

Slowly, Phantom made his way through the rest of the people. The silvery golden mist still surrounding him grew weaker with every person he woke up. Finally he stopped at the last person; a second of recognition crossed his otherwise stoic face as he shifted the hands of the twenty odd year old woman above her heart. Once more he closed his eyes, and the golden mist fully disappeared as the woman awoke. Her eyes fluttered open as the Phantom retracted his icy hand. He stood up, and wavered. He still managed to pull out a silver and green Thermos and the Scythe disappeared in a pool of brilliant blue light. He stood unsteadily on his feet. It seemed his energy was virtually gone.

The young woman stood up, probably a bit too fast, but moved to thank Phantom all the same. She waved the approaching paramedic off as she went to face the specter. There was a flash of a camera as someone took a photo of Phantom with his pure white outfit and silver eyes. The Phantom smiled at the woman before he dazedly said "Hello again Lois" but then he staggered. A bright blue ring encompassed his waist and he closed his eyes, concentrating. The rings vanished, but the silvery mist came back.

Everyone present felt the mist pour past them, gathering around Phantom. There was a bright flash of silvery light and a wave of kindness washed over them. Those who had been in the cage recognised this as a fraction of Phantom's soul. As the light and mist cleared their rescuer was back to normal, the white cloak was gathered around a black tunic and black trousers. His hair was once more pure white, and his eyes had returned to their usual green. His eyes were dull, and he looked vaguely dizzy. The girl who he had first awoken ran up to him and gave him a big hug.

For a moment, Phantom's eyes closed in restful bliss, and when he opened them some of the life was back in his eyes. "Thank you for saving me" the girl said; Phantom's cloak fell over her shoulders as she dug closer to his chest. He took one step back and smiled tiredly at her. "That's all right. Thank you for being so brave. May I ask your name?" The girl looked quickly over to her father who nodded subtly, Phantom smiled at the exchange "My name is Katherine, but call me Kat." Phantom smiled down at the young girl, and taking her hand in his own kissed it. There was another camera flash.

"Well, young Kat. I must thank you. Few people could come face a ghost like Harvester and still be as brave and happy as you are now." Phantom led the young girl back towards her father "How?" the puzzled man asked. Phantom smiled at the man. "Kat looked at you for support. You have done a good job as a father; your girl is brave and strong, but wise enough to look to you for additional advice. Thank you." The crowd surrounding the group was shocked, this was the longest that Phantom had stuck around after a fight, he had been exhausted not too long ago, but appeared to be doing better now.

The man who had taken the pictures was going to start an interview since Phantom had stuck around this long. He was about to ask his first question when a bright pink light shot out of the sky and landed on Phantom's back. Phantom threw up his hands and everyone was surrounded in a glowing emerald shield. Phantom groaned, muttering under his breath. He leapt up into the sky as a red suited woman on a floating silver surfboard thing charged onto the scene.

"Ghost" the woman on the surfboard shouted. Her voice held the timbre of a young African-American woman. "Why do you have to make trouble every Halloween?" Phantom visibly slumped as he floated above them. He said something to her that no-one on the ground could hear, but the red-suited woman obviously did. "You kidnapped all those people! I had to fly for an hour to get here just to stop you! Stupid Spook! I'm not going to let you ruin anymore lives!" with that a barrage of red blasts surged from her guns, some speeding towards the large crowd on the ground. Before anyone could react Phantom was protecting them with a large dome like shield.

He grunted as the blasts flung onto the shield. He looked quickly between the crowd and the woman seeming to come to a decision "Red" he yelled "You're going to hurt innocent people..."

"Only because you're using them to protect yourself Ghost!" She interrupted him

"You're going to stop firing for five seconds, and I'm going to come up to you, we need to talk."

"I won't talk with you Ghost. You ruined my life!"

Phantom groaned as another barrage of blasts belted against the shield. The people were confused. This ghost had just saved the lives of twenty people, was visibly fighting exhaustion and yet was still protecting the lot of them against this "Red" girl's assault. Once more Phantom looked at the crowd gathered around him, and determination settled into his emerald eyes.

"Fine!" Phantom yelled "You want me, come get me" and with that the shield was dropped and Phantom leapt up once more into the sky, leading the girl away from the town, and over the road that led to Metropolis. The crowd stood in silence as the moon finally rose over the horizon. "What just happened?" One member of the crowd asked. "Phantom saved us" Kat replied. "He saved us from the ghost and he saved us from Red" a babble of noise broke out. The crowd was silenced by a sharp whistle.

Lois Lane stood to the side, drawing attention with a sharp whistle. "We should get off the street. Everyone who was kidnapped by Harvester gets a coffee on the house at the Talon tonight. Anyone else who wants to come, I'd recommend we figure out what happened where it's safe." With that Lois turned to lead the way back to the Talon. Sure she only worked there, but after this she needed a coffee and she figured everyone else did too. If it was necessary she'd pay out of her own pocket, but she hoped Martha, being the manager would be okay with it. The by now large crowd adjourned to the inside of the Talon to continue the discussion.

_Line Break_

Clark couldn't believe he'd agreed to this. He was standing at the door to a sorority house dressed up as Zorro, with a stupid black mask that kept slipping over his eyes. Lana, this was for Lana. Chloe was right, Lana was in trouble and he'd do practically anything to save her. So he'd put up with the mask for now. Clark was shocked at the promiscuity of the girl who opened the door to let them in. She was wearing a pink bunny outfit that looked like it could have come out of Playboy magazine. Chloe was rambling next to him, but the girl was gazing at Clark with flirtatious eyes. Eventually they were let in, and Clark focused once again on Lana.

"So, Carlos, huh?" Clark asked, picking on the name that Chloe had chosen for his 'secret identity'. Clark fumbled with the mask once more "Starts with a C" Chloe replied as the two of them headed into the party. After a minute or two Chloe sent him upstairs to do some snooping for anything helpful. That was how he ended up in what was obviously Buffy's room. There was an artificial bat on the door, eclipsing a sign that labelled it as hers. He went in the room expecting dark gothic hangings on the walls, chains and blood hanging from the ceiling. Basically something horrifying and incriminating.

What he found was pretty average. The walls were painted lilac, but it looked like an average bedroom. Sure there were bat lights hanging off the bookshelf, but there was nothing obviously wrong. Clark walked over to the small cabinet that was hanging loosely open. Inside was a lit cinnamon scented candle beside a few photo frames and a little journal sat in the front. Clark picked it up and flicked through. There was a newspaper article of when Buffy was attacked by bats in a cave. He pocketed that just as the door opened.

Clark escaped the accusing glare of Buffy as she came in the room. A few half-drunk people came in and Clark jumped at the distraction. He returned downstairs to the main party, hoping to intersect Chloe with this new bit of evidence. He was searching for a sign of either of them when he heard Chloe's voice, she sounded in pain as she whispered "Clark. Please help me" Clark ran to where he heard the sound of her voice.

He was met with the sight of Lana, teeth buried in Chloe's neck. Lana threw Chloe's limp body at him and backed up, a crazed bloody grin passing her lips. Clark looked down to Chloe, her neck bleeding from two pin-prick marks. Lana had bitten her. Lana was fully one of them. Lana was a vampire. Clark looked up, and she was gone. The most important thing for now was getting Chloe to safety. He heard a thud and a splash outside, but wrote it off as a drunken student as he raced Chloe towards the hospital.

_Line Break_

Phantom was exhausted. He'd almost reverted back to human in front of a whole crowd of people. Fortunately there was enough positivity in the air to give him a quick fix, so he was at least able to stay conscious. The hug from the girl Kat was beyond helpful, and he was relieved by the surge of energy she gave him, albeit unknowingly. But then Valerie had showed up. She meant well, and she was human, but it was so hard dealing with her after all that had happened so far today. He'd at least not called out her name in public, just calling her Red, but that was about his limit.

He leapt up into the sky, hoping she'd follow him. She fired red energy at him, and he dodged. They kept the aerial play up for the better part of an hour. Phantom was growing more tired, but couldn't risk heading back to Smallville. Somewhere in the distance a clock chimed eleven. Valerie had chased him all the way to Metropolis by the looks of it. They were on the outer fringes of the city, and they flew over a sign that read University of Metropolis. Dazedly Phantom thought _I wonder if Lana or Chloe are here._ But he shook himself out of it.

"Isn't it your bed-time Red?" Phantom asked; dodging as she sent off what he hoped was the last of her missiles.

Valerie pressed a button and a green light flashed against her visor indicating the late hour. "Dad's gonna kill me." She whispered "Alright spook, the gloves are off. You end here!" Valerie screeched. She fired one final missile at Phantom and then flew off; hopefully back to Amity Park where she belonged. Unfortunately, Phantom was left dealing with a very large missile. He sped away, but it followed him. He soared up, but it was still there. He couldn't do anything to escape it, so he dove towards the ground.

He spun around mid-air to fire an ecto-blast at it. The shell was singed, but nothing more. Phantom soared up again, it was slower to change course. Thinking quickly he iced it, coating it in a layer of crystal blue. He sent a powerful ecto-blast at it and watched as it shattered, a roaring boom penetrated the night air. The blast flung Phantom down towards the earth, and before he could think of anything he found himself splashing into a large hot tub. The other occupants climbed out, sending a few empty cans of beer rolling.

Suddenly Phantom felt himself being dragged out of the water, his drenched cloak hanging heavily on his shoulders. He found himself being dragged through a crowded room. Much as he hated it, he drew energy from the happy buzz that drinking had given the people in the room. He felt the cobwebs begin to clear, and Phantom started feeling much more like himself. He took in a deep breath and allowed himself to feel the auras of those around him. Fortunately everyone was human, so he had no ghosts to worry about. Unfortunately there were several people who had that meteor-infected twang that he'd got off Sean Kelvin. Not the least of which was the person who was dragging him through the party.

Another two followed them as Phantom was dragged up the stairs. He found himself in a blue room, simply decorated with accents of pink flowers here and there. "Cool costume" one of them said. Phantom spun to find himself encircled by three very hot college age girls. Which they probably were, Phantom thought considering he'd last been flying over Met U. "Prince Charming" one of the girls said. She had long brown hair, and was dressed in a very revealing rendition of Snow White's outfit. The second girl had blonde hair, loosely tied around her face and looking like Cinderella. The third who had dragged him up here looked somewhat Latino with long black hair and wearing a leathery dark angel costume.

Snow White came up to him, pushing him up against the wall. "Will you save me?" she asked in a menacingly sweet voice. She leaned in to kiss him, but was stopped by the dark angel. "Stop" she commanded, Snow White glared at her, then backed off. "Doesn't he look a little young to be here?" she asked the other two as she pinched his cheeks, examining him. The other two looked at each other and shrugged. "Does it matter?" Cinderella asked. Phantom found himself surrounded once more by the three girls, but this time he was backed to the wall.

Fortunately they didn't seem to realise who he was, unfortunately that limited him to human skills. "No, it doesn't. It's his fault for coming." Snow White replied, a hint of menace touching her voice. Cinderella and Snow White took to nuzzling into the sides of his neck. Dark Angel pulled at the clasp of his white cloak. She took off her own dark wings and pulled the cloak off his shoulders. In a graceful movement she placed it over her own. Now Phantom was thinking _please don't back away, please don't back away._ The two girls on either side of Phantom watched Dark Angel as she donned the cloak.

Dark Angel took a step back to show off the cloak, it was beautiful, snow white with elegant green fastenings. Idly she hoped she could keep it once the kid was gone. She hoped it didn't get messy while they fed on him. She heard the rustle as the cloak floated behind her, she twirled one step further back, enjoying the sound. But the weight on her shoulders vanished. The cloak dissipated in a swirl of green mist. She looked to the boy who visibly flinched. "What the hell was that?" Dark Angel demanded. The other two girls backed away to stand behind her as she confronted the white haired boy.

Phantom stayed silent. He was a ghost, if he was in the Real World any part of his outfit disappeared when it wasn't close to him until he summoned it again. It was a weird part of ghost biology and at the moment it really played against him. Dark Angel stepped towards him once more, and looked into his eyes. Still he stayed silent, even as the girl deeply smelled the air. A hungry look crossed her eyes, and she indicated for her companions to do the same. Phantom found himself faced with three gorgeous sorority sisters gazing at him hungrily and yet he found himself completely repulsed by them.

"Isn't he just the most delicious thing you've ever smelled" Snow White asked the others. Before Phantom knew what to do the three were on him again, the wall vanished from behind his back and he found himself staring at the ceiling. Two girls on either side of him and Dark Angel was kneeling over him. Phantom froze, unsure of what to do. "Aww, he's scared" Cinderella whined, and she placed her head over where his heart would be. "He should be" Dark Angel replied as she leaned ever closer to his neck. "Trish Stop." Cinderella said, her voice becoming more authoritative. "Listen" Dark Angel looked at the girl, "Listen to what? He's just another boy, as Buffy says, _"we eat boyfriends for breakfast"_ and he isn't even a boyfriend." Dark Angel snapped at her. Then she leaned forward again, running her hands against Phantom's chest.

"He's not just another guy." Cinderella said. She moved her ear away from Phantom's heart and pressed Dark Angel's there. "Listen." Phantom felt Dark Angel's ear press down into his chest, listening for a non-existent heartbeat. He was stuck; he didn't want to show what he truly was to the girls, because they'd likely get hurt. But he really didn't want to stick around until they threw him to the GIW. Dark Angel pulled back wide eyed. "He's like us" she whispered. "What!" Snow White demanded "He is like us" Dark Angel stated simply. "Buffy needs to know." Cinderella said.

Phantom found himself being dragged once more through the house. "Buffy" Dark Angel called out, her voice echoing throughout the corridor.

"Not now!" an angry voice replied. "Freshman made a stupid mistake. Whatever it is you deal with it!"

The three girls escorting Phantom paused "We think you'd want to see this" Cinderella called.

"NO!" the voice echoed back again. "Have your meal, whatever. I need to follow up on Lana. She let her boyfriend see." The three girls looked at each other and then equally evil grins crossed their faces.

"Fine Buff" Snow White said. "If you need us, we'll be around" Dark Angel said as they dragged him down the stairs and out a back door. Phantom found himself outside in a grass circle under the full moon. One of the girls lit a number of candles so they sat in a circle of candlelight.

"So," Snow White started "What's your name Prince Charming?" she asked trying to sound alluring. "Phantom" Phantom replied.

"Ooh," Cinderella cooed "he's shy. There's no need to be so mysterious. We're a sisterhood, but I wouldn't mind a brother..."

"I'm Patricia" said Dark Angel. Pointing over to Cinderella she said "Elsie" and with another gesture to Snow White she said "That's Sadie" the three of them snuggled up to his chest. "Now you know us, there's no need to hide your name"

"My name is Phantom" Phantom said with a hint of frustration. Had he been human his eyes would have glowed green, these girls were rubbing him the wrong way. He was all too close to using his powers to escape.

"Aww," Elsie sighed, "Mr Mysterious still." The three seemed to realise that they weren't getting else for a name.

"So, Phantom" Sadie asked. "How did you come to be like us?" Phantom paused. These were meteor infected sorority sisters. From the sounds of it they had a freshman called Lana roped in. Whether or not it was his Lana, he was not like them. He was curious as to what they meant; they had picked something up from his missing heartbeat. Phantom listened. Theirs were beating at a human rate, but it was so faint it may as well not be there at all. Oh, well that explains their mistake. "I'm not sure I am like you" He said calmly. With that he slipped into the respectfully distant language he used around Dora's court.

"My fair ladies, I must request we adjourn this discussion, perhaps for another eve. The night draws ever onwards, and it would be appalling for myself to keep you from your own affairs." Phantom stood up, and turned to leave, sending a silent prayer to Hecate that this would be simple.

The three girls pouted behind him "Please, don't leave. Stay with us." The three whined at him. Phantom turned to bow at them politely. Only two were left. The third snuck up behind him and not so subtly shoved him to the ground. "Come now" Trish said "I'm sure you are as curious about us as we are about you monsieur Phantom" she delivered the last two with a flirty French accent

Phantom tried to gently push her away, but she held him down with above human strength. He could get rid of her, but he still didn't want to hurt her. Trish however didn't feel the same way. Phantom wanted to play, she'd play. She leaned her head back and summoned her fangs. Smiling she leaned down to Phantom. "You know, I've never kissed a vampire myself" and with that she sunk her teeth into Phantom's neck. For a moment it felt right, the drawing of blood into her mouth, but the second it touched her tongue it was wrong.

She pulled back even as the icy cold sunk down her throat chilling her from the inside out. She screeched and then slumped over. But the damage was done. The other two caught scent of his blood and flung themselves onto him, not even noticing their sister's prone form. A second later and the three girls were lying unconscious on the grass. Phantom stood up, unaffected by the bite and walked over to them. Their auras had changed. They were no longer infected. Phantom sighed; too tired to hold his ghost form, he let the rings embrace him as he switched back to human.

Danny slumped back in the grass, looking at the stars. It was late. Danny looked at his watch, it read 4 am. He had been in ghost form for over 13 hours. It was now All Saints Day, and the barrier would be returned to normal. Thank goodness. He felt exhausted, he allowed himself to rest in the November morning, but then he heard movement from in the sorority house. The three girls who had bit him had been vampires, but his ectoplasm – blood – whatever – had cured them. He sighed, he had a duty to save the others, and his obsession wouldn't let him stop to rest until that was done. He pulled himself into Phantom form and drifted towards the house.

"Nice work. He's quite a catch. One hundred percent corn-fed Kansas beef. Let's eat." The same voice from before, Buffy was it? echoed down to him. It was disturbing how cavalier she was about human life.

"Wait, isn't there something else we can do with him?" That was definitely Lana's voice. How on Earth had she gotten caught up in this mess? Clark had said she was going to Met U, but nothing about joining a sorority, especially a vampire's nest. Danny floated through the corridors. Most of the girls were either asleep or intoxicated, and paid no attention to the ghost within their walls.

Buffy was talking "Like what? Barbecue?" Phantom heard the laughter of maybe four girls. He floated in that direction, ignoring the walls in his way.

"No, like convert him. Into one of us." Lana's voice sounded excited. Phantom wondered how much of this was from the meteor infection and how much was that streak of darkness that he sensed in her. This was dangerous. Phantom came into the room invisible. Lana was standing in front of a blonde girl who he assumed to be Buffy. Lana was wearing a skin tight black leather cat costume. The other girls were in more ordinary clothing. Buffy had three girls behind her as backup. The lot of them laughed.

"We're a sorority," Buffy stated. "Not a fraternity." The blonde next to her commented. "No boys allowed" a brunette finished off. Phantom looked over to the fireplace and there laid the prone form of Clark. Half of him desperately wanted to pull him away invisibly and keep his cousin safe. The other half realised that he had a job to do, and not the strength to duplicate to do both. For the time being Phantom watched invisibly.

"You don't understand. He's special" Lana said, and she was right. Clark was one of a kind on Earth. Phantom hoped that he could keep him safe from the ravenous vampire meteor mutants.

"Not to me. Get out of the way." Buffy snapped at Lana, "No" Lana defied.

"Excuse me" Buffy demanded, drawing herself up close to Lana. Lana looked her square in the eyes and said "He's mine. You're not touching him."

The lot of them laughed, and Buffy slapped Lana, sending her flying. Buffy crouched down in front of Lana and hissed. Phantom was mildly impressed, as a ghost he could growl, and he had his Ghostly Wail, but he couldn't manage a hiss.

Buffy spoke to Lana with a dripping superior tone. "I'm really disappointed in you, Lana. Looks like you're not Tri Psi material after all."

Lana looked up at Buffy, and her eyes glowed red. The same way Clark's did when he used his heat vision. Buffy screeched as the burning hit her and she dissipated in a cloud of smoke and mist. Phantom felt sick. He'd failed to protect an innocent. He lost his purchase in the air and landed on the ground with a thud that nobody heard.

"Looks like I'm making the rules now. Anyone have a problem with that?" Lana walked over to the other girls who babbled saying it was fine. Lana sent them out and Phantom flew after them. He would save them at least. He followed them as they raced outside, racing down the outside staircase. On the wind Phantom heard Clark croak "Listen to me. You're sick." In that tone Phantom knew that it would be okay, Clark had his own cure. Lana would be safe. Now he need only worry about the three terrified vampires running around outside.

The three of them had found the other unconscious girls and were standing stunned in the circle of grass. Phantom stopped to stand in the middle of the circle and dropped his invisibility. He said the two simplest and most stupid words he could possibly say. "Bite Me." The three girls were on him. He felt a sharp sting on his neck and two others on his wrists. Soon enough those three had joined their sisters in their sleep on the grass. Phantom moved to try to rouse them, but was disrupted by a scream from the house.

Phantom flew back to the room where he'd left Clark and Lana to find Lana slumped over Clark, a large syringe rolled away from them. It had probably held the cure. It would have been a sweet tableau if it wasn't all so dire. Using the sword pendant Phantom slit open his wrist and instinctually allowed two drops to fall onto the bite on Clark's neck. Slowly Clark's eyes flickered open. Phantom sighed relief and smiled at him. "Thank goodness you're okay." Phantom felt the effects of the day coming back to hit him full force. Wearily he said "I'd advise you take Lana to the hospital. There's six girls, cured outside. If it's all right, I'll... pass out now." With that Phantom faded into unconsciousness, leaving a sleeping Danny Fenton, an unconscious Lana and and a very confused Clark Kent all sitting in front of the flickering fire.

_Line Break_

Danny had ended up sleeping away most of Saturday, which was unusual since he typically only needed four hours of sleep a night. The news of the ghost Harvester hit the Smallville newsstands first thing in the morning and Clark was curious as to the description of the "Phantom Angel" that had landed on the front page of the Smallville Ledger. What amazed Clark was that Danny had done that, then been chased by Red, and had somehow managed to cure six "vampires" by himself all in the space of fourteen hours.

It was six in the evening when Danny finally came down from his room. He still looked tired, but not as exhausted as he had been. Clark had tried to rouse him for lunch, but Danny slept like the dead when he wanted to. Okay, maybe that was in poor taste, but still. Danny tiredly waved at Clark and went to pick an apple off of the counter. Danny moved back to the lounge to sit near Clark, and a warm smile crossed his face. The apple sat forgotten on the table. "Aren't you hungry?" Clark asked looking at the apple.

Danny seemed too tired to filter out his answers "Wrong half." He said and Clark understood. Danny was 'eating' but not human food. Sometimes it was disturbing to think he drew energy from emotions. Especially after what Lana had just gone through. But Danny always tried to make everyone happy. That was the difference. The vampires had taken for their own ends, killing people for blood where Danny gave out more than he took in. Yet he was subtle in the whole process. He made anyone near him feel good, and in return they gave him the energy so he could continue.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, and Clark watched fascinated as some of the colour came back onto Danny's cheeks. Eventually he became curious and pulled out the Ledger. "Care to explain the Phantom Angel?" he asked with a hint of laughter in his voice. Danny frowned as he looked at the page. There were two photos of him on the front. The first was him as he kissed the young Kat's hand. The second was a version of him that he'd never seen before. Black tipped hair, pure white clothes and silver eyes. He had no idea what to make of it.

"I don't know. Harvester had collected their souls, he wanted to do that to the whole world for power, but I couldn't let him. We fought, and I eventually trapped him in ice in his own Scythe. But the prisoners were still trapped. I don't even really know what I did. That's a better description in the paper than what I can give. I just... I needed to get them back safe and I didn't know how. I think I've told you before, my obsession means I have to protect everyone even if I don't know how. _Angel _there could be a new power, or it could be something unique to the situation. Don't know. I'm weird like that." Danny finished with a shrug and sat further back into the sofa, picking up the apple to eat it.

Clark's parents came down the stairs then, probably planning to get ready for dinner. They came into the lounge to see Danny and ask if he was okay. Danny said yes, just tired. He briefly explained that he'd pretty much drained his ecto-energy putting everyone's souls back in place. The flight with Red had driven him to Met U, and she'd eventually left, but then he had to save the "vampires". He was still ill because he hadn't saved Buffy, but was going to be okay. He hoped. Part of his exhaustion came from fending off ghosts all week, unbeknownst to any of them.

Danny briefly explained about the power of Halloween and the full moon on the barrier, but it was back to normal now. Eventually Danny excused himself to return to bed, he absently floated through the ceiling. It was then the Kent's realised how exhausted the kid must have been. Usually he avoided using his powers in the house, giving him the illusion of normality. He had let his subconscious control the discussion and probably wouldn't have said half of what he had normally. Clark's respect for Danny went up for his persistence in such a long and trying day, but it also raised his concerns since Danny was still a child, younger than Clark.

_Line Break_

Chloe had finally finished her story. Tri Psi had been shut down; the Centre for Disease Control had a full report on the case. It turned out that meteor rocks had infected the water table of a colony of vampire bats. When they'd attacked Buffy she'd gotten a disease that exhibited the symptoms of vampirism. LuthorCorp had developed a cure when one of their workers had become infected, that's what Clark had given Lana. It turned out that Milton Fine had put Clark onto it. All the infected girls were treated by LuthorCorp; well, all except six who had come out of it seemingly on their own, Chloe didn't quite know what to make of that.

Chloe was ready to present herself to the Daily Planet once more. Her story "Vampire Sorority Bites The Dust" met all of her own specifications and she just hoped that it would impress Patricia Khan enough. Ms Khan read over the article, keeping her in suspense. For a moment it felt like she'd failed. But then she was given a position, at the Daily Planet. Alright, it was in the basement. But it was the basement for the Planet. Her life's dream since she could first read. So far as Chloe was concerned there was no place to go but up, up, and away.

AN: What do you think? Was Harvester okay? I didn't want to call him "Reaper" because he isn't as powerful or as awesome as the Grim-Reaper would be, but he'd still be scary to face.

Yay, Chloe is finally working at the Planet. I loved the scene at the end of the episode where she quoted Superman's catchline, so I had to use it.

Once again I'd like to thank all my reviewers. I love getting your feedback.

To LuNa: At the moment Chloe is too much like Jazz for Danny and her to get together. But I may play around with that later.

To Anon: Clockwork's a special case when it comes to cores. That will be further explained in a later chapter.

'Till next time

Bluerose


	8. Illness

Chapter 7

Illness

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Several weeks passed, the weather turned cooler. Danny alone seemed completely unaffected, still meandering around in a long sleeved t-shirt while everyone else was inclined to rug up. After the excitement of October, things quietened down considerably. The Corn Ghost was the only persistent trouble, and he was dealt with in less than five minutes. Uncle Jon had decided to run for Senate, and Danny couldn't be happier for him. Sure it meant that both he and Clark had to be more private about their gifts, but Danny had an alter-ego and Clark still wasn't ready to take up that same public mantle. Both of them encouraged Jon to stand up for what he believed in.

Clark was still recovering from a piece of silver kryptonite that had infected him. Physically he was over it, but Danny could see the mental wear it had done on him. It was obvious that Clark still felt guilty about the harms he had done to everyone, from accusing Uncle Jon of taking election funds from Lionel Luthor, to the physical wound he inflicted on Lex. Danny recalled what he'd done under Freakshow's influence. Sure paranoia was different to being controlled, but the end effects were the same. Even now two years later Danny felt guilty for what he'd almost done to Sam.

Clark said that his Professor, Milton Fine had saved him. That he had announced himself as a fellow Kryptonian. Danny just felt terrible for being so useless. Clockwork had decided that he needed to have history lessons after school all month until late into the evening. It was a good thing he didn't need to eat much because he'd skipped dinner every night for a fortnight. Clockwork had been pressing all two billion years of Ghost Zone history into him; including all worlds that had been connected to it over time, and he was suffering from mental overload. He still blamed himself for not being there when Clark got infected. He should have known that something was wrong.

Then again, perhaps this was something that needed to happen. Darn Clockwork. He wasn't supposed to meddle in the affairs of humans, but _Danny_ qualified as a ghost who he could interfere with. Was he just being sneaky about his manipulations? Even after over a year of being Clockwork's ghostly ward Danny could never tell exactly what the time ghost wanted. So Fine was Kryptonian? Something felt off. Kryptonian's always greeted each other with their Kryptonian name. It was a heritage and status thing. Fine using his Earthly name may garner trust in Clark, but it set off alarm bells for Danny. He wanted to meet Fine so he could get a better gauge on him.

Danny was up late, it was a Sunday and thankfully Clockwork had decided that a reprieve was in order until after New Year's. That meant he had all of December off to be a... well as much of a kid as a half-ghost part time Protector can be. Danny was still struggling to absorb all he'd been taught, and he wasn't allowed to talk about any of it. The rules in the Zone were quite demanding about who knew what. The only reason he was allowed to know at all was that Clockwork was his guardian. All that said he struggled in his human history lessons. Somehow all the events got lost among countless ghost wars and factions. So he had asked Clark to tutor him in human history to help keep it clear.

Danny and Clark sat in the barn loft. Clark was walking him through the bombing of Japan and how that came towards ending the war. Danny couldn't help but think that those bombings had triggered a three year war within the Zone. Clark walked Danny through the textbook, but the more he read the less he could understand. It was as if the language was foreign. Danny read over the notes he'd made. He could read them, plain as day. Whatever was written in the book looked wrong.

"Is there something wrong with the book?" Danny asked, completely puzzled by this mystery.

Clark looked at him confusedly. He looked at the book and shook his head "I don't think so, it just details the remains of Hiroshima and the after-effects of the bomb. Here, where are you up to in your notes?" Clark reached over to Danny who handed his own notes over.

Clark looked down at the page, then to Danny, his face betraying blank confusion. "Why are you writing notes like this?" Danny was confused. He always took his notes the same way. Clark had seen them before and agreed that his method was similar to Clark's.

"That's how I normally write notes, isn't it?" Danny pointed out. Clark flicked back a couple of pages in the notebook and stopped shoving the book back towards him. "That's how you usually write" he pointed out. Danny looked at the page; it was in that same weird language. But... he'd written those in English. He remembered writing them, so why couldn't he read them?

"You're writing in the same language they had at the shrine in the Far Frozen" Clark said questioningly "why?" Danny was at a loss. He hadn't seen the shrine, so he didn't know the language. Clockwork had mentioned that there was a written language universal to the Zone, but Danny hadn't come across it. At least he didn't think he had. But he couldn't understand the words in his history book, and he was somehow writing in a language that came from the Zone...

"I can't read it." Danny said gesturing to the words in his history book. "At all." Then he picked up his notebook. He couldn't understand anything from before tonight. "I can't read this either... Clark." Danny paused looking up at Clark, barely masking the panic this revelation gave him. "I don't think I can read English anymore."

"What?!" Clark exclaimed, and really Danny couldn't blame him, after all, how does one forget a whole language? But it was true, Danny couldn't read English, yet he could read the language of the Zone, the language of the dead. This would complicate things. Danny took a deep calming breath. People don't just forget things like that, so he could re-learn it. He hoped. But for the time being...

"Clark, I can't understand English writing anymore. I don't know why, tomorrow I'll see if there's anything I can do about it. For tonight there's nothing to be done. You can't understand what I wrote at all?" Clark shook his head. He seemed more panicked than Danny was letting himself be, but probably a trip to Clockwork would help him figure it out, not that Clark was allowed to know about Clockwork.

"Not at all, it looks really weird, but I recognise some of the shapes from the engravings on the altar back there." Clark replied and Danny just nodded. So he was somehow able to write in the ghost language without learning how to, or realising it. _Brilliant._ He thought sarcastically. But if he couldn't write in English; a living language then maybe...

"Could you write something in Kryptonian? Please?" Clark looked at him completely bewildered but obliged. Soon the Kryptonian glyphs were written on the bottom of his last page. _Can you understand this? _Clark had scrawled on the page.

"Yes, I could understand that." Danny said. "Why?" Clark puzzled "Wait, how do you even know Kryptonian?" Danny was just glad that there was a Real World language he understood. Clark had asked a valid question though. "I learned it in the Zone, when I was learning about Krypton. Much of the story I'm not able to relate. But as for reading Kryptonian... well, it could be the simple fact that I had to learn it the hard way. But I think it's far more likely that it's because it's a dead language. Since I was writing in the ghost's language; the original Dead Language... I guess I can read another one."

Danny shook himself and Clark blinked out of his surprise. "Just another thing that makes my existence..." "Complicated." Clark cut him off. "You know, your complicatedness is getting annoying." Danny smiled back at Clark and laughed. He needed it, while he wasn't showing it he was secretly panicking. This was another step towards full ghost-hood wasn't it? If he could only read dead languages? What next? Danny knew how loathe Clark was to connect to most things Kryptonian, so it wasn't likely that he would keep writing in it for Danny's benefit. Danny calmed himself. He'd just have to re-learn how to write English.

Clark and Danny were settling down from this ominous discovery, and Clark had elected to read the book aloud so Danny could take his own notes. It was far from a perfect system, but both agreed it was better than nothing. Suddenly Danny felt an alarming spark in energy nearby and a bright yellow light pierced the night. There was a loud roaring sound from outside and a minute later the soft crunch as a body fell onto gravel.

Danny leaped out the barn window and sped over to find what was wrong. A second later came Clark's concerned cries of "Mom, Mom!" as the two of them found Aunt Martha sprawled on the driveway, unconscious. A paper bag of groceries had spilled all around her and she was laying face down on the ground. "Mom! Are you okay?" Danny and Clark lifted Aunt Martha into a sitting position. Danny pushed out a bit of positive energy to help her back on her feet.

Groggily Aunt Martha answered "I... I must have fainted." In a very weak voice. "I haven't eaten anything today."

Clark asked about the noise and the flash of light, but Aunt Martha didn't seem to remember it at all. The two of them gently carried her inside where it was safe. Danny went outside to tidy up the spilled groceries. Something was wrong. That energy didn't feel like anything Danny had come across before. It wasn't like anything he'd felt on Earth or in the Zone. Something about it was off, but Danny had no idea where to start. Looking up to the stars he whispered "what are you?" before he headed back inside.

_Line Break_

Danny woke up to the early morning sun beating down through his curtains. He elected to go for a quick flight before having a shower, so transformed into his ghost half. Two weird things had happened just last night. Firstly, there was the fact that he had somehow forgotten how to read English. He could still speak it, but still. Secondly, and more importantly, Aunt Martha had fallen unconscious straight after that weird energy flared through. It was _possible_ that they were connected, but his gut told him they weren't. Someone or something had sent the weird energy. Clark had said last night that he'd ask Chloe if she could come up with anything.

Danny returned to the farmhouse and transformed back into his human half before proceeding into the shower before anyone else got up. He dried his hair and then looked into the mirror. For a moment he thought he saw a flash of silver in his eyes, but then they settled down to green. Wait, green? Sure he was scared about the English thing, but he was keeping his emotions firmly in check and he wasn't at the fever pitch that made his eyes change. So why were they green now?

Danny transformed into Phantom and back, still green. What was wrong with him? First he couldn't read English, and now his eyes were stuck green. He went downstairs, deciding to make breakfast for everyone. While he went through the motions he couldn't help but feel mildly repulsed by the idea of eating. He set up for everyone and eventually Aunt Martha came down the stairs. Immediately he knew something was wrong, her aura was nowhere near as strong as it usually was. But she acted fine, and when Uncle Jon and Clark came down she said she felt fine. Knowing there was nothing to be done until things changed he let that line of worry drop, for now. At least until Aunt Martha got back from the doctor's.

Clark was the last downstairs. He eagerly tucked in to the meal Danny had laid out, Danny was just waiting patiently. Clark was digging into his third portion of blueberry pancakes, and Danny was trying to convince himself that he needed human food. No matter what, the idea of food made him feel ill, but the energy from Clark's aura was more tempting this morning. _Stupid Ghost half making it impossible to act human_ Danny inwardly cursed himself. Clark finished off and washed up his dish before returning to the table.

It was then Clark noticed his eyes. "Danny, what's wrong? Why are your eyes green?" Danny cringed, and accidentally flicked to intangibility. Suddenly he found himself on the floor with the chairs legs sunk through his chest. Okay, something was definitely wrong. He just had no idea what. If Sam and Tuck, or Jazz were here they could help him figure it out, but they weren't here anymore. Danny slowly stood up and forced himself to be tangible again. He took a tentative seat back at the table before looking over to Clark.

"I honestly don't know." Danny said, turning over what he knew about his ghost half. He hadn't done anything recently that should cause this. "But between this, what happened to Aunt Martha last night, and the fact that I can't even read English at the moment I think I may skip school today." Okay, that was a lame attempt at humour, but he needed to get his mind off everything. What was wrong with him?

"You can't read English?" Uncle Jon asked sceptically. Heck, to Danny it sounded far-fetched, but it was true. Danny shook his head, looking at the floor and grumbled "not a word."

Aunt Martha looked concernedly at him "Like dyslexia?" Danny looked up to meet her eyes. "No, from what I know of dyslexia that's like you can recognise the symbols, just not the right order. Last night I couldn't recognise anything in the textbook. It was like trying to read Japanese Kenji." Danny shook his head and looked down at his feet again.

"He wrote in this really weird language though. Ghost Language." Clark chipped in. Danny interrupted him saying "Didn't realise that until Clark pointed it out. Hecate, I can't even read my own notebook" Danny sighed in frustration.

"Yeah, that is weird, but isn't it just another ghost thing? I mean, it was in the Far Frozen, and didn't you say something about Dead Languages?" Clark asked, rushed. Danny just nodded. This was ridiculous. There was too much going on all at once. "So you can write in that weird language without knowing it. And you were able to read Kryptonian." Clark commented. Both Aunt Martha and Uncle Jon started. "How?" Uncle Jon interrupted.

"It's a dead language, well, technically. So I think whatever is going on is..." Danny paused, thinking of the ramifications of his hypothesis. "It's making me more ghostly." Clark's eyes widened and a flash of fear sped through his eyes. Danny quickly sought to comfort him "I'm not dying, but my ghost half is definitely acting up. I don't know if it's permanent, but for now I can't read a living language." Danny paused; he could go into the Zone to ask Clockwork's advice. But he wanted to know what was wrong with Aunt Martha first.

"Until this settles, well, at least until my eyes change back can I take a sick day?" The two Kent Elders looked at each other. Danny understood, Clark had only taken days off when it was dire, and Danny himself had gone to school even with un-bandaged broken limbs. But he couldn't change his eyes back, and if the accident a little earlier was any indication his powers may act up. He couldn't afford to bring any of the wrong kind of attention to the family. Eventually they conceded that Danny should stay away from the school. Uncle Jon and Aunt Martha eventually began the tribute into town to see the doctor.

To pass the time, Clark elected to continue the history lesson from last night. While Clark read aloud Danny took notes. Eventually though Clark got sick of it and decided to quiz Danny on it instead. Half an hour passed, Aunt Martha's appointment was scheduled to start around now. The two tired of history, but Clark was curious. His cousin knew about Krypton, he could both read and write the language. He was tempted to ask, but when he had before he got the feeling that Danny was being evasive about it. Instead he elected to test his cousin's knowledge. He pulled out a blank lecture pad and wrote a message.

'_Let's play a game.' _Clark wrote in his native language.

'_What?' _Danny wrote back _'Why are we writing?' _At Clark's puzzled glance he realised he'd written in the Ghost Language, which he didn't even know he knew. How much in the Zone had been written like this and he'd never picked it up? Quickly he translated into Kryptonian.

'_I want to know how much you know, and I don't want to think about what's wrong with Mom'_ Clark quickly wrote.

'_Fair enough. What do you have in mind? And please don't say hangman, we both know that doesn't work well in Kryptonian' _Danny replied

'_What if we study like this, see who can last longest without having to use English or...' _Clark paused to look at Danny "What do you even call your Language?" To be perfectly honest Danny had no idea, and "Zoneian" didn't sound nice at all. He just shrugged. It was another thing to ask Clockwork, later.

'_well, without reverting to another language' _Clark finished. It was entertaining. It seemed that Clark knew a lot about Kryptonian, but it wasn't comprehensive. Whatever he had learned it was about the same as what a thirteen year old could write. Clark could get by, but he lacked sophistication. Eventually Danny got frustrated and elected to tutor his elder cousin in the proper phrasings of Kryptonian. Part of him wanted to laugh at the irony, but he couldn't bring himself to.

"Clark" Danny asked half an hour later "how did you learn Kryptonian?" Clark looked at his cousin. Danny could see a calculating look as well as a hint of embarrassment. After all, Danny had just been teaching him how to write Kryptonian when Clark was the one who came from Krypton.

"In my sophomore year at school I put the key into a wall in the Cave. It kind of downloaded me with the language. That's the best explanation I have for it." Well that made some sense; he never learned it, he was given it. He never had to refine it, and nobody had been able to teach him how to. Maybe the professor Milton Fine could, but Danny still felt there was something wrong there.

That's when the phone rang. Clark answered, and his parents said all was fine and they were headed back to the farm. Danny and Clark looked at each other. There was more to the story, but neither could figure out what. The two of them pushed the notebook to the side; Danny had made a lot of corrections to Clark's grammar. Clark decided that he was going to go to Metropolis to ask Chloe about the weird energy, and Danny said he'd just wait till Uncle Jon and Aunt Martha got home. Clark was headed out the door when Danny lost control again. In a flash he was Phantom before he was able to press it back again.

"What...?" Clark began. "Don't ask" Danny said rubbing his temples. He could feel Phantom welling up inside him, still pressing to get out, but there was no need to, and usually he could control it better than that.

"Complicated?" Clark returned. Danny deadpanned "Complicated". Clark was headed out the door when he half joked "To reiterate what I said last night, your complicatedness is getting really annoying." And with that he was gone.

_Line Break_

It was just after lunch by the time Clark got to Metropolis. Danny made it sound like he could handle whatever was wrong with him on his own, and encouraged Clark to focus his attention on his Mom. Sure the doctor said there was nothing wrong, but Clark wanted to know what made his Mom faint last night. Something told him it had something to do with that weird light and he was determined to find out what it was wrong. It was too weird and there was no way the two were unrelated. Clark proceeded to the Planet to ask Chloe's advice.

"According to the weather bureau at 10.35 last night other than a little rain there was nothing over Smallville" Chloe said as she walked through the basement; Clark Trailing behind her. No, that didn't make sense. There had to be something...

"That doesn't rule out heat lightning" Clark said as a hundred other possibilities crossed his mind. each as unlikely as the next.

"Nothing was reported. Clark, most people are interested in the forecast, not the past-cast. What's going on?" Chloe asked, her voice a light contrast to Clark's inner confusion. Chloe was much better at figuring out anything mysterious than Clark. He knew he could depend on her, so he explained what had happened last night. Including what had happened to his Mom.

"Is she alright?" Chloe asked, concern lacing her voice. "Fine, like nothing happened. That's the weird part" Clark answered allowing his confused exasperation to carry over. He explained that the doctor hadn't found anything wrong either.

"Maybe someone set off fireworks in the field next to you, or maybe your super hearing picked up a car backfiring two counties away." Chloe said somewhat dismissively. Clark knew it was neither; both he and Danny had experienced the same thing. "Why does it matter? Your mom's fine. You don't have anything to worry about..." She trailed off and looked up into Clark's eyes, curiously. "All right. Why do I feel like I'm getting the abridged version of this story?" She asked, and Clark's mind raced.

He had never told anyone of the Deal his father had made. To save him, to bring him back from the dead Jor-El had demanded that the life of someone close to him be taken. Clark didn't want that to happen. He'd sacrifice himself a thousand times over before he let anyone die in his name. But that did not quell his suspicions. "I think Jor-El might have something to do with this." There. It was said, Chloe could work with that. Surely.

"Your biological father?" Chloe asked, fearful questioning entering her eyes. Apparently it wasn't enough. Clark owed her more. "When I died and he brought me back he made a deal. He's come back to collect." Clark explained and Chloe's eyes filled with dread. As far as it went neither could do anything when it came to Jor-El. Clark needed to find someone who knew about him. Someone who had known his father on Krypton. Someone like Professor Milton Fine.

Clark went to the university, and asked to know more about Jor-El. Fine wanted to go into context, the how's and why's of Kryptonian politics, but Clark had no time for that. That's when Fine revealed that he knew about the deal too. Well, he was Kryptonian and in a way it was good to have someone else who could help him, right? Clark explained the urgency, and Fine then asked if his mom had any markings on her skin. Clark was relieved to say that she didn't, but was intrigued to know why they would be important. Fine said that he wasn't ready to know, but Clark maintained that he was ready now. He needed to know, his mom's life may be at stake.

"Impatience" Fine said, a stoic distance exuded from him "is such a pathetic human trait. I suppose it's to be expected from someone raised by such a primitive race." Clark was angered by this. Humans had raised him, loved him, cared for him. He happened to care to care a great deal for the human race and told Fine as much. Fine responded that Clark needed to learn patience, and Clark decided to leave. Fine could be cryptic on his own. He needed to check on his mom now.

It was mid-afternoon by the time he got back to the farm. Danny already knew, but it was time to tell his parents about Fine. Clark still wasn't sure why he had told Danny first, he didn't want to ask anyone about Krypton, but the fact that Danny knew anything about it made him seem like a good person to talk to first. Danny hadn't warmed up to the idea of a second Kryptonian on Earth, but his parent's deserved to know now that everything was coming to a head.

At first they were disbelieving, after all he had leapt onto the idea of Danny being Kryptonian for exhibiting similar powers to him. But they were convinced when Clark told them that Fine called him Kal-El. Unfortunately they seemed to be as hesitant about Fine as Danny was. His Dad actually warned him to stay away from Fine since all other Kryptonian's had been violent. Danny stayed strangely silent during the conversation, a deep reflective look in his eye. But that was not the concern for the moment. His Dad continued to lecture him on why he couldn't trust Fine when it all went wrong.

Clark's Mom had gone to fetch the Kettle which had just boiled and pour everyone a cup of tea when the sound of a shattering pot pierced the room. She gasped, and all three of them rushed over to her. She looked weak, and complained that she couldn't feel her hand. It shook as she held it in front of her. Then her shoulder started burning. Frantically she pulled her clothes aside and Clark saw it. A dark mark, a purplish read colour spreading across her left shoulder in thin vein-like strands. It was terrifying, especially as Clark reflected on the words of Milton Fine earlier that day. Clark deemed that he needed to visit him again.

His Dad had other ideas though. He elected to take Clark's Mom to the hospital to see if there was any human means of curing her. The doctor prescribed antibiotics, but Clark knew they would do nothing. He had found her in the middle of the driveway, that wasn't normal. No matter what the doctors said there was more to it than that. For a moment he considered telling his Dad about Jor-El's deal, but decided not to worry him. He didn't want to face the look of disappointment for accepting such a deal. Only Chloe knew of the deal and he wanted to keep it that way.

The next morning Clark went to the University first thing to chase up Milton Fine and told him about the mark that had shown up on his Mom's shoulder. Then Milton Fine said something that took Clark completely by surprise.

"Your father tortured his dissidents on Krypton the same exact way." Clark was stunned. He knew that his dealings with his father had not gone well, but _torture? _What was his father actually capable of? Fine looked him in the eye, "I don't suppose I can hide the truth from you any longer. Your father was a violent dictator." A dictator? Hundreds of scenes from history played out in Clark's mind. Hitler, Stalin, Napoleon, all dictators, and none of them had truly happy peoples. "He ruled over Krypton with an iron grip of fear and intimidation. Anybody who spoke up against him was locked away. Even the great hero of the people. Zod. If he hadn't been captured, Zod could have stopped your father from eviscerating the planet."

Clark was shocked. Not only was his father a horrid person, entrapping innocent people and controlling them against their wishes, but he had destroyed the planet. His father was to blame for the destruction and end of a whole race. What did that mean for him? Jor-El had sent him here, to _"rule over them with strength"_. Did that mean that he intended Clark to mimic his methods? To conquer the human race and obliterate his enemies? No, Clark didn't want to do that. He was going to save his Mom, and then he'd never deal with the monster again. Fine said that he'd take care of Clark's Mom, and for now that was all that mattered.

_Line Break_

Danny was alarmed. Clark had sped off to the university that morning to go and convince Milton Fine to look at Aunt Martha. She had worsened overnight, the bruise-like mark spreading further down her shoulder and onto her arm. It looked as if her entire left arm had been badly beaten. Unfortunately, Danny knew exactly what this was. After Zod had turned against Krypton he had utilised this disease as a means to eliminate his adversaries. There had never been a cure developed, Jor-El had tried desperately, but was unable to cure it before everything on Krypton got too far out of hand.

Danny was not ready to give up; he was planning on visiting Clockwork to see if there was anything that could be done. Just a small ray of hope. Clark wasn't ready to lose his mother, and Danny didn't think he could bear loosing another family member. Not so soon after losing his parents, sister and best friends. Danny caught sight of his green eyes in the reflective glass of a picture frame. Everything was changing, and Danny felt like the world was just about to tip asunder of its balance point. He would find some way to save her. He had to.

Clark arrived back at the farm with a second set of footprints crunching up the pathway to the house. Clark invited the man in, and Danny got his first look at Milton Fine. He looked perfectly average. Average height, average weight, dressed in dark professional clothing that matched with his average brown eyes. His brown hair was perfectly in place, not a strand astray. He looked too average. But that was not what caused alarm for Danny, nor was it the slight dark swirl in his eye. No, it was the fact that the energy he felt off him was _wrong_.

When Clark had come in the house Danny had felt his bright sunlit energy wash over him, for all that it was marred by Clark's concern for his mother. But Fine was different. The energy coming off him was... actually a lot closer to the ghosts he fought. Danny could feel very little emotion coming off him, and the energy felt more electrical than anything else. Actually, it felt a lot like that weird energy from the other night. Clark came from Krypton, he drew energy from the sun and thus his aura felt like the sun. Whatever Fine was, either he was a mastermind at concealing his emotions, or he was not Kryptonian. Danny wasn't able to voice his concerns before Clark guided Fine to his mother.

Fine looked her over; Danny was glad that Uncle Jon was as distrustful as him where it came to Fine. He may not have any powers, but Jon was remarkably astute when it came to whom he could trust. Uncle Jon wanted to take Aunt Martha to the hospital. Things were getting dire, Danny knew about this infection, he knew what would happen if they tried to treat her. Danny was about to speak up when Fine explained "The Doctors can't treat her Mr Kent. Trust me. If they puncture her skin, or give her any medication it could kill her instantly."

Uncle Jon then demanded "Why should I trust you?" Danny was glad that he'd said that, maybe they could get some answers. "Because he's Kryptonian" Clark bluntly stated, not only damning any chance of a helpful answer from Fine, but also proving his naivety. Clark had yet to learn to perceive possible threats, the fact that Uncle Jon picked up on it meant that something about Fine was off, and yet Clark had taken him on his word. At least he'd made the logical leap that Aunt Martha had contracted a Kryptonian disease. Suddenly Aunt Martha started fitting, like she was having an epileptic seizure.

Fine exclaimed that Martha needed a meteor rock, and the two Kryptonian's backed away as Uncle Jon retrieved one from the cupboard. Danny observed the energy that poured from the green rock, suppressing the instability in Martha's aura. The sickness was still there, but she wouldn't feel it as much, like a radioactive painkiller. Uncle Jon held the rock to her forehead and gradually the shuddering slowed. Aunt Martha caught her breath slowly.

Fine and Clark had backed far away from the rock, beyond its energy field. Fine was taking stock of the whole room, observing every detail. Danny watched as his eyes landed on the kitchen table where Danny had left his notebook open from the day before. His eyes widened in realisation, he and Clark had been writing in Kryptonian, and Fine had seen it.

"Kal-El, why are you teaching the humans the Kryptonian language?" Fine asked in a deceptively calm voice. Danny flinched; there was no way this could go well. Clark looked over to him and Danny silently begged him to go along with Fine's assumption. Better the man thought Clark was teaching him than have to answer where Danny had learned it. After all humans weren't supposed to know. Well, strictly speaking none did, but still. _Please Clark_ Danny thought, wishing he were telepathic _please go along with him, deflect it, and don't let him know_.

"Danny was showing me grammar." _Darn! Clark you've just got the both of us into a world of trouble_. Danny observed as Fine's eyes narrowed slightly, focusing on him. The stare was nothing close to what Danny himself could muster, but he still felt the professor's eyes studying him. A calculating look passed Fine's eyes, and he quickly demanded "I'd like to speak with you outside, boy." His tone was icy, but was nothing to the glacial depths of his eyes. Perhaps this was an opportunity to have some questions answered. Danny refused to buckle under the intense pressure Fine was focusing on him. Danny nodded and the two of them stepped out onto the porch.

Knowing the direction this conversation was likely to take, Danny projected a sound proof shield around them invisibly. Since the energy coming off Fine was closer to the ghosts he dealt with it was fairly likely this conversation was not something Danny wanted Clark to hear. Fine did not seem to notice the subterfuge, but continued to stare coldly at Danny. A minute of silence passed before Fine finally asked "How does a human come to know the Kryptonian writings?" his tone cold and the slight emphasis on the word displayed the man's utter disdain for the human race.

Danny thought of how to play this. Fine was obviously someone who liked to control the players on the board. Idly Danny wondered what a chess game between Vlad and Fine would look like. Danny decided on his own tactic. "Well, I _would_ have said that Clark, no, Kal-El was teaching me. But he is too honest for that."

"So you do not deny your knowledge?" Fine asked, a flash of calculation racing through his eyes.

"No," Danny stated "But the idea of Kal-El teaching me would have done the both of us good. You would have believed him to be embracing part of his Kryptonian heritage, passing it on to others, and I..." Danny paused, there were many reasons he didn't want anyone, especially Fine to know how or why he knew Kryptonian. "Well, I'd be saved this conversation."

Danny elected to push into his own enquiry "Tell me, you Kryptonian's are all proud of your House, yet you have only used an Earthly name. Why insist on this, denying your own heritage for that of Earth's." There, hopefully that would spark Fine into a response; it was just accusatory enough to sound threatening, but not too damning of his own knowledge. At least Danny hoped so.

"Kal-El" Fine stated, his voice slow and measured "refuses to accept his Kryptonian heritage. So long as he denies this he likens himself to you humans. To earn his trust he would have preferred a human name, so I adopted one. Who are you to know of Kryptonian habits and pride?" Danny elected not to answer this question, choosing instead to continue pushing until he got the answer he wanted. He needed to find out what Fine actually was. It was obvious he was a threat; the problem was to whom the threat was intended.

"So you want me to believe you took a human name just to earn Clark's trust. Very well, let's say I go with that. Earn my trust; tell me your Kryptonian name." Danny's green eyes flashed a warning. In a way he was glad they were stuck green for the moment because they would likely have changed colour then and that would cause more problems.

Fine looked down at Danny, a barely veiled sneer in his voice. "Boy, I do not need the trust of a human like you. You are a child, and Kal-El deserves the guidance of a true Kryptonian." Danny allowed himself a small smile. _Check_ Danny thought. It wouldn't be too long until Danny got what he wanted. "Ah, yes," Danny said, his voice smooth and calculated "But see you do need my trust. I probably know more than you think I do. Tell him anything, mislead him once, and I'll tell him. After all, we both know you're no _true_ Kryptonian."

Fine stopped for a minute, and it was obvious he was evaluating Danny. After all, he physically looked like no threat, Danny knew this, and he played it up. Even with his green eyes it was hard to imagine that Danny could ever be anything more than useless. Yet Danny was playing a game of wits that would likely make Vlad proud.

"What makes you say that, boy?" the condescension dripping off Fine's voice was palpable. "I possess all the gifts Kal-El possesses, I too come from the great planet Krypton. You are nothing more than a human child, and will not stand in my way."

"Fine, you may possess Kal-El's gifts, however you slipped up." Danny did not want to reveal how he knew Fine was not like Clark, but this observation was damning. "Kal-El and you both backed away from the meteor rock, Clark until he could no longer feel its effects. That was obvious on his face. You however were in no discomfort, and you looked to Clark to see where he had stopped before you did."

Fine stared down at Danny; recalculations were obviously playing in his mind. Danny felt he had revealed enough to keep Fine in order, so returned to his line of enquiry. However he elected to play another piece, slipping into Old Kryptonian, he doubted even Clark knew this, and it would hopefully serve to intimidate Fine further. "Fine, I know more, much more than you think. Tell me, who exactly are you Milton Fine?"

Fine's eyes widened, but he betrayed no further emotion. "How does a human come to know the Old language? Kal-El could not have taught it to you, I believe he doesn't know." Danny smiled inwardly, but composed his face into calm defiance. _Still in check Fine._ Fine still thought of him as human, and this played right into Danny's hands. Of course he would not reveal himself to Fine, but he could make himself a huge enough threat without providing any real answers.

Danny allowed a ghost of a smile to cross his lips. "The same way a _human_ can write in Kryptonian. The same way a _human_ can understand what you are saying. The same way a _human_ knows that you are not Kryptonian. Milton Fine, I promise you this human is no fool. Tell me who you are." Danny observed the look in Fine's eyes. Very few emotions crossed his face; even though Kryptonian's were renowned for their stoicism this was different. Danny had a vague suspicion, but he wanted that name.

In a flash Fine had grabbed Danny by the neck and he found himself hanging in the air two feet off the ground. _Check_ Danny thought. Fine was not above brutality, but he didn't count on the fact that Danny didn't need to breathe, so the threat of suffocation meant nothing.

"Congratulations, Fine. You got me." Danny watched in amusement as Fine saw him nonchalantly dismiss his current position as if it were nothing. "But now you have a problem. See, here you are, rough-housing Kal-El's poor little cousin, and I could easily cry out for his help, thus extinguishing any trust he has in you." Calling for help would do nothing with the shield in the way, but Fine needn't know that. Danny was slowly lowered until his feet met the ground, the hand still firmly fastened around his neck. "Thank you. Now that we've established that you'll get nothing from hurting me, I'd appreciate knowing your name."

"Why do you insist on this question, why not demand the cure for your Aunt? Why not tell me who you learned Kryptonian from? Why is it so important for you to know my Kryptonian name? Milton Fine is enough for Kal-El. It should satisfy you." Fine spat towards Danny. Danny raised an eyebrow, completely ignoring the hand still fastened to his neck.

"Why do you insist on concealing it?" Danny asked his tone mild, as if asking the weather. But he knew this was it. Fine dropped his hand, adopting a neutral defensive stance. "I am the product of the Houses Ur and El, their union produced much joy on Krypton before the fall." _Checkmate_ Danny thought.

Danny smiled at Fine, like a cat that has caught a mouse. "I noticed that. You said the _union_ of the houses Ur and El, not marriage or child. You just told me you were not born to either family." Danny watched as Fine froze, all emotion leaving his eyes. "It's interesting that you named the two Houses of Krypton's two greatest scientists. Ten years before the fall, those two families worked together to create a weapon, an artificial intelligence android capable of removing the threat that Zod presented. Sadly, Zod knew Jor-El too well, and corrupted that weapon to his own purposes, using it to perpetrate greater evils. But you would know that being the _product_ of Ur and El. Wouldn't you, the Brain Interactive Construct. Or should I just call you Brainiac?"

Fine's other hand reached out to Danny who held out a hand to silence him, but Danny had already won this game. "You sent this disease. Clark deserves to know what it will do. I advise you tell him, he would prefer to hear it from you. I realise you probably have a plan in motion, but know this. You won't win. You never could." Danny dropped the shield and gestured Fine back inside. Both of them constructed vacant masks as they proceeded back into the lounge room.

"It's working" Clark said excitedly as he looked over his mother. She was breathing steadily, and seemed to be settling down to sleep. "In this case" Fine said with a suspicious look over at Danny "appearances are deceiving. There is no cure. The meteor can only ease her pain. I am sorry Kal-El within a matter of hours your Earth mother will be dead." Danny felt the wave of defeat pouring off Clark and was almost knocked off his feet. Clark stormed out the door, Fine soon after him. Danny went over and took Aunt Martha's hand. He desperately wanted to help her. He had no idea what Fine – no, Brainiac – was up to, but it couldn't be good.

Uncle Jon went outside and Danny heard as Clark confessed. Jor-El had brought Clark back from the dead, but the balance demanded a life be taken. Danny was well aware of the balance, walking on the razor edge between life and death himself. However Clark's assumption was dead wrong. It was Brainiac who had given Aunt Martha the disease, not Jor-El. Danny heard Clark speed off picking something up in the barn before vanishing off into the distance. Danny sent Fine an icy glare even with his green eyes and the Kryptonian android left too.

Danny sat by Aunt Martha's side as Uncle Jon came back inside. "She'll be alright" Danny promised looking into his uncle's eyes. The meteor rock slipped from Aunt Martha's hand and Danny went to catch it. As soon as the rock touched his skin he felt a belt of pain shoot through him. It only lasted for a second before he dropped the rock, but it felt like he was being electrocuted. Uncle Jon looked concernedly at him as Danny panted to catch his breath.

He had not been expecting that. Sure, some of the ghosts had mentioned a weird green rock that they couldn't touch. They called it ectoranium. Quickly comparing notes of what he knew of the two he realised that kryptonite; radioactive pieces from the core of Krypton and ectoranium; radioactive green rocks that electrocuted ghosts must be the same thing. By way of explanation Danny said "Sorry, wasn't expecting that. Looks like meteor rocks are bad for ghosts too. I think, so long as I don't touch it it's fine." Uncle Jon just nodded and moved the rock back to Aunt Martha's forehead, gently stroking her hair away from her eyes.

Danny decided to let them have some peace. He needed to go and see Clockwork to see if there was anything that he could do to save Aunt Martha. He went up to his room and opened a portal. It was something of a relief to be back in the Zone. The ambient energy calmed him and helped remind him of his purpose. He stayed in his human form, mostly because he didn't feel the need to be Phantom at the moment. He wanted to be Danny. He drifted through the gears that lead to Clockwork's tower, pausing to knock on the door before being invited in.

"Danny" Clockwork acknowledged as Danny entered the viewing room. The screen displayed a large crystalline ice structure jutting out of a snowy landscape. He would have thought Clockwork was viewing Kandor, the Kryptonian capitol city but for the yellow sun in the sky. This must be the Fortress of Solitude that Jor-El had provided. It was beautiful. A microcosm of Kryptonian history concealed in the icy plains of the Arctic.

"Please Clockwork" Danny said, but as usual was interrupted by Clockwork as he shifted to his toddler form. "Help you to save your Aunt, Kal-El's mother from Zod's disease?" Danny looked hopefully at the ghost of time. At the moment his only concern was to help his aunt. He needed her, and Clark needed her. Danny nodded, he couldn't lose another family member, and Clockwork had to know that.

"Please, there must be something you can do. There has to be a cure, even if it was never found on Krypton there has to be something." Danny rushed. This was his only hope. He knew that the Jor-El at the fortress had no real control over the balance, he could guide it, but he'd not be able to save Clark's mom even if he had the cure.

Clockwork looked at Danny, his red eyes glowing in sympathy as he shifted into his eldest form. "Danny, the power to save her is not one that I possess. But you can be there for her; that will help her most." Danny was devastated. Not only was there no hope, but Clockwork for the first time hadn't given him any riddles. Just a straight up no. There was a knock at the door and two observants came in. Their large eyeball heads narrowed when they saw Danny in his human form.

Clockwork looked between the observants and Danny, and then requested that Danny leave. Clockwork opened a portal for Danny and he stepped through. On the way out he heard one of the observants hiss "his eyes were green" the other continued "In human form" then both together they demanded "do you realise what this means?" but the portal closed before Danny could hear the reply. As Danny arrived it was getting dark.

Clark was nowhere in the house, but Uncle Jon was sitting by Aunt Martha's side, diligently watching her as she faded from the world. Danny felt awful. There was nothing he could do to save her. This was the first time he felt truly helpless, the first time he'd have to stand aside and watch as someone died. Danny went to take a seat at Uncle Jon's side, briefly asking where Clark was. The reply "probably at the fortress" did nothing but make Danny feel ill. This was it. There was nothing to be done. He asked his uncle to remove the meteor for just a moment so he could cool Aunt Martha's fever down.

The two of then sat there, watching Martha and providing what little comfort they could. Danny felt the energy that came from the rock as it dampened the pain for her. Her aura was slowly weakening, losing the warmth that identified it as his aunt's. Danny reached out to grab her hand. His other hand brushed the rock for an instant, and the pain shot through him again. Uncle Jon gently pushed him away for his own safety. But Danny noticed something.

"Her aura is stronger!" Danny exclaimed. And it was true. Some of the vitality had come back into his Aunt's aura. It was still weakened, but nowhere near as bad as it had been a minute ago. Uncle Jon looked between Danny and his wife in confusion. There was the barest hint of colour left in her cheeks, but that had not been there before. It was enough to convince him. "She's getting better?" he questioned. Danny reached out with his mind and prodded his aunt's aura.

"No, not by herself." He was confused, what could have caused a spontaneous recovery like that. Then it dawned on him. Clockwork was being cryptic after all. _'Danny, the power to save her is not one that I possess. You can be there for her; that will help her most.'_ Clockwork didn't have the power; Clockwork didn't know how to help her. But Danny did. Clockwork had given Danny one of his cryptic riddles after all. He looked to Uncle Jon, excited. "Uncle Jon, put the meteor on Aunt Martha's shoulder. Where the mark started." Danny instructed.

Jon looked at Danny puzzled, but the look in Danny's eye said this was not up for discussion. Jon pulled his wife's sweater aside and placed the meteor there. Danny stepped over and reached out to touch the rock. "Son, you'll hurt yourself" he reminded, but Danny simply replied "I know, but it will be worth it. Trust me."

With that Danny reached his left hand out to place it lightly over Aunt Martha's heart, and braced himself. Drawing in a deep breath he placed his right hand on the meteor rock. The electrocution started. Fire poured through his limbs as the current raced through his body. Still he held his hands in place. A minute passed, or was it an hour? Through the pain time held no meaning, but Danny held firm. Somehow he knew he wasn't done yet. The electricity intensified, and a new burning sensation poured into him. Vicious fire that started at his right shoulder then raced out to every limb. Electricity and fire battled through his veins.

Then, it lessened. The ice in his core quenched the fire, and the electricity subsided. Still present, but manageable. Danny opened his eyes, unaware that he'd closed them just as Aunt Martha gasped. She sat up; the rock falling away and the electrical current vanished. He had absorbed the disease for Aunt Martha, his ghost half neutralising the fatal disease since he was already dead. He didn't know exactly how he'd done it, but he knew without a doubt what he'd done. Danny stepped away as Jon came in to hug his wife tightly. The two looked to each other and then to Danny. "Your eyes, they're silver." Martha whispered, but Danny was fading. He slumped to the ground as unconsciousness took him.

Danny woke to a sharp rapping on the kitchen door. "Mr Kent" the soft tone of Chloe brought him into awareness. "I'm so sorry, but I have to find Clark" there was a hint of urgency that cleared the last of the cobwebs from his mind. He proceeded into the kitchen to where Mr Kent and Chloe were anxiously discussing Milton Fine. Uncle Jon said they went to the Cave.

"I have to get to him." Chloe murmured a hint of desperation in her voice. "Milton Fine is not your average PhD." Jon said they knew that he was Kryptonian, but then Danny spoke up. "He's not. He made Aunt Martha get sick." Chloe and Jon looked at him confused. "We spoke outside, I figured it out." Danny quickly uttered by way of explanation. "Martha's better now" Jon said with a meaningful look at Danny. Danny nodded.

"She is? How?" Chloe quickly asked. Danny answered "Don't exactly know. Chloe we have to get to Clark before Fine makes him do something he'll regret." Chloe agreed, walking off towards her car. Danny was quick to follow. "You're coming too?" she asked, already knowing the answer "Fine is dangerous. Clark could use all the help he can get." With that they were off. Danny caught sight of his eyes in the side mirror. Fortunately they were back to blue. Chloe pulled the car off the road after a ten minute drive. They both hopped out of the car and Chloe led him through the long grass up to a large cave mouth.

The two went into the cave running. Chloe led him into a small chamber. An octagonal stone table sat firmly in the middle. Danny felt the strange potential energy in the room, it felt like the tug of potential just before he opened one of his portals. "The Key" Chloe said, pulling a small octagonal disk out from the table. She looked at Danny "You Ready?" she asked. Danny just nodded and she plunged the disk back into the table. The energy swept up, and they were surrounded by a bright white light. Danny and Chloe were pulled through the vortex.

_Line Break_

Clark led Fine through the fortress, ranting in his anger. "I'll tear this place down piece by piece. Just tell me where to start." Fine handed him a Black crystal, similar in shape to those in the console. Fine directed him to stab the console with it, "it'll trigger a self-destruct mechanism, and Jor-El and the Fortress will be forever gone." Fine told him that Zod was a man of peace, and the black crystal was only going to be used in the direst of circumstances. Well, it was dire now. His mom's life was on the line. Without a second thought he plunged the crystal into the centre of the console declaring "You will never hurt my Family again" with a vengeance.

The crystal activated and an electronic whirring pounded through the air, the soft icy blue of the console faded into a vicious red. The red stretched out, consuming every pillar of crystal ice as the Fortress started to tremble. It felt like an earthquake, the red light penetrating all, cold, yet violently dangerous. Clark turned to Fine, hoping for confirmation that this was how it was supposed to happen. Then Clark started to feel sick. The strength poured out of him, leaving him feeling feeble and weak. "I couldn't have done it without you." Fine proclaimed as he held out a meteor rock.

It was then that Clark realised, Fine wasn't Kryptonian. He'd been tricked, and his Dad was right in his mistrust. Fine continued "Now that your task is finished, you're nothing more than a petty annoyance." Clark struggled backwards trying to escape the lecherous rays of the meteor rock. "You're not even Kryptonian, are you." He accused.

A sadistic smirk crossed Fine's face. "I was created by Kryptonian's. But I'm a whole lot smarter." Clark backed away, struggling to stay on his feet as the meteor rock sapped the strength from his rapidly failing muscles. Clark heard Fine proclaim "You are free, General Zod." _Zod_ Clark thought, then, the whole story, every bit that Fine had told him was wrong. Zod was the dictator; Jor-El had been the one to stand against him. Clark was forced onto a rock platform, collapsing as his limbs failed him. "Zod?" Clark struggled to ask.

"The one true Kryptonian" Fine announced "Finally he will rid this planet of the scourge of humans and create Krypton, here on Earth." That was it; everything Fine had said was a lie. The betrayal stung. Fine may not be Kryptonian, but he was from Krypton. It seemed there was nothing good that could come from the planet at all. Then a bigger betrayal hit him.

"Jor-El didn't infect my mother. You did!" Clark accused, putting every ounce of venom he could muster into his voice. The meteor was barely an inch from his face now, he could feel the warmth wash away from his flesh, feel himself sinking towards darkness, the sun's warmth fading from his system. "To think" Fine seethed "That you would sacrifice your Kryptonian heritage for a single _Homo Sapien. _You are a pitiful disgrace. Goodbye Kal-El" He finished, cold triumph pervading the darkness that seeped into Clark's mind.

Clark felt agony as the meteor was laid to rest on his chest; the burning insulated only by the thin layer of his shirt. The rock continued with its icy burn and Clark was finding it hard to breathe as the rock leeched the strength from his lungs and heart. He felt himself fading, darkness promising to swallow him. Confusedly he thought I need to stop this, I need to stop Fine, stop Zod. But he could do nothing as he struggled against the glowing green stone.

_Line Break_

Danny and Chloe found themself on an icy plain. Snow billowed around them, but the only source of light emanated from the large crystal monolith in front of them and the light reflecting from the moon. For Chloe's sake Danny was grateful for the light, they could get there safe enough. The problem would be going in. The entire structure looked like it was destabilising. Angry red seeped through every crystal pillar. From outside the structure looked more like a solid flame than the beautiful palace Danny had seen in Clockwork's tower earlier today. Just what had Clark done? The two of them set off at a run. They arrived in the palatial structure and the two of them wove through towards the centre, dodging falling crystals as the whole place shuddered.

They split up. Chloe ran over to Clark, but Danny sped over to the vast portal that had opened. It was a large bluish circle hanging in the air with wild energy whipping around violently. The sheer power of the energy was daunting. The energy coming from it was similar to the Ghost Zone, but slightly off. The energy pouring from the approaching being was so wrong, so malicious that there was only one place the portal could link to. The Phantom Zone. Home of the hardest prisoners known to all three worlds. And knowing who Fine worked for... Danny had to close the portal.

He dodged around Fine who was staring expectantly into the portal, and jumped into the air in front of the portal. Fine's eyes widened as Danny hung there in front of the portal. He plunged one hand into its depths and pulled. Thus began a mental tug of war as his consciousness battled with whatever programming allowed Fine to open it. He reached out with his ecto-energy, drawing from the very depths of his core. He spread it out, a sweeping wave that covered the opening of the portal, drowning it with his own will. He pulled, drawing the energy from the portal into himself.

It was painful, completely unlike closing one of his own portals. With those it was welcoming a piece of himself back. The energy would swirl within him for a moment and then settle back into his core. This was different. The energy roared through his body, shifting his human form closer to the pure energy state of his ghostly self. He still looked human, but for a moment his entire structure was pure intangible energy. Then the pain came in. Hundreds of thousands of icy lances pierced through his being, reminding him that he should not be doing this. Yet he would not yield. This portal needed to be stopped, and stop it he would.

Danny felt the energy of the portal drawing into him. The pain intensifying even as the portal itself closed with an eerie moan. He felt the residual energy swirling around within him, tearing through his not-so-human body. Slowly he managed it down, forcing the energy to settle in a place deep within his core. He could feel it rebelling, but he froze it over until he could deal with it. He opened his eyes to see Chloe racing back behind one of the crystal columns. She had just thrown the meteor rock off Clark who was recovering rapidly. Clark stood up, and in a swift blur moved to the console, yanking a large black crystal out.

It had only been a minute since Chloe and Danny had gotten into the main chamber, but in that minute everything had changed. The red faded back to a neutral blue and the destruction ended. An eerie calm pervaded the cavern as Fine took a moment to realise what had happened. Then everything happened all at once. Fine raced towards Danny, physically throwing him towards the console nearly snapping his neck in the process. He felt some of the largest crystals spike into his back and a deluge of information overrode his senses before he could force himself into intangibility.

He fell through the console, hitting the floor behind it with a thud. For a moment all he knew was Krypton. Thousands of battle scenes from the eyes of those in the wars. Summer days passing under a glorious red sun. Data and designs for hundreds of scientific devices, and the words of a man directed toward his son. Jor-El had left Clark a construct of himself but it was almost alive with the memories that Jor-El wanted Clark to know. Danny knew that this was knowledge not meant for him, and the brief contact he'd had made him uncomfortable.

He was able to struggle upwards, shaking his head clear. Clark was engaged in a battle worthy of the titans. Loud thuds and shattering crystals echoed through the cavernous space. Danny found himself being pulled into Chloe's arms. "Oh my god Danny, are you alright?" she demanded, an element of hysteria on her voice as she restlessly searched the air for any sign of Clark. A loud crunch echoed back towards them. There were sounds of a struggle, grunts and groans that reminded Danny of when Skulker tried to plunge a dagger into Danny's chest. Clark was fighting for his life.

A breath passed, then in a blur that only Danny saw Fine was thrown into the crystal console. He lay there motionless and Clark raced to stand beside the console. Fine's head rolled to the side, looking to all the world dead. A well of energy swelled forth, and in a flash of bright light he was gone. The dark crystal vanishing with him. The sharp crystals that had pushed out to destroy the invader pulled back to sit neatly within the crystal panel. Danny was not naive enough to believe he was gone forever. Fine would be back. But for now, everyone was safe, and that was what mattered.

Chloe and Danny walked over to Clark; Chloe gave him a hug, as if it would resolve the disturbingly lost look in his eye. Danny chose now to speak. "Fine may have been from Krypton, but he was not Kryptonian. He betrayed you, but you are not like him. You choose who you are, not your race. Clark you will be great, and a monster like him can't take that from you." With that the three of them decided to return home.

_Line Break_

"You, know, next time I head up north I've got to remember to pack a parka." Chloe said. She was all rugged up and sitting in front of the fire. Danny was sitting on the sofa behind her wearing only a dark t-shirt. He played absently with his necklace until Clark brought hot drinks over for them. He handed Chloe her coffee and Danny his hot chocolate before taking a seat himself. "How'd you get up there anyway?" Clark asked.

"You left the key in the Cave" Danny replied briefly flicking his blue eyes in Clark's direction.

"You've got to be more careful where you leave that thing" Chloe reprimanded. Clark was soothed. Neither of them seemed upset with how he'd been mislead. "Seriously though" Chloe continued "You've gotta be more careful. I mean, if we could get up there, anyone can." With that she handed the Key back to Clark. Danny offered to take it back to the barn for him. As Danny moved off Clark looked over to Chloe. Some of the things Fine had said stuck with him, but when he looked at Chloe and thought of what she'd done just for him... it was amazing.

"You know," Clark said "Professor Fine said that human beings were insignificant and couldn't be depended on. He obviously didn't know you very well." He was so glad to have Chloe in his life. Danny had been there too, sure, but sometimes Clark wondered if Danny even classified himself as human. Danny had all sorts of defences. It seemed likely that had Clark not been there that Danny would have somehow stopped Fine all by himself. But Chloe couldn't, and yet she'd been there. She was the one who always seemed to come to his rescue, to throw the meteor rock away, to pull up that final bit of data. He could always depend on Chloe. And she deserved to know that.

"Please," Chloe said, her light sarcastic tone lightening the mood "Robo-professor knows as much about human nature as R2-D2. What was he anyway, I mean I saw him materialise out of a bunch of nuts and bolts that materialised out of the spaceship." Clark replied "Guess he was some sort of Kryptonian Artificial Intelligence."

"He was." Danny said, and the two seated on the floor jumped slightly at his sudden appearance. "Sorry. Clark was right though." Danny said, his eyes locked firmly on the fire as the two turned to look at the younger boy. The fire reflected red in his blue eyes. His voice distant he explained "Milton Fine is Kryptonian Artificial Intelligence, but he is so much more than that." Clark was intrigued; this was the first time that Danny had actually shared any of his knowledge about Krypton.

"Before the fall of Krypton there was a war, two friends who had grown up together fell apart as one revealed his true nature. One, a scientist at heart saw the damage that was being wrought on the planet; the other was more practical and valued power over people. He advanced through the military ranks on Krypton, becoming a General whom all answered to. Gradually, the power he attained sent him mad. He became a dictator, enforcing his power over the people. The scientist was devastated by the betrayal, but realised that the General needed to be stopped. He teamed up with one of the greatest technological designers on Krypton, and together they created a powerful machine."

"The Brain Interactive Construct or Brainiac was designed to be more intelligent than any man. His mind processed data a hundred times faster than any living being. He was armed with the strength and power that all Kryptonian's possessed. He was the ultimate weapon, faster, stronger and more intelligent than any other Kryptonian. He would win them the war and defeat the General. But something went wrong. On Brainiac's first mission he was apprehended. When the scientist next saw his creation it had been corrupted, answering only to the whims of the General. Their hope diminished, the scientist was forced to think of other ways to end the war. The Brain Interactive Construct only responded to the directions of the General now. Thus Brainiac was born, doomed in a way to destroy any world with his plots to serve his General."

The fire crackled and Chloe jumped. Her coffee long since finished. "How...?" she asked but Danny interrupted her with a wave of his hand. He sent a significant look at Clark before answering "I touched a crystal in the Fortress. Not sure if it's by design, but I found out that story." Danny got up then, collecting the few mugs to put them in the sink. Clark watched as the boy headed upstairs. That had been enlightening, but Clark suspected that a Crystal hadn't told him any of it.

Clark sat reflecting in the story as he sat next to Chloe. "Fine wanted me to help him free the General from that story; Zod. What I still don't understand is how you got onto Fine's trail." Clark looked at Chloe, and a slightly guilty expression crossed her face. "You're not going to like this very much" she emitted. "Lionel Luthor gave me the lead." Clark was surprised "Lionel? How'd he know about Fine?" Clark puzzled.

"I have no clue" Chloe answered. "I just hope he doesn't know about the spaceship. You know you should really get a hold of that thing before someone else does." Clark felt bad about that. Once they'd gotten back he'd checked the warehouse, but there was nothing there. The ship was gone. All he could do was hope Fine wasn't going to come back. After a while Chloe had warmed up enough to go home, they bade each other good night and Chloe went home.

Clark walked upstairs by Danny's open door. The light was out, but there was enough moonlight in the room for Clark to see Danny with his nose buried in Edgar Allan Poe. "You can read again?" Clark asked. Danny invited him in. "Sorta, it's weird some of the words I recognise." He flipped the book around to reveal the poem _'The Raven' _"Sam made me memorise this poem, so I know what I'm supposed to be seeing. I think I can read enough to get by. Hopefully whatever it was it's over. You're all right?" Clark just nodded. He had a nagging feeling that there was something bigger coming, but whether it was Fine, or Danny or even Lex he had no idea. He settled down for the night, his mind heavy with thought.

_Line Break_

Clark met Chloe at the talon late the next day. His Mom had fully recovered thanks to something that Danny had done. His parents weren't sure, and Danny wasn't telling. It turned out that Danny couldn't touch the meteor rocks either, another unexpected commonality. Clark and his Mom had spent a while just watching the rain. Clark was beyond relieved that she was okay. He couldn't lose her, his Mom was his heart. She'd taught him how to care for everyone and be fair to all. He couldn't live without her gentle guidance.

Clark sat at their usual table as Chloe brought over a coffee for each of them. For a moment she looked in his eyes and then down into the depths of her cup. "Clark" she inquired softly, "how much do you know about Danny?" Clark was surprised; he hadn't expected this to come up.

"He's a good kid." Clark said bluntly. For him it was enough, Danny strove to help everyone and somehow managed to lead two lives. Clark didn't know if he'd ever be able to manage that. "Why?" he asked.

Chloe looked up, her green eyes searching Clark's blue. "Well, it's just that in the Fortress he was thrown pretty hard, but he got up like nothing happened." So Chloe had noticed that, Danny had explained that he was thrown through the console, intangibility saving him from being skewered. It was probably a good thing she didn't see him go through the console. "Clark," She continued concern apparent in her voice. "His whole home was destroyed by a meteor. It's possible he's been infected. You need to be careful Clark; Danny might not be who you think he is."

AN: Hope the Kryptonite is the same is ectoranium idea worked. I will be playing around with that idea later.  
>Chloe is officially suspicious. What she suspects... well that's for later.<br>Hope you're still enjoying the story :) Please feel free to tell me what you think, constructive criticism is appreciated.

Until next we meet again

Bluerose


	9. Crystal

Chapter 8

Crystal

_Clark sat at their usual table as Chloe brought over a coffee for each of them. For a moment she looked in his eyes and then turned away. "Clark" she inquired softly, "how much do you know about Danny?" Clark was surprised; he hadn't expected this to come up. "He's a good kid." Was Clark's reply. For him it was enough, Danny strove to help everyone and somehow managed to lead two lives. "Why?" he asked. "Well, it's just that in the Fortress he was thrown pretty hard, but he got up like nothing happened." So Chloe had observed that, Danny had explained that he was thrown through the console, intangibility saving him from being skewered. "Clark," She continued concern apparent in her voice. "His whole home was destroyed by a meteor. It's possible he's been infected. Just, be careful."_

_Line Break_

Chloe sat at her computer at the Daily Planet, absently tapping her pen against the desk. There were a lot of things on her mind. She was worried about the Christmas Charity Drive that she had been put in charge of coordinating, she had already amassed a large collection of gifts and there was still more to come in. She also worried about the disappearance of Fine and his spaceship. It didn't make sense for it to have just vanished. And how was it that Lionel Luthor even knew to put her on to that paper trail.

Her largest concern though was Danny. It had been four months since Danny Fenton had moved in with the Kent's. He was a nice kid, sure. But there was something odd about him. Whenever she went to the Kent's he was sweet, kind of clumsy but also seemed insanely naive. When he thought no one was looking he was more graceful and had a deeply serious look in his eyes. Then there were the few times that they'd been in danger, like when Undergrowth was around or when Fine tried to destroy the fortress. He gained a confidence and strength that said that he could handle anything the world threw at him.

Danny seemed a paradox. He was klutzy, but could be graceful. He was shy, but poured confidence. He always acted the fool, but he wasn't. Absently Chloe reached to her bag where the ecto-gun that Danny had given her resided. After the battle with Undergrowth he'd taken it back and modified it. He said it wouldn't harm humans at all now. That concept alone was amazing. In the first place he'd made the weapon from the dismantled bits of other weapons in her car. She couldn't have done that and he did it without any blueprints or schematics. But to then be able to not hurt a human, and only damage ghosts... Chloe knew that Danny was no simpleton.

He had known what Fine was. Danny, a kid who by rights shouldn't know the first thing about Krypton had known that the Professor was an AI robot thing bent on destruction. He had known that Fine was the Brain Interactive Construct. He'd known the story behind Fine's creation and history. He'd said he knew because he touched one of the crystals, but that didn't sit right with Chloe. She'd touched them and got nothing, so how did Danny know?

And yet there still was more to it than that. When they'd gotten to the Fortress she'd notice Danny run a quick analysis of the place and had run straight to the Portal that Fine had opened. He'd jumped into it, as if he could block whatever was coming. He fell out of it just as the portal was closing. Although Chloe wasn't sure if that was Danny's doing or Clark's pulling out the Dark Crystal. He had survived being thrown by Fine over fifty feet, getting up like nothing had happened. Danny was a riddle, a paradox, an enigma.

Chloe wanted to make sure Clark was safe. If Danny was going to pose a threat to him then Chloe wanted to head it off. The first thing to do was to confirm her suspicions. She called up Smallville High, still having contacts from the previous year. She found out that Danny's work was brilliant, but his attendance record was woeful. On a whim, Chloe had decided to ring up Danny's old school. She pulled up the school's information, amused by the similarities between the two schools. The mascot was a raven, not a crow, but the school team colours were red and white, so close to the red and yellow of Smallville high as to be laughable. Eventually she found the phone number for the school and dialled.

Chloe was able to get past the receptionist and onto a Mr Edward Lancer, the vice principal of the school. He was apparently the one to speak to about all school affairs, going between the role of teacher and assistant to the principal. After three rings the phone was answered. "Good afternoon Edward Lancer speaking" the man had the tired tone of a man who had been disappointed many times, yet was able to put a brave face on for the world.

"Good afternoon Edward. I'm Chloe Sullivan, and I work for the Daily Planet." Chloe stated in a cheerfully professional tone. "The Planet?" the man asked curiously. Chloe imagined what the man may be thinking now, probably that she was working on a big exposé for the paper. Well, she didn't have to tell him why she was looking into Danny, only that she was. "I'm actually looking into one of your former students, a Daniel Fenton."

There was a slight pause on the other end of the line, and Edward's lamenting reply was "Such a shame, his whole family gone like that. His parents were some of the strangest and most loving people I've ever met. They helped keep the city safe, protecting everyone. Their daughter Jasmine was about to go off to college, she had six Ivy League schools offering her a full scholarship in Psychology. Such a terrible loss."

It was interesting to hear about Danny's sister. So she too was remarkably intelligent, but unlike Danny she chose not to hide it. "What about Daniel himself?" Chloe asked. "Daniel, Danny has always been an... interesting child." Edward was hesitant, almost sounding protective. "Why do you want to know about Danny?" He asked, perfectly reasonably. Chloe knew that this could go badly, she wanted as much information as possible, but didn't want to offend Edward. Perhaps introducing herself as working at the Planet hadn't been the best idea.

Eventually she was able to convince him that she wasn't looking to publish libel about Danny, that she was inquiring for the sake of a biography of the lives of the Fenton Family and wanted the truth about the family rather than the rumours that had been spread over the internet. "They were a strange family." Edward commented. "Maddie and Jack always seemed to leap into the spotlight whenever it came to ghosts. They were fairly public figures, much to the children's dismay. Jazz seemed to want to create her own spotlight, pushing herself into academic brilliance and carving herself a path in Psychology. But Danny was always very private. He stayed out of the spotlight, and seemed perfectly happy to do nothing but spend time with his two friends."

Come to think of it Chloe had noticed this. Danny was always fairly invisible when they were in Smallville together; there were a number of times when she'd forgotten he was in the room. He moved so silently he was almost like a ghost. "Interesting, so he never seemed outstanding in any way?" she inquired of the elderly gentleman.

"Well, I wouldn't say that exactly. He was reclusive; I'd almost say he was outstanding in how ordinary he was. I remember the first day of his freshman year here. He had a bright spark; he seemed so keen to learn. Then a month after school started he became overly clumsy. He was banned from handling anything fragile until late last year. At the time we thought it was just a phase; that he'd settle down. _Great Expectations_ we hoped that he'd settle down. Then he changed, he'd run out of classes at the most random times and not come back for hours. The rest of freshman year he was mostly asleep in all his classes, the vigour he'd shown had vanished."

"The strange thing is whenever he handed in work it was good quality. I recall an excellent paper he handed in on _Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde_. He showed such depth and insights that I'd never even realised. His main problem was that he was never in class or awake enough for assessments. Last year he got a bit better, he was able to pay attention in class, although his in class responses were simple. Sometimes I wondered if he was scared to show his intelligence."

"What would make you think that?" Chloe asked curiously. She was getting more information than she'd initially believed. It seemed Danny had had the same peculiarities regarding his education since before the meteor had hit. That was, to Chloe's mind, very strange.

"Well, I am ashamed to say that he was the favourite target of many members of the football team. Many times I had wanted to stop it, but my _superiors_ encouraged giving the football team a blind eye. One of many complaints I have against the school board, but I digress. He was the victim of much more than any other in the school, mostly because of his parent's occupation. I imagine he did not want to be outstanding in any way that could draw attention."

Edward paused for a moment and his tone changed as he mused aloud "You know this last year even that changed. He seemed to be picked on more often, teasing the footballer and letting another victim get away. As if he was baiting the bully. But then he'd just stand and take it. He never fought back, but there was a look in his eye as if he was... bored. Strangely I never noticed that before now."

This was news to Chloe. Of course she hadn't observed Danny at school, but if Edward was to be believed Danny took beatings for other kids. The question was why. And was he still doing it at Smallville High. _Ah_ Chloe thought _the mystery deepens_. "So you're suggesting that he willingly plays the victim to stop other kids getting hurt?"

"Hmm" Edward replied thoughtfully. "I suppose so. I can't see why though, he was never the strongest child. In fact he had about the worst grades in gym. I don't know; there's just something about Danny." Chloe thought on that. Danny did seem a little... weak, but Jon had said he was actually pretty helpful on the farm. He'd handled being thrown by Fine, but sometimes seemed to strain with manual tasks while wandering around town. Either he was insanely good at hiding, even better than Clark or there was something else going on.

Chloe thanked the man for the information, and ended the conversation. This left Chloe with a puzzling dilemma. Really she wanted to prove once and for all which end of the scale Danny was on. She chose to call up Smallville High. It took a lot of persuading, but she was able to convince them to give Danny the tests for the grade above when he sat his mid-yearly examinations. She had a suspicion that he'd do well in them, and it would prove his intelligence once and for all. The next question was going to be finding out whether he had any special abilities...

_Line Break_

It was coming up to Christmas, and the last few hours of school were drawing to a close. It had been almost five months since Danny had awoken in the hospital to the worst news he had ever heard. Five months since he'd found out they were gone. Five months since he'd come down to the kitchen to see his parents working on some invention. Five months since he'd heard Tuck's lame jokes or Jazz's bright laughter. Five months since he'd watched Sam smile in the moonlight as he took her for a midnight flight over Amity Park.

Really, he was desperately glad that the Kent's had been there to catch him. They had welcomed him into their lives no questions asked. But Danny's heart still ached for the loss of his family. He was devastated when he'd found out that he'd failed. That he couldn't protect them. The longer he was in Smallville the more he realised that. Nothing could change the fact that they were gone. He had woken up in a stark white hospital room with Vlad's physicians crawling over him. One of the very few benefits to knowing the Froot-loop's secret was that he'd do just about anything to keep both their secrets safe.

The days had become colder, while there was no sign of snow everyone was bundled up to stay warm. Well, everyone except Danny. He was still donning the same t-shirts he'd worn in summer. His ghost half had pretty much made him immune to the cold, actually he was a lot happier out in this sort of weather than he had been in the summer. Clark had donned a thicker jacket to protect him from the cold. The two of them were gradually fixing one of the fences in the back field.

It was the beginning of the Christmas break. Danny had finished the last of his exams last week. He'd actually managed to get to all of them, surprising himself. It seemed most of the ghosts were excited about Christmas and were readying their lairs for the Christmas season, so he wasn't being bothered quite as often. The exams had been actually kind of fun. Of course he'd limited himself to getting eighty percent in all of them. It should be enough to repair the damage from his constant absences and still not put him too far ahead of everyone else.

It was Christmas in two days; to be honest Danny was tempted to disappear into the Zone for most of the time. With the Christmas Truce he would more safely be able to visit with the friendly ghosts. Really, Danny just wanted something familiar. This would be the first Christmas he'd without any of his family. Last year was the first time he'd been able to truly enjoy Christmas after Ghostwriter's lesson when he was fourteen. He had made up with Ghostwriter since then, and he had become a good friend. One of the few friends he had left from his life in Amity Park.

Danny sat on top of the Barn. He'd often come up here when he wanted to be alone. He looked over the frosty fields as the sun set. A gentle mist that had not quite gone away all day danced on the chilled ground. Idly he played around with ice, creating a crystal and then focusing it into different shapes. He made a windmill which turned into a caterpillar, then a butterfly and finally a bat. He frowned and dispelled the ice. This year there was no Sam to talk to when his parents went mad with the Santa Clause debate. He sat in the fading light as the night closed around him, watching as the stars slowly lit up the night sky.

He'd always loved the stars. Since he was a child Danny had wanted to be an astronaut, to explore uncharted worlds and escape the ties of Earth. The past two years he'd done that and more, he had gone to space when he was just fourteen to stop Technus. So in a way he had fulfilled that dream. But he still held his fascination with the stars. They were one of the few things that never changed. Humans came and went; the ghosts flitted in between realities. But the stars were permanent; they would last far longer than him. Perhaps that was why he had started liking them in the first place. No matter what else changed the stars would always be there for him.

He sighed, it was close to dinner, and Aunt Martha was going to be calling him in soon. He jumped down from the roof, landing lightly on the ground and went inside the house. Aunt Martha had long since gotten used to his peculiar eating habits. The house was warm and cheery, a few lights were up, but they hadn't put everything up. Aunt Martha and Uncle Kent were having a big Christmas Party this year. But with his campaign they hadn't had much time to put everything up. Dinner was pleasant, and they were going over a few last minute plans.

This was going to be Clark's first Christmas with Lana, and they wanted to put up the tree together. But there was a lot more to be done. The three Kent's went upstairs to retire for bed, but Danny was going to put his insomnia to good purpose. He went out into the barn to the boxes of Christmas decorations that were out. He pulled out the first box out and got to work. Ghostwriter had not so subtly reminded him that everyone celebrates Christmas in their own way two Christmases ago. Danny was going to put on a brave face and help the Kents like they'd been helping him these four months. Danny was going to make sure that his first Christmas with the Kent's was a good one.

_Line Break_

The sun rose on Christmas Eve and Clark was early to rise. He could hardly contain his excitement; today he was going to spend the whole day with Lana, the love of his life. He got out of bed quickly and was showered and dressed for the day within five minutes. Unsurprisingly Danny's room was vacant. He hardly spent any time in there, preferring to sit on the barn roof or out in a field in his spare time. It had been just over five months since he'd come into their lives, and Clark was glad he was there, somehow the halfa fit right in to their family. Clark smiled as he went down the stairs.

"Hey Clark, just because you get to spend the day with Lana doesn't give you the right to spoil my breakfast." Danny joked from the kitchen as Clark came down the stairs. This morning it looked like his Mom and Danny had made breakfast together, usually they alternated on who made the breakfast. Clark's Dad came downstairs and the four of them sat down for breakfast, Danny just sipping on a hot chocolate while Clark and his parents tucked into cinnamon pancakes. Danny had a huge smile on his face, and he actually seemed sort of excited.

"Well," Clark's Dad said "We have a long day and a lot to get done before tonight. Clark, what time are you meeting Lana?" Clark looked up at his Dad and smiled "Eleven, we're going to the lot and then we'll come back here." His father smiled back at him, and there was an unspoken message of pride and joy for Clark. "Well then, we'd better get started then if we want everything else ready for tonight." Clark and his Dad put on their jackets, but surprisingly Danny stayed at the table, a knowing grin plastered on his face.

"You coming?" Clark asked, genuinely puzzled. Danny just smiled at him and replied "in a minute." Clark's Dad went out the door and froze. "Martha, come have a look at this." He said with quiet awe in his voice. His Mom went out; tugging her gown around her and Clark popped his head out the door. His eyes widened at the sight in front of him. Clark's Mom turned to Danny "You did this?" Danny nodded. "Hope you like it" he smiled "Happy Christmas". The three Kents stared out at their garden which had been transformed overnight.

Green garlands were wrapped around the porch pillars, laced with a fine sprinkling of crystalline snow. Delicate icicles and large crystal snowflakes hung gracefully from the eaves of the roof. The Christmas light reindeer that they had bought three years ago were tastefully placed amongst a herd of ice sculpture reindeer. The pathway was accentuated with delicate icy spirals with gossamer thread like strands between them. The white picket fence was decorated with green foliage. In the daytime it looked like a winter wonderland, and Danny had pulled it off overnight.

Danny appeared by them on the family porch, still smiling. Clark's Mom gave him a big hug "it's wonderful" she said. She gave him one more squeeze before heading in to escape the cold.

"So" Danny began, nervously looking at Clark and his Dad and rubbing the back of his neck. "What do you think?" Clark and his Dad looked at each other and then back to Danny. "I think the operative word is wow." Clark exclaimed. Danny smiled again.

"But don't you think this is a bit close to exposure?" Clark's Dad asked, and to be honest Clark worried too when he first saw it. The ice statues looked wonderful, but they were a kind of giveaway. Adding that to that little light display and it was as if Danny was advertising his secret. But then Danny grinned. "See that's the brilliant thing about it. Sure, I used my powers, but every single thing here I could rig up with a mix between my parent's tech and stuff bought in shops. Probably within an afternoon." He gave them a brilliant smile that dismissed their concerns.

The three of them went back inside. There was one less job done, but the living room was still bare and they needed a Christmas tree before the day got too much later. Clark checked the clock; there was forty minutes before he had agreed to meet Lana in the Talon, so he should head off soon. Still smiling he jumped in the truck and headed into town. Half an hour later Lana and he were sharing a coffee before they went to the Christmas Tree Lot.

As they wandered through the trees Clark and Lana simply chatted enjoying each other's company. The two of them eventually found the perfect tree and Clark loaded it in the back of the truck. It was so large that the attendant felt obliged to help, and since now wasn't the time he wanted to reveal himself to Lana he gratefully accepted the help. Soon enough it was loaded and Lana and Clark began the drive back to the Kent Farm. They both sat in the car, Lana softly leaning on Clark's arm as they drove out to the Farm. The sun was dipping towards the horizon as they neared the house. Lana shivered as she stepped out of the truck as the winter air bit into her. Clark went over and gave her a quick hug to warm her up before guiding her towards the garden gate. As they approached Lana gasped.

"Who did this?" she whispered a hand pressed over her lips, Clark smiled. "Danny did." The dimming sun sparkled softly off the ice and the soft glow of silver was beginning to permeate the garden. Clark had to give Danny credit, he did have excellent taste.

"It's beautiful." Lana said slightly awed. "But not as beautiful as you" Clark couldn't help but say as he met her bright eyes. Lana smiled, and Clark couldn't help but feel content. They stood for a minute, Lana enjoying the sunset's reflections on the ice. She shivered once more, so Clark took her inside. The house was warm, the soft smell of baking permeating the air. Much of the house had been decorated since this morning, but the lounge room was vacant, waiting for the arrival of Clark, Lana, and the Christmas tree.

Clark left Lana to warm by the fire as he went back outside to get the tree. He was just lifting up the tree when he heard a voice "So, how'd it go?" Danny said smiling as he stepped out of the air. He had obviously been invisibly watching him. Or maybe not, it was always hard to tell when the halfa was just hiding as a full human.

Clark smiled at the younger boy. "Pretty good. How long have you been there?" Danny shook his head, his raven hair rustling in the cold air. "Not long, just long enough to wonder how you plan to get that inside without blowing your secret. It doesn't look light." Clark looked between the boy and the tree. Danny raised a fair point; it was a very big tree. With a gesture Danny picked up the other end and the two brought it inside to stand it in the centre of the lounge room.

Since Clark had been out, the inside of the house had been transformed; Christmas decorations adorning almost every surface, but tastefully so. There were leafy tinsel trails framing each window, laces with colourful fairy lights and shiny baubles. The front staircase had red tinsel around each vertical beam, making it look as if it were made of peppermint. Red, white and golden candles were artfully placed on each surface, making the whole house seem warm and welcoming. However the pile of boxes in the living room filled with baubles and decorations that were reserved for the tree made Clark smile.

Clark's Mom came in to the room with Lana, a tray of tea and cookies in hand. The four of them took a seat for a short break. There was enough space in the front of the room that the tree fit in easily, and Danny raced back to clear away the few needles that had dropped on the ground before sitting down himself. Lana smiled and complimented Danny on the garden. He blushed and brushed it off saying it was nothing. He and Clark's mom went into the kitchen to prepare the food for that night and Clark and Lana set about decorating the tree.

Clark and Lana laughed together as the warm scent of cinnamon and gingerbread drifted through the house. It seemed Danny and his Mom were having fun in the kitchen together. Danny seemed to genuinely enjoy cooking, although that may be the distinct lack of ectoplasm based appliances. For a moment Clark could have sworn he felt strange sense of warmth, of pure positivity wash over him, Clark looked over into the kitchen to see his cousin positively beaming as he laughed along with Clark's mom. Both he and Lana smiled as they placed the last few decorations on the tree. Finally there was one more box left. Clark opened it up to reveal the golden angel that had sat on the tree for as long as he could remember.

"There" Lana smiled as she placed the angel on top of the tree "She's perfect."

"Yes she is" Clark couldn't help his cheesy reply as he leaned in and kissed her. There was another bout of laughter from the kitchen and it seemed that Clark's Dad had come in and stolen a gingerbread man while he was at it. Clark and Lana made their way towards the kitchen to join the rest of his family.

"It's usually just me and Nell at Christmas." Lana commented. "Lots of tinsel and an artificial tree. Thank you Clark," Lana said, smiling at him "for saving me from another plastic, store bought Christmas." Clark felt his heart melt. He couldn't love Lana more than he did right now. He couldn't be happier than he was with her, and his family than right now.

"You're welcome" Clark replied, leaning in for a kiss. Sadly his phone started to ring, the polyphonic tune of jingle bells announcing the caller. Clark heard laughter from the kitchen as he looked at the caller ID. It seemed Danny had changed the tune on him. "Hi Chloe." Clark said, rolling his eyes at his cousin who had just stepped into the room.

Chloe's response came quickly in the form of an overwhelmed _"Clark, I've got a problem. Can you meet me at the Planet?"_

_Line Break_

Chloe was overwhelmed. The Toys for Tots drive had been wildly successful. She'd managed to double the donations since last year. The problem was that the delivery company was on break so there was nobody to deliver the presents. And there were a lot of presents to be delivered. Chloe had wanted this to be perfect, since she'd gotten herself into this problem in the first place. She needed a way to get these presents out to all the kids on her lists and before morning, but there was no way for her to do it alone. She really didn't want to do it, especially since Clark had said that this was going to be his and Lana's day, but she really needed the help. So she got on the phone to call Clark.

After three rings he answered, _"Hi Chloe" _in a slightly annoyed but mostly happy voice. "Clark, I've got a problem. Can you please meet me at the Planet?" Chloe asked. _"What sort of problem?"_ he queried. "Well, I'm a bit over my head here, and I need your help." It didn't take much to convince him to come and help. Clark really was a hero at heart. Within ten minutes he was at the planet too. What she hadn't expected was for him to bring Danny along as well, although the help was appreciated.

Chloe led the two of them down to the basement bull-pen, explaining the current situation and begging them to help. She opened the door and watched as Clark's eyes widened. "Chloe, this isn't Toys for Tots, this is Toys 'R Us!" Clark said shocked. "How many are there?"

Chloe shrugged awkwardly "Couple of thousand, give or take. Now I Map-Quested these addresses and the sooner you can get started the better." Chloe picked up the address sheets. There were two thousand children on the lists, and Chloe had hoped to be able to organise a delivery route, but had run out of time. She had also wanted to sort the presents out into age groups, but hadn't found time to do much of that either.

Surprisingly Danny picked up the list of addresses, and flicked through them. Barely thirty seconds later, he pulled out a pen and a piece of paper, jotting down a dozen addresses within the same city block area. Quite a feat considering that the names had been sorted alphabetically. "Start there." Danny instructed Clark, quickly walking over to the small pile of already sorted gifts and pulling out twelve appropriate presents. Chloe was surprised at how quickly he'd managed to figure all that out, and she hadn't even told him where the sorted pile was.

Chloe pulled out a Santa hat and placed it on Clark's head before he could escape. "Here comes Santa Claus" She laughed, and Clark smiled as she pulled out a camera and took his photo. Clark raced off to deliver the first round.

"So" Danny said shyly "Where do we start?" Chloe gazed over the massive piles of presents that surrounded them. There was a lot of sorting to do, and it would help if they could calculate a quick route for Clark to follow. But since he was here this was a great opportunity for Chloe to figure out what was going on with Danny. She handed him the address lists, noticing how he baulked at the sheer length of it the second time around.

"Can you do that address trick again and figure out the easiest paths for Clark?" She requested "And then we can sort these into age groups. I think we can get it all done." She finished in a half-hearted question. Danny nodded, taking the address book. He spent five minutes pursuing it before Clark came in, but he was not alone.

"Hey Chloe, Danny" Phantom waved at them, smiling boldly.

"What are you doing here?" Chloe asked, genuinely surprised. She hadn't seen Phantom in person since the Undergrowth incident. Compared to last time she'd seen him, his white glow was powerfully bright, and his green eyes sparkled in silent laughter. The white cloak floated softly around him, billowing in an absent breeze. He seemed exotic and mysterious, the ethereal being placed on Earth. However his smile was genuine and Chloe couldn't help but feel comforted by his presence.

"I saw Clark running around Metropolis, and I figured I could give him a hand." Phantom commented by way of explanation. Chloe noticed Clark poke Phantom who rolled his eyes at the Kryptonian. There was something more to the story, but neither seemed to want to tell her about it.

"Well," Chloe commented "I'm not about to turn down the help." Phantom, Clark and Danny all beamed at her, and Danny handed Clark and Phantom each a list of addresses.

"Clark, you go from the eastern suburbs, west. Phantom you go west to east. That way you'll meet back here in the middle when you're done." Danny instructed quickly before indicating to Chloe for further instructions.

"Right." Chloe added "Um, Danny..." She trailed off, realising she had no idea which gifts to give each boy to take with them. Danny smiled and walked over to the piles she'd gotten to, quickly pulling out gifts for the kids. Chloe was glad he was here, it was going to make everything run much smoother, and she needed this done perfectly since her job was sort of on the line. Phantom and Clark quickly picked up their respective gifts and were about to head out when Chloe had one more idea.

She pulled a second Santa hat out and placed it firmly on Phantom's head. It sat, flopping over his snowy hair, clashing with his emerald eyes. For a moment it looked out of place, the human item didn't fit in with his ghostly outfit. There was a soft flash of white light, the red in the hat inverting to become a beautiful shade of forest green. The once kitsch hat became otherworldly itself in his presence. He looked like an archaic version of Saint Nicholas with the white cloak fluttering elegantly around him and the elegant green hat lightly falling from his snowy hair, the once white frill around it gleaming silver. Chloe couldn't help herself and pulled out her camera, asking if she could get a photo.

Phantom light-heartedly scowled before rolling his eyes and breaking into a smile. "So long as it doesn't wind up in the Paper." He replied and Chloe beamed, there was a quick flash and the Kryptonian and the Ghost were off, leaving Chloe and Danny to sort out the presents. Danny and Chloe split up, each attacking the huge mound of gifts from the opposite end and stacking it in smaller, more orderly piles. Every now and then Clark or Phantom would come back in to pick up another pile and be on their way. Chloe was surprised that they'd been able to rope Phantom into this, but believed that he was there to help, and she was not going to turn that down.

They were making quick progress of sorting. Chloe was surprised at how quickly Danny was able to sort through them. She took a much needed coffee break and studied him for moment. He seemed happy, there was a gentle smile on his face as if he was privy to a joke that no one else was. Chloe was intrigued by the younger boy. He had proven beyond a doubt that he was above average intelligence wise. She didn't know anyone else who could have sorted through a list of addresses and found the best routes that quickly. It was almost as if he had an aerial mental map of all of Metropolis.

And there was also the way that he was able to quickly sort the gifts. He'd been arranging them into smaller piles on either side of the room; one for Clark and the other for Phantom. Each corresponded to the next area on the map that they would have to go to. It was... astounding. He seemed to have memorised every name on that address list, it had been almost an hour since he'd last looked at it. Chloe smiled, happy that Danny was letting her see this side of him. It made everything so much easier for her with Danny helping her organise everything so efficiently.

Phantom came in for another pile of gifts and Chloe realised that Clark hadn't checked by for quite a while. In fact Phantom had made three whole rounds since Chloe had last seen Clark. "Wonder where Clark got to." Chloe commented not long after Phantom had left again. Danny looked up at her briefly, his blue eyes briefly looked distant before he quickly shook his head and smiled. It wasn't a minute later that Phantom came back himself.

"Clark has been temporarily waylaid." Phantom announced looking at Chloe "He's on a rooftop, helping Santa out. It looks like he was about to..." Phantom trailed off for a moment before finishing "Well Santa looked pretty drunk and was looking for a way out. But Clark's talking to him. He'll probably have to head home soon though. I'll finish up for him." Chloe looked down at her watch blushing. Clark was already running late for his Christmas party and he absolutely had to be there for his dad's sake. Danny would probably get a lift back with her, or at least she hoped he'd stay. Chloe didn't want to lose her little Christmas elf.

Phantom departed with another pile of gifts and Chloe stood up to get back to work herself. As she stood she accidentally bumped into the massive stack of presents. She didn't have time to move or even to think as the huge pile toppled towards her. Suddenly she felt strong arms around her; there were loud thumps as the pile collapsed on the place she stood bare moments before. She looked into Danny's blue eyes, filled with a strange mixture of worry and... something unidentifiable. It was almost like prise or satisfaction, but there was something more to the look in his bright blue eyes.

"Great reflexes" Chloe commented lightly, still shocked that she hadn't been buried by the pile of gifts that now lay scattered on the floor. "Thanks" Danny just smiled at her, awkwardly rubbing his neck as he dismissed the comment. Chloe went to sit down to catch her breath and Danny started picking the toppled presents up. Chloe watched the younger boy as he worked and her eyes widened. Mere moments ago Danny had been on the farthest side of the room from her. There was no way he could have gotten all the way across in time to save her unless...

Danny was meteor infected. There was no other explanation. However, looking at him it was hard to believe that he would go psycho like all the others had. He'd just saved her from being crushed. Chloe decided that it wasn't harmful to Clark for his cousin to be meteor infected if Danny's inclination was to save people. Besides, if Danny got out of line Clark could save him before it got too bad. Chloe smiled; she'd protect Danny's secret for now. He didn't have to know that she'd figured him out. Like with Clark she wanted Danny to trust her enough to tell her on his own. If that meant she had to feign ignorance that was fine with her, although she did wonder what exactly his power was. All she knew was that Danny had suddenly been there to save her.

Danny grinned as he placed the last gift on the top of a small pile. "That officially makes the sorting finished." He announced, happily flopping into an empty office chair. His blue eyes sparkled gleefully from beneath his raven locks and Chloe couldn't help but think how innocent and naive he looked like that. She saw about twenty piles of gifts, carefully laid out on the desks. It seemed that Danny had managed to finish the job while she was busy musing.

Phantom faded in to pick up the next pile. Chloe was tapping away on her computer, but looked up when she noticed that both Danny and Phantom were gazing curiously towards the door.

"Merry Christmas Chloe" A warm elderly voice said, making Chloe jump slightly. She looked up to see a slightly pink cheeked man in a Santa suit smiling at her.

"Santa?" She queried and the man laughed. His hands coming to rest in the thick black belt he wore as he wandered over towards Chloe.

"Suit gave me away, huh?" the man jested. Chloe was curious as to what he was doing here, not to mention a little worried; after all a strange man had broken into the _Planet _after hours. While Danny was here to help, she didn't want to know how badly this could spiral out of control.

"What... what do you want?" She questioned, hoping to sound cautiously confidant to head off any problems before they arose.

"I met a friend of yours. Young Clark Kent" The mad replied and Chloe raised a sceptical eyebrow. "He told me what you, Danny, and he were doing. How you were all giving up your respective Christmas Eves. I figured you could use a little help." It was strange that he hadn't mentioned Phantom as well, but maybe Clark hadn't mentioned Phantom to the man. What did ghosts even do for Christmas anyway?

Chloe was sceptical of the man's offer, but looked over for the boys' input now that Clark wasn't here. Both were looking curiously at the man before Danny turned back towards her with a playful smile on his lips. Chloe turned her sceptical gaze back to the man.

"Shouldn't you be standing on some street corner with a bell?" Chloe asked and the man laughed lightly.

"Come on, let me give you all a hand. Take a little bit of the pressure off. I am familiar with the job, you know." He said, lightly tapping his pink nose and winking cheekily at her. Chloe wasn't yet convinced.

"I don't know." Chloe answered, crossing her arms in scepticism.

"Come on Chlo'" Danny interjected "What's the worst he could do, make off with a few free squirt guns?" Chloe looked over to the two boys to see both of them pleading with big pouting eyes. Emerald and blue twinkling at her she shook her head finally warming up to the idea. After all, Clark _had_ gone home, and Chloe didn't want to be here all night. There was only so much that Phantom could do; and besides she had trusted him to help out, why not 'Santa' too?

"Well" she sighed "we definitely could use all the help we can get." Chloe smiled Santa, and was met by three pairs of happily twinkling eyes. "At least no one's gonna accuse you of being a scab in a Santa outfit." Chloe turned to pick up the address sheet for the closest pile and a warm wind washed over her. There was a faint sound of jingling and she spun around again to find Santa gone. Not just that, every single present was gone too.

Chloe looked over to the boys, but found that Phantom too had vanished. Danny looked slightly disoriented, but he stood up with a broad smile on his face. "That was pretty awesome" he commented, and Chloe couldn't help but to agree. It seemed Santa had managed to take all the gifts in one go, if he could manage that there was no doubt that he could deliver them all. The two of them quickly decided to head back to Smallville, after all Chloe was expected at the Kent Party too, and Danny needed to at least put his face in. Danny kindly helped her pack up for the night and Chloe donned her jacket. As she exited the building she had a strange thought; this time of night it was only key-card entry. To have gotten in... maybe the man really was Santa Claus.

She stepped outside into the _Planet's _Parking garage, shivering in the freezing cold. Danny seemed completely unconcerned with the biting cold in his single long sleeved t-shirt. Chloe shrugged it off as one of the strange things about Danny. After all, there had been kids at Smallville High who refused to put on a warm jacket even when the barometer hit freezing. The two of them jumped into her car and began the hour long drive to Smallville.

Chloe smiled, musing about what she knew of Danny. He was a good kid, he was meteor infected, but that didn't seem to change the fact that he tried to help people. He had saved her from being buried under all those presents. He was very smart, but he hid it most of the time and she didn't know why. But he was still a kind person. Just being around Danny made Chloe feel happy and safe; like she had a guardian angel would protect her from anything. It was weird to think that. She looked over at the younger boy. In a way he was like a little brother, in a strange cosmic sort of way. She knew Clark often felt that way about Danny, he'd said as much to her before.

The drive passed comfortably, although Chloe was surprised to learn that Danny hadn't applied for his driver's permit yet. The two chatted companionably. Chloe had long since felt that she could trust the boy, her only concern was for the safety of Clark. But now she was certain that Danny would help protect Clark's secret too. That didn't mean she wasn't curious though. "So, how did you find out about Clark?" She asked, her eyes briefly flicking into his shimmering blue through the rear-view mirror.

Danny's mouth twitched into a half-smile. "It was actually the first day I came into Smallville. You remember Sean Kelvin came up to us?" Chloe frowned and nodded. That boy still sent shivers down her spine. "Well," Danny continued "You and Lana ran off, but I had no idea I was supposed to follow. Sean froze Clark, and when I called you to ask what to do you said "just leave him in the sun.""

Chloe blushed at her own obliviousness. "In retrospect, that probably wasn't the best advice, but you couldn't take him to the hospital either."

Danny laughed. "Yeah, but hey, you were panicked, and just said the first thing that came to mind. Although next time maybe it'd be better to say just take him home to warm up. That was the first clue that something was different about Clark. But later that day a ghost came to Smallville. He was looking for Phantom, but that didn't stop him firing rocket, and Clark caught it."

"Ah" Chloe interrupted "The man of steel strikes again." Danny laughed at her comment. So Clark had gotten himself caught twice in the one day. Sometimes it amazed her that she'd been kept in the dark for six whole years when Clark made slip-ups like that.

"Yeah" Danny smiled "It kinda makes it obvious when someone catches a rocket that could have trashed a building." Danny shook his head and the two of them laughed. "But it's probably a good thing, in a funny way. He doesn't have to hide himself in his own home anymore, and he puts human life above his own secret. That just shows he's gonna be a great man someday." Chloe couldn't help but agree. But there was something in the conviction with which Danny had just said that that made Chloe wonder.

"And what's your excuse for arriving with me?" Chloe asked, wondering if he'd come up with a decent alibi. Danny smiled at her.

"I was invited to a get-together with some of my friends and wanted to put my face in. You were kind enough to bring me home, since I didn't want to pull Clark away from the party and it was on your way." Chloe blinked. That was both reasonable and stuck to the truth. They had had a get-together of sorts at the _Planet_, and she had offered to drop Danny off since he was going in the same direction as her. She'd need to remember to call Danny next time she was in need of an alibi for Clark.

Chloe happily pulled up into the Kent Farm, knowing that her curiosity had been satisfied. She knew that Danny would protect Clark's secret, and in a funny way he had explained his own standpoint. By judging that Clark was a good man for putting life in front of his own secret it suggested that Danny would do the same if the time came. Chloe stepped out of the car, heading towards the house. There were still a few things that she wanted to talk to Clark about, like the fact that the old man he had saved from jumping seemed to really be the actual Santa Claus.

Chloe stepped into the front yard and stopped in awe. It was beautiful. On either side of the garden path spiralling spires of ice shone, glowing white from within. Hanging between the spirals were twinkling snowflakes that swung gently in the breeze. There were two store-bought reindeer, shining brightly. But they were perfectly accentuated with crystalline reindeer, each one lit from below with a pure white light. In the bushes by the fence lay twinkling fairy lights, glimmering from beneath a gentle layer of frost.

Looking to the porch was more amazing, there were webs of glowing gossamer thread weaving through each of the railings. Thick garlands of leafy tinsel were interspersed with glowing bulbs of white and silver. Hanging between the eaves were delicate icicles, each glowing with elegant blue light. Interspersed between the icicles hung glowing snowflakes that twirled elegantly in the breeze. It looked beautiful, like a page from a long forgotten fairytale.

Danny just guided her into the house when she started shivering in the cold. She was going to ash Danny who had designed that display, but he had already vanished into the party crowd. She eventually found her way over to Clark and he said that it was Danny who decorated the outside of the house. Chloe had no idea that he had such artistic talent too. She smiled as she began her recount of her evening at the _Planet _after Clark had gone back home.

_Line Break_

Danny smiled as he retreated up to his room. He was actually having fun with the whole family, but there was almost too much positive emotion in the air for the young halfa to stay around. That man at the _Planet _had been strange. Danny wasn't sure what to make of him, but he was a good person. That surge of energy he'd made when he'd taken all the presents had forced Danny to reabsorb his duplicate, but at the same time rejuvenated both halves and making him feel buzzed with energy. Then arriving at the party with so many happy people and especially a happy Clark had given his ghost half a ridiculous amount of excess energy. He could feel the cool tingle as his body demanded being in ghost form.

In a flash of white light Phantom soared out the window and up into the Smallville sky. He had one last surprise for the whole of Smallville. He summoned the ice energy in his core, letting it build and then releasing it carefully. He smiled as the snow he'd created started falling from the sky. This was just freezing the water molecules in the air around him, so it would act like normal snow. That didn't change the fact that his core thrilled at the presence of the ice in the air, nor the joy he felt as he flew through the falling snow, sending it twirling in fluttering circles in his wake.

Phantom soared back down to the Kent house, switching into invisibility as he went back to his bedroom. From downstairs he heard the dulcet tones of his aunt proclaiming "Look, everyone, it's snowing. It looks like we're going to have a white Christmas. He shifted back to his human half and drifted downstairs to join the crowd that had gathered outside to watch the falling snow. Danny smiled as he saw Clark and Lana hugging each other tightly in the falling snow. He may not have his own family this Christmas, but he was glad to be able to bring so much joy to the family that had accepted him as their own. This was exactly what he had envisioned when he made the garden decorations and imagined the snowfall.

The crowd drifted inside, but Danny stayed outside, enjoying the cold night air. There was the crinkle of moving gravel, and Danny saw the headlights as a black car pulled up. It was strange; all the invited guests had long since arrived. The car came to a stop and it was then that Danny caught the numberplate. It was registered in Wisconsin, the numberplate read M4DD13. It was Vlad Masters' car. Danny retreated inside, not prepared to face the froot-loop today. Not when it had been such a good day.

From the window in the living room Danny watched the silver haired man step out of the car. Long hair tied in a neat ponytail and his dark grey suit neat and crisp. He held an air of superiority that betrayed his own image of self importance. Danny ducked behind the window, letting the curtain fall back into place. The billionaire knocked on the door and Uncle Jonathan went to answer it. The elder half-ghost was welcomed into the house, and he spent a good ten minutes talking with Jonathan and Martha.

If Danny didn't know Vlad better he would have said he was being genuinely friendly. To all appearances he was the family friend of Danny's deceased parents come to visit their son for Christmas. But Danny was not that naive, he could hear the dangerous undertones and slight strains in his voice that told that he was up to something. Danny didn't have to wait long before he felt a firm hand grasp his shoulder.

"Hello Little Badger" Vlad said, smiling down at Danny.

"Good evening Vlad" Danny replied politely, not wanting to hint at the bad blood between the two of them in front of the Kents. Danny knew that Vlad would only use it to his advantage and Danny couldn't risk Vlad getting too interested in the Kents. Clark had his own secrets and Vlad did not need to know them.

"Is there somewhere more private we can talk?" Vlad asked cordially and Danny guided the man outside around the back of the barn and towards one of the fields. He didn't want Vlad in the barn since it was Clark's space, so the field would do. Looking at Vlad who was staring disgruntledly at the falling snow Danny sighted and raised a dome of energy to keep it out for now. It flickered out of visibility in the sky, but Danny knew it was still there. It also had the benefit of keeping their conversation within the dome. Not that Vlad needed to know that.

"You have better control than when I last saw you, Little Badger" Vlad commented lightly. And it was true, last time they'd encountered each other and used their powers Danny had still been training himself to use his powers in his human form. Danny simply nodded in response and elected to take a seat in the air, sitting cross legged and floating two feet above the ground.

Vlad sighed and formed a sofa of pink ectoplasmic energy, taking a seat himself. Danny had hoped to avoid a ghostly light show, which was why he'd decided not to make the shield visible. It seemed that Vlad just wanted to make his life more difficult.

"Now Little Badger" Vlad said after a minute's silence. "I've given you four months to consider your options. You've almost gotten yourself caught here so very many times. I think it's time you abandon this rural facade and come join me."

Danny looked into the elder half-ghost's blue grey eyes. The sad thing was there was a small part of Danny that desperately wanted to go with Vlad. They weren't the same, but Vlad knew the burdens of being half-ghost. He could teach Danny how to live with himself and control his powers. He could understand Danny in a way that the Kents just couldn't. But it wasn't worth the price. It wasn't worth the corruption or the starvation his ghost half would suffer for being there. He would literally make himself sick if he lived with Vlad; besides there were good things about the Farm.

"I like it here." Danny replied with a shrug and a half-smile. "It's peaceful, and the Kents actually like me for me. It's different than living in Amity, but I like being able to help out on the Farm. Vlad, I'm happy _here_." Danny finished looking the elder half-ghost in the eyes. Vlad looked unperturbed.

"Little Badger" He sighed patronisingly "You were meant for bigger things than living on some farm. With me you could be great. I can teach you things about yourself, your powers that you've never imagined. You can't find that here. They can't accept you for what you are. The Kents could never understand." Danny looked away. Vlad had offered the same thing back in the hospital, but Danny would never join Vlad. Their ideals were too conflicting and Danny didn't just want to be a pawn or another trophy for Vlad. He wanted to shine on his own. Danny smiled as he realised one thing.

"The Kents may never understand me for what I am. But they care about me for who I am, and to me that's what matters the most. I'm sorry Vlad, but the answer today is the same as it was the first time we met. I won't abandon my family." Danny replied. And he was being genuine, the Kents had been nothing but kind to him. They had welcomed him into their lives unquestioningly. Vlad may not know that they knew his secret – and if Danny had his way Vlad never would – but they had embraced him for what he was, half ghost and all. Being around Clark made Danny feel less freakish, like maybe being the only one of his kind wasn't such a bad thing.

That was the sad truth of it. Danny was alone being what he was. He was the middle ground between life and death. He was a Halfa, caught in the twilight between two worlds. Vlad was half-ghost but he wasn't a Halfa. He was still fully human; he just had the benefit of ghost powers. He wasn't bound by ghost laws, and he was pretty much above human ones. Danny fell under the jurisdiction of the ghost laws. There some which he was immune from, but the major ones he was honour bound and bound by ectoplasm to obey.

Vlad scowled at Danny, sending a bright pink beam of ectoplasm from his eyes straight at Danny's chest. Danny grunted in pain and fell to the ground, but could do nothing about it. He was bound by the Christmas truce not to attack, but Vlad was not. The Christmas Truce lasted forty-eight hours; the whole day cycle across the globe, since Christmas started earlier in other countries. It was a good thing because Danny got a break from fighting ghosts, but it meant that he couldn't defend himself against Vlad. The man stood up, dispelling his sofa. Danny quickly got to his feet.

"Impertinent boy!" Vlad exclaimed, closing the distance between them "My hospitality will not last forever. You are the last thing left of my love Maddie, but don't imagine that you are special. I am offering you the opportunity to live as a king. However my patience is waning. You will submit to me..." Vlad was cut off as Clark approached.

"Danny?" Clark called, and Danny lost focus on the shield, the snow once more falling down around them. Danny was still firmly in Vlad's grasp as Clark came into sight. "It's time to come back in. Mom's cutting the cake now." Clark paused as he surveyed the scene and Danny saw Clark's gaze fall suspiciously on Vlad. The pressure on Danny's arm increased and he felt the bone snap. It took all the self control he had not to flinch. He didn't want Clark to incur Vlad's wrath. _'It's only a greenstick fracture' _Danny rationalised, managing to smile at his cousin _'it will be gone in a couple of hours'_.

"Well, Little Badger." Vlad said, his tone returning to his usual light and cheerful demeanour "I trust you will have a lovely Christmas." Vlad let go of him and took a step back. "I really must be going now, but it's been wonderful to catch up. Don't worry, your dear Uncle Vlad will be around if ever you need someone to talk to." Vlad took a few steps back towards the house before turning around and brightly saying "I'll be seeing you very soon. Ta-ta." And with that he walked off, completely ignoring Clark's suspicious glare.

Danny managed to smile at Clark. The important thing was to keep Clark away from Vlad's attention. If that meant that Danny had to take a few extra broken bones it was worth it. He didn't want Vlad to turn Clark into a pawn. The two boys made their way back to the house. Danny watched as the crowd dwindled, the happiness in the air restoring some of Danny's own confidence.

It didn't matter that Vlad was back on the scene; Danny would protect all of them from the man's scheming. All that mattered for now was that it was Christmas and the whole family was together and happy. Danny noticed Clark gazing curiously at him, and suspected that he'd been subjected to an x-ray. However by now the bone was mostly healed, it shouldn't be too identifiable. He smiled at his cousin, and allowed his own aura to expand. He enjoyed the smile that lit both Clark's and Lana's faces as Danny's own energy released into the environment. It was nice to make people happy.

Danny smiled. Unsure whether it was just the day or if he'd overdosed on Clark's sunlit energy something told Danny that it was all going to be alright. He settled into his bed happily. For the first time since his family had died he actually felt something like happiness. He looked out the window to the bright full moon, the snow still falling softly. It was Christmas, and he was with people who cared for him for who he was. He was with people who knew what he was and had accepted him for it. A satisfied smile played on his lips and he faded into gentle slumber, dreaming of the good time's he'd lived with his family and friends.

It was going to be a perfect Christmas Day.

* * *

><p>AN: Well, Chloe knows that Danny is meteor infected. Yay!<p>

Vlad is officially back on the scene and in Danny's life. What's more, Clark is suspicious of the man.

Please tell me what you think, this chapter decided to die on me halfway, so I had to retype it. :( Anyhow, hope you enjoyed.

Till Next Time

Bluerose


	10. Power

Chapter 9

Power 

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Lex Luthor sighed as he took a sip of scotch. His team of political advisors were pounding him with advice left right and centre. Unfortunately at the moment he was about tied in the polls with Jonathan Kent. This was too close for comfort to Lex. Then again, there was the fact that Lex had millions of dollars at bank set aside for the campaign while the Kents... well by now they would be digging at the bottom of their savings well.

It was early in January. Lex had been shot on Christmas Eve. The bullet had wedged itself into his spinal cord, almost leaving him paralysed. While he was recovering (and he was loathe to admit that the only reason that he could walk was due to his father toying with his life) he had had a bizarre near death experience.

Lex reflected on his memories of the day, drifting in and out of consciousness as the doctors struggled to keep him alive. It seemed that his mother Lilith, whom he lost when he was just twelve, had shown him the perfect world. Clark and he were good friends; Clark had married Chloe and both of them were successful in life. Lex had a son; a beautiful brunette son called Alex. But best of all he was married to Lana, the most enchanting and beautiful woman he had ever met. Clark was happy with it; Lex had married Lana with his blessings.

In that world Lex had been truly happy; a privilege that had been denied to him for as long as he could remember. Everything was peaceful; it seemed the world shone with a warm golden glow, embracing him in a glorious comforting hug. But then in an instant everything changed.

It seemed that in order to have that perfect life, to lead his happily ever after, Lex had sacrificed his wealth. That was a startling revelation, but manageable. He had watched as Lana gave birth to their second child, a beautiful baby girl. Lex had joined his wife and daughter smiling and laughing at the end of a perfect Christmas Eve.

Then a nurse had forced Lex out of the room. Something had gone wrong and Lana was haemorrhaging, Lana was dying. He'd raced to ask his father for help, to do anything to save his wife and the mother of Lionel's grandchildren. But he had refused. In that world he'd led the perfect life, but lost the only woman who had ever truly loved him.

It was that that had steeled Lex's resolve. He wanted to be happy, and the only way to ensure that he could be happy was to have unlimited access to money and power. Now, nothing mattered more to him than winning the election so he could secure his future. The power would allow him to make sure that no matter what he could control everything in his life. Nobody would die because he couldn't pay to save them.

Lex had even gone so far as to hire a bounty hunter in the form of Griff. He was renowned through the underworld for disrupting the popular opinion of public personalities. It didn't matter who it was or how big they were, Griff could always manage to bring them down. Griff had promised to find something so incriminating that the name Jonathan Kent would be blown out of the water come Election Day. Even if he had to fabricate it.

A strange smile crossed Lex's lips as he listened to his PR men prattle off to him about what needed to be done and where he needed to be next. He had ten minutes scheduled with some students visiting from Central Kansas University and then he had to take a helicopter to Metropolis. He had a dinner meeting with Mr Vlad Masters. Strange that the CEO and founder of the powerful company VladCo had taken an interest in him now, but he was not going to turn away such a powerful man. Lex's smile broadened. It wouldn't be too long and every element in his life would be his to control.

There was a knock on the door. It seemed the students had arrived. Lex stood as he was introduced to the group "Students for Lex Luthor". Pride swelled within him. It seemed he could make a difference in the world after all. This initiative was not one that he had instigated, but demonstrated his growing support and power base. Here he was, Lex Luthor, soon to be state Senator for Kansas and he had managed it all on his own. Finally he was free of his father's long and oppressive shadow. Finally he was proving to the world that he was a power to be reckoned with.

Lex straightened his suit jacket as he stepped away from his desk. The students filed in, most donning t-shirts with his face on, but the three in front were dressed in neat professional business outfits. They looked like they'd fit right in at LuthorCorp, and clearly were the type to set their goals and surpass them. Noting this he geared himself up for what was to be an inspiring speech. "Thucydides said "we are either kings among men, or the pawns of kings." The fact that you're here demonstrates that you strive to be the former."

Lex took to pacing powerfully in front of the young adults, his countenance pervading authority "The youth vote is stronger than we had ever imagined and I have you to thank for that. But we cannot afford to be complacent. Great leaders are forged from those who see beyond the boundaries. Who go beyond the extra mile. They go the extra ten. Defeat is not an option." Lex stopped, and pride swelled in his chest at the confident applause that the students initiated. Yes, defeat was not an option. He was going to make sure that no matter what this was a race that he would win.

The young blonde woman was the only one who had the courage to talk to him. In a strong voice, perhaps a bit presumptuous she introduced herself as Samantha Drake. Lex smiled and played the role of the public face, accepting a photo op with her. Surprisingly she had done her homework and knew the history of a painting he had acquired after one of his most successful mergers; the Metrotech Deal. That was one of his proudest moments. The fact that she had taken to wearing his name in the place of a crucifix was slightly unsettling. But Samantha was nothing more than a pawn in this game of power. Lex would encourage her to stand ahead of her own group, but ultimately she was nothing more than another vote; hardly worthy of much attention.

It was with no disappointment that he left her and her group, already heading off for his helicopter. As he walked through the hallways his phone rang. It was Griff. It seemed that after fourteen days of digging he had finally unearthed something for Lex. It was a small diversion, but he would meet with him in Metropolis before he headed to the meeting with Vlad Masters. Powerful though the man may be, this was likely just a bid for power on his part. Running for the senate seat had attracted Lex much attention from other businessmen who all wanted to ascertain more power over their own respective empires. Idly Lex mused over the benefits of pulling the strings for all of them.

He jumped into his helicopter. Within half an hour he'd be in Metropolis. This was the benefit of air travel; it cut the travel time in half. He reviewed some of the documents in his lap for a while before electing to look out the window. It was many years ago that he'd been that little boy too scared to open his eyes as he soared through the skies. Now he gazed down upon the darkened landscape with lustful eyes. Someday, somehow all this would be this. Then nobody could take his loved ones from him. Then he'd be able to make sure that he could keep the world firmly in his control.

The grey cornfields eventually gave way to the tall apartments and skyscrapers of the Metropolis skyline. He smiled as he saw the familiar structure of LuthorCorp's Metropolis office emerge from between the skyscrapers. The golden globe on the roof of the _Daily Planet_ seemed to rest just on top of his company from this angle. There was something almost poetic about the picture, as if it was his destiny to hold the world in his hands.

His helicopter landed and he took a lift down to the bottom of the building. It was only a short drive in his black Porsche, the one that he left at LuthorCorp for situations like this. Lex drove to the meeting point. It was in the warehouse district, so very few people were around to see the Senate Candidate involved in a back alley deal. He pulled his car up under the train overpass, his shoes splashing in the shallow puddles that lay scattered on the ground as he stepped out of the car. The only light came from a lone public telephone that broke the darkness of the vacant space.

Lex made his way over, footsteps echoing loudly across the open street. A faint mist steamed up from a nearby sewer drain but otherwise the cold January night was still. He waited for five minutes before he heard the soft echoing footfalls of another person coming up to him. From behind the mist a man appeared. He was of average height, but Lex could make out no further detail as the man wore a thick black trench coat and his face was concealed in shadow and mist.

"He won't come." The man's voice was deep, but held the subtle interference of artificial modification. Lex only picked it up due to his many dealings with various parts of the Metropolis underworld. Lex was confused. How could this stranger even know why he was here in the first place? This was not Griff, he was taller than this man, but Griff ought not to have told anyone about their meeting.

"Your bounty hunter was bought out. The price of political warfare, the prize goes to the highest bidder. In this case; someone close to you." So Griff had sold Lex's evidence to someone else? Lex sucked his teeth in frustration. Griff had better have hidden himself deep. Now there was nowhere in the criminal underworld that would save him from Lex's attention. If Lex found him there would be nowhere that was safe.

A train passed overhead, the loud roar of the engine shattering the silence. Lex looked up at the train for just a moment, but when he turned back the man in the trench coat was gone. He had vanished into the night leaving nothing but the mist, swirling in the air like some misbegotten wraith.

Lex mentally cursed, two weeks of waiting wasted for someone else to go and buy his prize from under him. This just proved that the only key to happiness is power. He settled back into his car, driving steadily towards Tortellini's where he was meeting Vladimir Masters. He drove his silver Porsche to the doors and was escorted inside while the concierge parked his car.

Lex found himself in a large private room at the restaurant. The room was fairly dark; the corners were all in shadow. The rich red tablecloth was reflected in the decor and accentuated by the two dark leather lounges that sat in front of the lit fireplace. For a moment Lex believed himself to be alone in the room when an elder gentleman stepped from a shadowy corner.

"Ah, Mr Luthor" the elder gentleman came to stand just by the flickering fire. His dark grey suit was expertly tailored and bespoke dignified authority. His silver-grey hair was pulled back into a crisp ponytail, making him look cultured and refined. Vlad masters was only slightly younger than Lex's father but something in his icy eyes told Lex that this man was not one to be trifled with. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person." His velvety voice dripped with silent power.

With a fluid motion Masters moved his hand from behind his back, offering it to Lex. Lex shook the offered hand and graciously replied "The pleasure is all mine." The two of them sat to a quiet, albeit indulgent meal, making small talk about artworks and entertainments. Both knew that it was impolite to talk business over a meal. It transpired that Masters had a deep interest in the Green Bay Packers. Lex had never really followed football but did go out of his way to watch the Metropolis Bulldogs whenever they played their home field.

Eventually the two of them left the table, taking a seat opposite each other in the two darkened leather chairs. The waiter brought them each a coffee and a plate of profiteroles was placed on the heavy cedar table between them. They sat quietly for a few minutes, taking the occasional sip from their coffee mug. A log shifted in the fire and Lex was musing over various ways the upcoming conversation could play out.

"To business, then?" Vlad queried with an airy tone.

For the most part Lex Luthor was a man who prided himself for his patience. It was this that had allowed him to become such a successful businessman without his father's guidance. He could initiate a game of wits that would not see its way into fruition for years. This was why all of his business ventures and mergers had been successful. Yet with Masters present he was determined to get to the bottom of things quickly. The eccentric billionaire had no prior interest in the dealings of LuthorCorp; VladCo was one of the few true rivals to the company that he had been unable to buy out in any way.

Understanding this, it was with a deceitfully pleasant smile that Lex replied "To business." His voice was airy and distant; an appropriate tone for the conversation with the elder billionaire. He took a sip on his coffee and studied Masters as he mimicked the motion. Masters placed the cup down so that the handle was precisely forty five degrees from the edge of the table.

Lex observed as Vlad smiled. "Alexander" he began, Lex inwardly bristled at the use of his full name. Truly he had outgrown it the day he found out his mother had died. "I believe that I have a proposition for you that will provide mutual benefit and yield exorbitant returns for both of us." Somehow the man made Lex feel off-balance. There was something commanding in his voice, threatening. Lex was determined to wield his own power, and if necessary he would prove to be the superior of the two, just like every other businessman he had ever interacted with. That said, he was happy to listen to the man for now.

"So you are proposing a merger of some kind?" Lex asked for clarification, careful not to convey his own opinions of such a venture. Masters, however, smiled and shook his head.

"By no means" he replied with a frustratingly superior conviction. "Integration of our two companies would be to our detriment at this point in time. At the moment our business goals move our companies in different directions. Perhaps in future we could reconsider, but at the moment such a merger would cause conflict and ultimately reduce profitable returns. No, I merely seek to assist you with your first public entry into the political foray." Lex was taken by surprise. He had no idea that Masters was even remotely interested in Government affairs. However he was from Wisconsin and the concerns of Kansas were very different to the problems faced by the Wisconsin Senator.

"What interest does a gentleman such as yourself have in the politics of Kansas? Surely a man from Wisconsin with such a public profile has little need to involve himself in the political affairs of another state." Lex commented. This was quickly becoming a battle of wits, one which Lex was not positive of where he actually stood.

"My interest is purely professional" Came the reply with apparent candour "your candidacy here, as successful as it has been, thus far proves that there is a need for opinions such as yours and mine in the current political environment. Benefits from your office would reflect positively on other states and will ensure that the voices of those who make the biggest economical decisions are heard. After all, Corporations such as ours employ thousands and it is in the public's best interests if their CEO's are able to keep them employed."

"I seek only to assist in your campaign, bolster support, and rally the troops if you will. I am sure the open support of a man in my position will aid your campaign to no end." Lex took a minute to study the man. This was a very generous offer, disproportionally so in fact. It sounded like Vlad wanted to support his campaign on the off chance that it would someday make life easier in his own state.

Ultimately it seemed that Masters was just asking permission to openly support Lex in his campaign. Really, Lex would gain far more out of this than Masters could. There had to be something more. Masters probably just wanted to pull some political strings and have easier connections to the Government. It was hardly as though Masters was some diabolical criminal mastermind after all. Lex wanted to be cautious in involving himself with the man, but saw no real harm that could come from accepting his support.

Lex graciously accepted, but did not miss the sadistic elation that crossed through Vlad's eyes. That was a look that he'd seen in his father's eyes just before he sprung a trap on Lex. However something told Lex that he was not the target of Vlad's machinations. For now he would let Vlad support him, he was sure to be able to sway the votes of some of LuthorCorp's business rivals, after all if the CEO of VladCo was backing him, other businessmen would likely follow suit. Their meeting ended on a positive note, and Lex headed back to the Mansion.

As he settled in to sleep he could not help but smile. While Griff had failed him he had made a powerful ally. He was one step closer to his Senate seat. He was one step closer to attaining ultimate power over his life.

_Line Break_

Danny sat in the loft thinking. It was Friday, and the end of his first week back at school after the winter break and it had been one of the worst weeks he'd ever had to face as Fenton. The week before break had been the midyear exams. He'd just answered the questions not even realising that they were on content that he hadn't been taught yet. Somehow he'd ended up taking the midyear tests for the Seniors, and he'd managed to pass them all with flying colours. Actually, the lowest mark he'd gotten was a 78% in Calculus.

The problem was that now all the teachers were on his case, demanding to know how he'd managed to pass. It was impossible for him to have cheated since he had taken exams that he hadn't expected to take. If he'd simply swiped an answer key he would have realised that he was taking the wrong exams when the answers didn't match the questions or just failed outright. So the teachers were all debating what to do with him.

This morning he had been called into the principal's office. He had sat outside the office staring at a picture of Clark holding a football trophy glinting on the small mantle in the reception area. After ten minutes he'd been called into the room only to find Aunt Martha already there. She sent him a small encouraging smile as he quietly took a seat beside her.

"Daniel" the elderly man said. The top of his head was brushed with silver grey strands and his face crinkled with worry lines. Mr Jobson seemed a kind man, albeit strict. "Your Aunt and I have been having a rather enlightening conversation and would like your opinion on the matter." Danny wasn't sure of what to think. As far as he could see this could either go really badly or he could get off with just a slap on the wrist.

"Sir?" Danny asked curiously, knowing that saying anything more was unnecessary.

"See Daniel, the results from your examinations were outstanding. Too outstanding really. You should have told us that you needed advance placement courses when you transferred in." Mr Jobson said with a smile.

"Sir?" Danny was taken off balance, this wasn't one of the outcome's he'd expected at all. He'd expected being expelled for cheating or something in a similar vein. Of course he would never cheat, but all his experiences in life told him that people would always look to see the worst in him.

Aunt Martha smiled at him and gave his hand a comforting squeeze. Mr Jobson stood up from his desk and walked over to a filing cabinet and pulled out a thick Manilla folder. "With your track record I must admit we had not expected very much of you. Your freshman year you barely managed a passing C grade with all the classes you missed. When we saw the same pattern of behaviour here the teachers were all concerned. And then you performed so excellently in the exams."

"Tell me, Daniel, is the reason you skip so many classes because you are bored, you already know the content and so feel frustrated having to sit through it being presented again?" Mr Jobson asked. That was... unexpected. Danny blinked his confusion but couldn't find the right words to say. Of course the reason he skipped classes was that he had to stop ghosts all the time, but if you didn't know that... Danny was actually glad that the principal had come to that conclusion; at least he wasn't being made out to be some troublesome deviant.

"Well sir..." Danny began, but petered out when he realised he had no idea how to respond. Fortunately Aunt Martha took over. Thank goodness for her degree in Law. "Danny spends as much of his time studying as he can. He's always been a smart child, but was rarely given an opportunity to shine. I am sure anything you can do to further encourage him will be greatly appreciated."

Mr Jobson smiled warmly and took a seat again. "You are quite right Martha. Daniel, given how well you did on the Senior exams your teachers and I feel that we would be holding you back if things were to continue as they are. Your Aunt has agreed to this course of action and we hope you will find it to your taste too. On Monday I would like you to join the Senior classes; you could graduate this spring instead of wasting a year covering content you have already proven you know. What do you think?"

Danny was shocked, but he couldn't help but think that maybe this was for the best. If he was able to finish school early then he could invest more time into being Phantom. Although, what would that do to the bully situation here? He'd have to find some way to reduce it before he left, but otherwise it was a tempting offer. Before he realised it he had accepted, and the principal positively beamed at him.

He was issued a stack of exercise books from the Senior repertoire and was sent home to get a head start. Thus he found himself sitting on the barn roof trying to catch up with the shock lag. While the air was cool and crisp the winter sun shone on his back. He was enjoying the gentle warmth as he gazed over the fields. He was going to graduate school a year early. Did that mean he should be looking into Colleges now? No. Danny decided that he was going to use this head start to develop his skills as Phantom. While he had improved a lot since he was just fourteen there was still a lot he needed to do to keep everyone safe from the invading ghosts.

Danny lay back on the roof to stare up at the sky, enjoying the light wind as it brushed across his face. He heard a truck pull up in the driveway and sat up watching as the people climbed out and started unloading a whole heap of stuff. Bookshelves, a desk, and a lamp; all were ridiculously high-end. There was no way the Kents would have ordered this so why was it here? Danny saw Peter Sosnik, Uncle Kent's campaign manager climb out of his tiny Elantra. Danny climbed over the back of the roof, away from prying eyes before jumping off and doubling back towards the house.

He came into a flurry of activity five people were busy rearranging the living room into some executive office. The large oak desk sat in the middle of the room and was rapidly being surrounded by other rich furniture. But that didn't reflect anything about Uncle Jon. Who was going to vote for this picture, he'd look like another Lex. People were more likely to vote Lex if this was the angle Sosnik used. Better the evil you know than the evil you don't as they say.

Before Danny knew what was happening he was swept upstairs to put a suit on. Sosnik had leapt at the idea of involving Danny in the family portraits since it showed that Jon would look out for anyone. Clark the "Golden Arm of Kansas" and the poor orphaned nephew were a draw card as far as Sosnik saw it. Danny sighed as he buttoned up his white top. A woman had shoved it at him and ordered him to put the suit on. Nimbly he pulled on the green tie he'd been issued before picking up the black jacket. Shaking his head in silent frustration he did up the middle button on his jacket and looked in the mirror.

There was no way he wanted anyone to see him like this. Sure he looked neat and tidy, but he looked like some executive's son. He looked like... like Vlad's perfect half-ghost son apprentice. If there was any way out of this he would take it. There was no way on Earth or the Realms of the Ghost Zone that he wanted Vlad to catch sight of him like this. Someone knocked on the door. Danny flickered out of visibility just as the door opened.

"Danny, you ready?" Clark peeked his head around the door, but Danny stayed silent. The week had been taxing enough and he really wasn't up to this, leaving aside the fact that this ploy was not the right image for Uncle Jon. Danny flinched as Clark intensified his gaze before giving him a big poke in the side.

"Hey, no fair using x-ray vision" Danny scowled at Clark.

Clark raised an eyebrow at him "Coming from you? Not so convincing." Clark stood awkwardly for a minute, obviously uncomfortable in his suit. The two of them stood next to each other, two blue eyed boys dressed in ridiculously formal business suits with matching green ties. Their eyes met sceptically through the mirror.

"There is no way this is going to work, you know that right?" Danny commented. Clark nodded sadly. The two of them headed downstairs behind Aunt Martha. She was wearing a neat green two piece suit. The colour didn't suit her at all, and if anything she looked more uncomfortable in it than Danny and Clark combined.

The three of them made their way towards the living room, shifting uncomfortably in their clothes. The woman who had shoved this – costume – on Danny was brushing down the suit, before she turned the brush on Martha. Danny took a deep calming breath; this was taking a large toll on his concentration.

"Wow" Jon's warm voice broke the silence, but Aunt Martha slumped. "It's not exactly us." She said. It was then that Danny noticed that Lois was there. She was looking sceptically at Sosnik, but it was Clark, blunt as ever that actually asked "Are you even sure this guy even knows what he's doing?"

Uncle Jon reassured them that Sosnik helped the previous senator win five elections. Somehow that wasn't reassuring for Danny. In fact he seemed to be guiding them in the opposite direction to what Jon had originally wanted to go.

"Really?" Lois interrupted, "Because I think he's turning you into another Lex Luthor." Within a minute she was snapping at Sosnik in her cheerfully sarcastic way "I was just wondering if you've ever met the Kents. See, the reason someone is going to vote for Mr Kent is that they relate to him. And who is gonna believe that he supports local farmers when he looks like some business blowhard who's gonna buy them out?"

Sosnik replied "Yeah, well it's called bridging the demo gap sweetheart."

Danny was proud of Lois, she took a situation, found her stance and didn't back down. In the meantime Jon had been reading the paper, a more and more annoyed expression crossing his face with every word he read. "Now wait a minute, it says here that Jonathan Kent is quoted as saying that "it is possible to serve corporate interest and maintain the public welfare" I never said that!"

"I did" Sosnik said. And from the look in Uncle Jon's eye he was in a very precarious position. "See this whole John-boy thing you have going on – don't get me wrong you're very good at it – you may win with the cowpokes, but there's a whole pool of voters that are more comfortable sipping Latte's than they are with digging post holes." Forget post holes, Sosnik had just dug his grave hole as far as Jon was concerned. From here there was only one option. Jon fired Sosnik, and in a move from leftfield appointed Lois as his campaign manager.

The phone started ringing and Uncle Jon went to get it. Danny watched him go out of the room, but was stunned by the abrupt change in his aura. Suddenly it became dark, edged with worry and anger. He wished he'd listened in on the phone conversation. Jon came back in the room with a cheery smile that it seemed that only Danny saw through. Lois still stood blinking by the desk as Sosnik's crew packed everything up. It was only when the crew was gone that Lois managed to say anything.

"Mr Kent, Surely there's someone better than me." She stammered, still bewildered.

Jon smiled indulgently back at her, a trace of his usual positivity coming back into his aura. "Lois, you'll do fine" Lois took a deep breath, looked Jon in the eye and nodded firmly. She flicked through the blue file in her hands for a minute before guiding the lot of them into the Kitchen for a strategy meeting.

A rally had been arranged for Sunday, and Lois believed that it should go ahead. She looked over the pages of statistics studiously and then stood up. "Alright" Lois commanded in a voice that left no room for discussion. "Here's how we're going to play it. I am going to arrange a photographer; I'll need a photo of you Mr Kent, in your best suit. He was right in as far as bridging that demo gap goes. But the family photo is going to be out in the yard. Tonight, I'm going to redesign your campaign posters. The ones he made don't suit your style at all. By tomorrow you'll have an all new campaign ready to roll." She finished with a smile.

Four minutes later she was on the phone, she actually managed to arrange a photographer to come out the next day. How she was able to do it that fast without any powers; meteor, Kryptonian or ghost was beyond Danny, but he was enthused by her competency. She pulled the file back together and then looked to the family. "Mr Kent, I'd like you and Mrs Kent well rested for tomorrow. If you haven't started you need to start writing your speech for the rally. Smallville, you go and do... whatever it is you do on Friday nights, just make sure you're back here by morning. Tonight would be better. Casper, you're coming with me."

So the four of them split up, Danny was guided to Lois' red car, and despite his protests could not get any hint off Lois as to her plans or why she wanted him with her. The drive into Smallville was fairly silent and Danny felt awkward sitting next to the bossy nineteen year old. She parked her car outside the Talon and then guided him up to her apartment.

_Line Break_

Lois watched Danny as he came up into the apartment. There was no doubt in her mind that he was a strange kid. When he'd realised that he was getting nothing out of her as they drove into town he'd just sat silently, almost perfectly still. He'd gone to push the door open instead of pulling it as he opened the door to the Talon for her, but had cased out the place as soon as he'd set foot inside. Probably the only reason Lois had noticed was her years as an army brat. That was a behaviour her Dad had picked up around the time he'd earned his first Star.

But that was not the reason she'd brought him here. Chloe had told her of his fantastic organisational skill. She'd explained that he'd managed to index all the addresses for deliveries and sort relevant presents for the Toys-For-Tots drive at Christmas in just under an hour. It was this skill that Lois needed now. Not to mention she'd sneaked a glance at his sketchbook and had plans for utilising that particular skill. She guided Danny over to the couch, noting that he observed every single aspect of her open plan apartment before taking a seat.

Lois picked up her phone and made another quick call to the printers. She was able to convince them to give her a great deal if she printed four thousand of the largest poster size. That would be a great start, if she had the poster to start with. That, she hoped was where Danny came in. "Casper" she said, enjoying the slight flicker of irritation at the nickname. If she persisted long enough it was going to become a term of endearment. "I know you're probably a bit lost in this campaign, but I'd really like your help. See, Sosnik's plan was not the right image for Mr Kent. But at the moment we haven't got a good poster up and running. I'd like to have at least two by the end of the week"

She pulled out the black spiral bound book that she'd borrowed off the Kents' kitchen bench that afternoon and showed it to him. He made to grab it but she pulled it away. "That's my..." Danny began, but Lois interrupted him. "Sketchbook? Yes. Sorry for borrowing it, but you have talent Casper." Lois flicked through to the page she wanted. It was a picture of Mr Kent leaning against a fence post. While it was not coloured in it looked so lifelike you could almost hear his laughter as he smiled proudly over his fields. There was a moment of beauty captured here, so much more real than anything a photographer could capture.

"I'd like your help with the first of the campaign posters. If you can manage half the life you did in this sketch we'll be at an amazing advantage." The boy grumbled, but it turned out it didn't take too much to convince Danny to draw. She watched enraptured as a wonderful image came to life before her. It was Mr Kent, but he bore a sincere smile, the delicate shading in his eyes seemed to sparkle on the page. The top of his favourite jacket could be seen, but somehow the image made it look classy. Danny got all the details right, down to the slight crinkling around his eyes as Mr Kent smiled.

Lois looked over at the clock. It had taken Danny only fifteen minutes to render this perfect masterpiece of almost living art. She smiled; this was a talent that few possessed. Idly she wondered why he'd never thought to sell his pictures. They were amazing quality. As she'd flicked through the book she saw pictures of various people, some were coloured others simply shaded.

There were some pictures of what could only be ghosts. One or two had been seen here, there was one that looked like a farmer except for the fact that his skin was green and his eyes shone an odd shade of blue. He wore an odd chain of corn cobs around his neck and the caption in Danny's book read the Corn Ghost. There was a very detailed sketch of the plant ghost that had attacked the town all those months ago. A small blonde haired figure stood before the ghost, a tiny silver device in her hands.

There were many other ghosts; probably that Danny had only come across in Amity Park. There were detailed renderings of scenes around Smallville; the Talon, the fields, the Kent Farm, the school, there was even an odd rendering of the Loeb Bridge, almost from an aerial angle. But most amazing were the people. There was a detailed picture of the people that worked in the Talon, teachers from school. There was a picture of two blonde haired and blue eyed football types back to back. One wore the Smallville Jacket and the other wore the Casper high one. There were three of AC, one where he held a trident and was surrounded by fish as he floated underwater, it somehow suited him.

Pages were dedicated to the Kents, smiling as a family, Clark throwing hay bales, Martha as she pulled a tray from the oven, Jon laughing. There were pictures of Chloe, absently sucking on a pen as she thought of a story and one where she confidently held a gun like a kick-ass spy. There were some of Lana, a cheeky smile as she snuck up on Clark and the sweet innocence as she rode her horse. There were some of Lois, and she blushed at the beauty with which he'd drawn her. There was no way she came off like that.

But the most interesting ones were the fully coloured drawings of people she'd never met. A pair of people, one large and clad in an orange hazmat suit, the other small and thin wearing bright blue. The pair were almost always together. There was one of the orange man happily gorging himself on a plate of fudge, and there was one of the blue one expertly wielding a bo-staff. There was an orange haired girl, usually with arms wrapped around a book. A dark skinned technophile padding away at his PDA. But most lovingly drawn was the girl. Porcelain skin, dark hair tied loosely back to frame her heart shaped face and the most elegant amethyst eyes. Lois had been amazed at the image of her twirling happily under a moonlit sky.

That one picture had nearly brought Lois to tears. There was something in the sketch, an undefinable feeling of love and loss that told Lois that Danny had loved this girl, that she had been lost to him the day the meteor struck his house. Lois was moved by the powerful emotions conveyed by that one sketch, but felt helpless to do anything about it. And whenever Lois felt helpless she always found a different perspective and went barrelling on ahead. That's why she'd asked Danny to do the sketch. His amazing talent could be put to use, and also she wanted to start getting coverage by tomorrow afternoon.

The two of them spent a while deciding on the final layout for the poster, eventually deciding on a background of the American flag in pastel in the background with the campaign slogan in red down the bottom. Lois found herself quite liking the younger boy's company. He was shy and clumsy, but knew where to speak up and was particularly polite. Danny even went down and got Lois her favourite cup of coffee even without her ordering it. She usually had to remind Clark what she liked.

It only took them an hour and they finished the first poster. As they were heading out the door Danny asked for the sketchbook back, Lois had continued browsing through it while he was drawing. With a flush of embarrassment she handed it back to him and he hugged it tightly to his chest for a moment before he carefully put it in his backpack, Lois hadn't even realised he'd brought it with him. The two of them drove to the printer and after a five minute argument with the shop clerk the posters were being printed en masse.

They walked around town as they waited; occasionally Danny would look at a stranger with an odd questioning gaze, like he knew something more about them, but Lois didn't think to ask what. They were chatting, Danny was actually a pretty good sounding board for her plans, he was able to help her refine them and somehow managed to keep better track of all the different days and deadlines that she proposed. Somehow walking around with him she felt like nothing in the world could hurt her. Whomever Danny ended up with, she was going to be a very lucky girl. There was just something about Danny.

They collected the posters, Lois had to admit they looked really good, and she hadn't even needed to employ a graphical designer for them. The overall effect was one of sun kissed welcoming. Tomorrow she'd drive into Metropolis to get some coverage going at the universities after the photo shoot at the Farm. She'd also pull a couple of contacts in and fax the poster to some of her connections to get the campaign rolling in the other cities in Kansas. She felt a little overwhelmed, she couldn't believe Mr Kent had put so much trust in her, but she was determined not to let him down.

_Line Break_

Clark was exhausted. Today had passed by in a blur. First thing in the morning they'd gotten a call from the school. It turned out that Danny was going to be skipped into Senior year so he could graduate early. Then they'd had to do a photo shoot with Sosnik, who'd been fired. But now he'd have to put up with Lois running the campaign, he was tired just thinking about that. Lois tended to be very demanding when she got her mind set on something.

So he'd gone to Lana's dorm at the Uni to calm down, but they'd ended up having a big blowout; Lana wanted to be closer to him, but Clark didn't want to risk hurting her with his powers. And then to protect his secret he'd gone on the defensive and accused her of obsessing over astronomy. He was at a loss for what to do. He knew that he had some control over his abilities, it wasn't like he'd hurt people whenever he shook their hand, but there was still something holding Clark back. He wasn't ready to tell her his secret, he wasn't sure that she'd accept him and that was slowly destroying their relationship.

He drove the truck up to the Talon to pick his Mom and Danny up. Danny had spent the rest of the Day with Lois, helping her adjust to the new responsibility that his Dad had given her. Martha had gone to finish her shift at the Talon, seeing as she was manager. Clark noticed a big campaign poster on the billboard outside the Talon. Vaguely he recognised the style as one of Danny's drawings. He was glad that his cousin was so supportive of his father, even when Clark had doubted the rationality of the decision Danny had been there for his father.

Clark reflected on that. There were so many little things that Danny did just to make their lives easier. He'd encouraged his father to pursue this, and had explained that Jon was one of the few people that could make a real positive difference in the world given the chance. Really, it was Clark's Mom who was against the campaign, ever protective and wanting to keep Clark's – and Danny's – secrets safe. But in a way Danny was right, this was Clark's Dad's real opportunity to do great things for the world and Clark was not going to take that away from him.

Clark collected the two of them and they got in the truck. Danny was looking confusedly at his Mom who seemed to have a great deal on her mind.

"What's wrong?" Clark asked, looking away from the road for just a moment. His Mom blinked for a moment shaking her head back to the present.

"Nothing" she said with a weak smile "Just, a lot on my mind. I worry for your Father, for you, for Danny. What are we going to do when this is all over?" She shook her head once more "this campaign, I'm not sure how we can make it through alright, that's all." Clark sighed, he knew that this was going to be tough, they still had weeks to go and their coffers were already running low. But this was for his Dad, so Clark was going to be as supportive as possible.

Clark's eyes flicked to the rear-view mirror. Danny had been silent the whole trip, while not particularly unusual but he was usually more animated when he'd spent time with one of Clark's friends. Clark was alarmed to watch the colour drain out of Danny's face as he pulled into their driveway.

"Clark, hurry up." Danny demanded, his eyes widening in alarm. Clark watched as they flickered between ghostly green and ice blue. Clark was puzzled, what was wrong? Clark pulled the truck up next to the fence but before he could ask Danny was out and running towards the barn. Clark ran behind him, a blur in the night air. It took about twenty seconds for his Mom to arrive behind them.

Shelby was barking, looking up to something in the rafters. Clark saw Danny frozen, looking up at the same spot. Clark walked forward to try and calm Shelby down when he heard his Mom gasp. He turned around, hanging from the rafters upside down and unconscious was his Dad. Words painted in dripping red warned him to "drop out while you still can" it took only a second, but Danny made a weak noise before floating up and phasing Clark's Dad back down to the ground.

"How long has he been up there?" Clark heard his mom ask, her voice completely panicked. Danny had his eyes closed as he lowered Clark's Dad to the ground; he created a pillow of soft snow and covered it with his shirt before laying Jon's head down on it. Danny quickly took his pulse and checked his breathing. "37 minutes and 46 seconds" he said before blinking his green eyes open. "He'll be fine, but we need to get him to a hospital to be sure." Clark wanted to ask how Danny knew that, but there were more pressing matters at hand.

Clark quickly ran back to the house, grabbing the first blanket to come to hand and loaded his Dad in the back of the truck as they drove to the ER. Absently he realised it was the red one he'd borrowed from the Far Frozen all those months ago. They got him to the hospital and the doctors gave him a thorough examination. While they agreed that he'd be alright they wanted to keep him in overnight for observation.

Clark went out to the waiting room where he saw Danny was seated, hunched over his knees as he stared at the floor. He had thrown his shirt back on as they left the barn, but it looked thin when everyone else was donning thick jackets and jumpers. "Hey" Clark said, laying a hand on the younger boy's shoulder. He heard Danny's muffled voice ask "How's Uncle Jon going?" in a strangely empty tone.

"He's fine, thanks to you. Who knows how long he could have been left there hanging if you hadn't taken us there straight away." Clark replied, but Danny just groaned again. "Not soon enough."

Clark was puzzled Danny had saved his Dad's life, Clark would be eternally grateful, so what was he beating himself up about. "What's wrong" Clark queried cautiously. Danny looked up at him, his blue eyes dull and empty. They looked dead.

"If I had been there sooner, had been there at all... this wouldn't have happened. Your Dad knew something like this would happen. Someone's been calling him, making him stress, and he kept it from you, from all of us. But I knew. I should have stayed with him." Danny trailed off, his eyes landing back on the floor as he slumped over himself again.

"You couldn't have known something like this was going to happen, and you were able to save him just in time. That's what matters here." Clark watched as the boy slowly shook his head; gaze still firmly on the floor.

"You don't get it. I failed, I should have been there. I failed to protect him and he could have ended up dead, and it would be all my fault for not saving him." Something was nagging at the back of Clark's mind. There had to be an explanation for Danny's dark mood. He'd saved the day and yet he was beating himself up for not doing it sooner. It was deep, bordering on fixation, obsession. Obsession...

"_Ghosts are obsessive by nature"_ Clark recalled the day that Danny had revealed his secret to them. There were so many ways that his cousin acted human that it was easy to forget that he was anything different to a human with weird abilities. But he wasn't, he'd said it himself that his psyche was not human, closer to a ghost's. _"He'd asked me to act against my obsession, and ghosts just _can't _do that." _Danny had said that all those months ago, but Clark had never thought to ask what it meant if they were forced to.

"_Every fibre of my being is oriented for the sole purpose of protection." _And suddenly it clicked. Danny was blaming himself for not saving Clark's Dad, but it ran deeper than that. Whenever Clark himself failed at saving people he'd beat himself up about it, but he knew there was nothing he could do to change it. For Danny, whose entire being was oriented around saving people... he'd be destroying himself inside, feeling completely lost right now. And Clark was at a loss to imagine how to help. Clark was glad that the room was empty as Danny faded slightly, he tried to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder but it slipped through. Clark was saddened at the reminder that his cousin was, to his own mind, just a ghost.

Clark stood up; probably the only person who could bring Danny out of this was Clark's Dad. So he went to the hospital room where his Dad was resting. He was walking down the long corridor when Lois and his Mom stepped out of the elevator together. Lois was alarmed to hear that this had happened and had rushed to the hospital as soon as she found out. She had cancelled the photo shoot tomorrow to give his Dad the opportunity to recover a bit, and had rescheduled the rally for next week to make sure that he was okay.

When the three of them got to Clark's Dad's room he was already up, putting his brown plaid shirt back on. "I can't let them stop me" he said, and Clark immediately thought of what Danny had said, his Dad really _had _known that something like this was going to happen. Lois left to put the rally back on for tomorrow. But Clark and his mom stayed behind, concerned for this new development.

"I thought the doctor said he was going to keep you overnight." His mom said, fearful anger crossing her tearful voice. But his Dad just said that "they'd have exactly what they want" Darn it! Sometimes Clark's Dad was just too stubborn for his own good. He had a heart condition that needed to be taken care of, and all this stress couldn't be doing him any good at all.

"It's not the first time they've called, is it Dad?" Clark asked, knowing that his fears would only be confirmed. But that left nothing to the disappointment in his Mom's voice, or the betrayal in her eyes when she asked how he could have kept this from them. Saying they were supposed to be in this as a family.

"Are we?" his Dad demanded. "You were never happy about me running and now you just want me to quit." Clark flinched, he'd never heard his Dad talk to his Mom like that, so accusing.

It was heartbreaking to hear his Mom say "Maybe you're willing to risk your life over this, but don't think I'm willing to stand by and watch." She stormed off, blinking away the tears that had sprung to her eyes and leaving Clark alone in the room with his Dad.

"Do as I say, not as I do, huh, Dad?" Clark asked disappointed in his father. Usually he was the pillar of strength in the family, the most rational voice and the guiding hand. However lately he'd been more irrational. He needed to take the time to recover and he'd always encouraged Clark to think things through carefully.

"Look" his Dad said, meeting his eyes with his own brand of fiery defiance. "I never taught you to buckle under pressure. Especially not from Lex Luthor"

"You think Lex is behind this? You think he'd go this far?"

"There's no limit to what Lex Luthor would do, son." Clark's Dad stated as if it were the absolute truth. Clark left the room as his Dad moved to pick up the rest of his belongings. He walked down the hall towards the waiting room. He noted that his Mom was giving Danny a comforting hug; at least she was able to encourage him into tangibility. He was going to walk over to them when Lex Luthor rounded a corner.

"Clark" he said "I heard what happened." In that moment all of Clark's suspicions rolled through his mind. He wished he knew the truth for certain as Lex asked if his Dad was okay.

"Trust me Lex" Clark replied "this is as close to my father as you wanna get right now."

Lex looked at Clark with sadness and understanding in his eyes, but Clark was no longer sure of how much was an act anymore. "He thinks I was behind it?" Les asked with a hint of betrayal in his eyes. That crushed Clark. Lex had once been a friend, but on a basic human level he hated to think of anyone as capable of harming another person the way his Dad had been punished.

"What do you expect him to believe?" Clark asked trying to keep his own betrayal out of his voice.

"The truth" Lex implored "I issued a press release denouncing the attack and offered a reward for any information leading to the assailants' capture. I need you to believe me." But there was something in Lex's eyes that made it impossible, he wanted too, but there was too much water under the bridge, too many lies between them for Clark to take Lex's word at face value. He didn't miss the disappointment in Lex's eyes as he stalked off.

"Lex why is the state Senate seat so important to you?" Clark asked, hoping that for once Lex could be honest with him.

"It's a stepping stone." Clark curious as to what, there wasn't much bigger than the state Government. "It's like Apollo asking Icarus why he's building wings. You have everything you've ever wanted here Clark, I'm sorry if I'm still searching." Clark was mildly offended, he was happy here, but there was so much that he wanted to change in his life. So much he'd do over if given half a chance.

"What if you don't win?" Clark asked, knowing full well of Lex's obsessive nature. "What if you get to the Capitol and you haven't found what you're looking for?"

Lex replied with a cavalier attitude "Well there's always the Whitehouse." Clark blinked, a wave of disappointment raced through him. Where was the old Lex, the one who'd stayed three days on the Farm doing the worst jobs without complaint? The Lex who'd given up going back to Metropolis to stay in the humble town of Smallville? The Lex who had earned his friendship for looking out for the lesser man?

"Look" Lex continued "I promise you we're going to find out who did this to your father." Clark just nodded, watching his retreating back. There was a sort of shallowness in that statement, while it was sincere it didn't feel as though Lex had the same motivations as he used to.

Clark walked over to the waiting room where Danny and his Mom were still talking. Three minutes later they were joined by his Dad who had signed himself out. Danny sent him an apologetic look before the four of them headed out to the truck. Clark drove and his Mom insisted that Jon wrapped himself in the blanket while they drove; which his Dad grudgingly obliged to. Danny didn't join them in the drive home. He said he was going to do a patrol and probably wouldn't be back to the farm until late.

As he drove Clark couldn't help but wonder how things had gotten so out of control so quickly. It seemed it only took one thing like his Dad getting hurt to send everything spiralling downwards. His Dad was being strong, he'd carry on with the rally, with the whole campaign even if it killed him, and at this rate it just might. Clark frowned as he pulled the car up to their darkened home. It was going to be a difficult couple of days.

_Line Break_

Phantom flew over Smallville, still feeling weak from having failed to protect his Uncle. He should have been there; he had known that something was wrong at lunchtime. Why hadn't he stayed with Jon instead of going out and having fun with Lois? He should know better than that. He should have at least left a duplicate but stupidly didn't think to do it. The only thing he was glad for was that the assailants had left it so late to attack him. If Jon had been there much longer the blood pooling to his brain would have killed him.

Phantom opened a portal to force the Corn Ghost back into the Zone one more time. So far tonight he'd only been bothered by the Corn Ghost, one ecto-pus and three ghost cows. There was nothing really to distract him from his failure. He heard the screeching of brakes down below and was able to save a man from driving drunk into a ditch. He felt a small bit of strength coming back as he fulfilled his purpose, but was still berating himself for not being there for his Uncle. As the first rays of sunrise peeked over the horizon he flew back towards the Farm.

Saturday passed in a blur. Lois dragged him out of the house to help her with the campaign, but he was too dazed to be much company. He was able to put the posters up where she'd sent him and was polite to her. But really he still felt ill. He didn't think he'd ever felt so weakened for failing in his obsession before. Was this how the other ghosts felt when they couldn't fulfil their obsessions? He'd seen the ghosts as they powered down in defeat, but he'd never imagined that this weakness came with it, they always bounced back so fast.

He fought off a few ghosts while he was out with Lois, still thinking depressively. Eventually he came to the conclusion that it had to be different, a defeat was a defeat, but failing in your obsession was akin to being tied up and unable to do anything. Only the latter caused such physical distress. A defeat left you with only the wounds of battle to deal with. He took another late patrol, barely realising that he hadn't slept since Friday morning. Eventually he went home, feeling tired and he settled in for four hours sleep before the rally in the morning.

It came soon enough, and he allowed himself to be swept up in the flurry of preparation. At the moment he couldn't muster up the energy to put in the act as Fenton, just relying on his instincts to get him through. It was a half hour drive into town, but they eventually got to the Town Hall where the rally was being held. Lois had arranged it marvellously; the room was decked in red, white and blue, a true symbol of patriotism. There were hundreds of people here, a surge of support for Mr Kent.

Aunt Martha stood smiling at the front of the crowd, smiling supportively as Mr Kent took to the stage. Clark was being secretive, but something told Danny that something was wrong. There was a feeling of danger in the air that told Danny something was going to go badly. He'd taken to patrolling the area around the stage, trying to find the source of the disturbance. In a corner of his mind he noted that Clark was walking around upstairs, and he sensed two people up in the projection/lighting room. He was tempted to investigate, but Clark was already walking in that direction.

From the wings he could see his Uncle standing proudly as he made his speech. He came to the conclusion; there was a roar of applause so loud that Danny almost missed it. There was a loud bang and Danny saw in slow motion the large bullet as it flew through the air towards Mr Kent. There was no time, he was too weak to run, but his brain – or was it his core? – was screaming _protect! Protect! PROTECT! _All he could see was the air in front of his Uncle as the bullet closed in.

He closed his eyed, wishing desperately that there was any way to get there in time. He heard the whistle of the bullet as it approached and felt himself fading into darkness with a curious swirling of green.

_Line Break - Saturday_

Clark sighed as he sat in his bedroom. His Dad had thrown himself into his farm chores as soon as he'd gotten out of bed this morning, going through them with frustrated dedication. His Mom had gone off early to the Talon saying she had some things she needed to think over, and Danny had been dragged off by Lois first thing. His eyes seemed vacant, and he wasn't even bothering to act clumsy like he usually did around anyone outside the family.

Clark mulled things over for a long while before deciding on a course of action. He pulled up the phone record and was able to find the number that his Dad had labelled as a wrong number. That in mind, he drove into Metropolis to call in Chloe's help. He wanted to be sure that Lex was behind this, and the easiest way to be sure was to enlist the help of his ridiculously clever and tech-savvy friend.

Chloe was sceptical that Lex would go that far on Clark's Dad, and to be honest so was Clark. But he still wanted to get to the bottom of this. Chloe pulled up the search, but while they were waiting she offered her own opinion on a related matter. "You know it's not like your dad to keep something like this a secret."

"Yeah, it's like he's turned into a whole different person, like he's got something to prove to everyone." Clark commented.

"Or maybe just his son." Chloe replied, her tone dark. Clark was confused, why would his Dad running for Senate have anything to do with proving something to him? Before he could ask Chloe continued "Think about it Clark, it must be hard being the role model for a guy who pulls people out of a burning building and stops nuclear missiles all between chores and dinner. Now Danny's around, so there's probably something approaching normality, but he's needed to be your role model for so long and only now has he been given a chance."

"No one's expecting him to do that" Clark argued, but if Chloe was right...

"True," she commented "But it's not gonna stop him from trying." Just then the computer pinged, drawing their conversation back to the attack. "Alright, the call was made from..." Chloe said, trailing the mouse across the screen to pull up the right information "The Students for Lex Luthor office at CKU?" Well that was an unexpected development. Chloe and he shared a significant look before Clark raced to CKU. Whatever was going on he was going to find out what.

He arrived at the office barely five minutes later, and was overwhelmed by the room. The whole place was a tribute to Lex, posters adorned all the walls, photos and paintings of Lex sat on every free shelf. There were boxes of buttons and ribbons on the shelves, and stacks of pamphlets and posters ready to be handed out. But most offensive thing in the room was the scent of blood, of recent death. Clark walked in and investigated, looking for any sign of what was wrong.

He found two corpses laying side by side, a picture of Lex Luthor covering their faces. They had both been tied up, as if they hadn't been dead when whomever had done this had left. The only clue was a lock of blonde hair that had been carefully placed on each of their chests. Disgusted, Clark turned away. He still hadn't found what he came for, but he suspected that whoever did this was also to blame for his Dad being strung up in the barn. He continued looking, he found a sheet of paper listing the members of the Club, and top of the list was a girl called Samantha Drake.

Rummaging further he found a picture of a pretty blonde girl standing next to Lex at the manor, a razor sat beside it and the blonde girl had the same shade hair as the hair on the two corpses. Clark's heart stilled at what he saw next. It was one of his Dad's campaign posters; it looked like it had been scrunched up and unfolded. But worse still the face had been scratched out. He was obviously dealing with a psychopath.

He called Lois and she said she'd increase the security for the morning. Clark wanted to make sure his Dad would be safe, and at the moment the stakes seemed too high. He sped back home and settled into bed at midnight, resigning himself to a fitful sleep. There was no sign of Danny around either, but that wasn't too unusual. Clark decided not to tell him about Samantha Drake, he really didn't want to put Danny under any more stress than he already was.

Morning came all too soon. Clark got up and pulled his dress top on. He wanted to look neat, but not like an executive for today. He got to the Town Hall in good time, and immediately went on his own patrol. As people filed in a tumultuous roar of support for his Dad built. Clark was proud that his father had been able to build so much support, but concerned for his safety. He watched as his Dad came on stage amongst a sea of confetti and applause. His brilliant smile lit the room, and all eyes were on him.

"And Now," An announcer called over the Audio system "Your next State Senator, Mr Jonathan Kent." His Dad smiled and waved widely at the crowd. He sent a small smile down into the crowd at Martha, and Clark knew she'd smiled back by the glitter that jumped into his Dad's eyes. He proudly surveyed the whole audience as he stood behind the podium.

"Thankyou" He said, raising his hands to quieten the audience. "Thank you all very much for coming out here. I'm sure many of you have much more important things to do tonight than come out and listen to some farmer talk about the importance of corn subsidies." This inspired a slight chuckle from the audience.

"When I told my family that I had indeed decided to run against Lex Luthor, I don't think they really understood why I want to run. Or why this is so very important to me. But the truth is actually... it's actually very simple. The courage to help all Kansans, whether they're rich or whether they're poor. And do my very best to put the heart back in the heartland."

A riotous applause broke out, loud whistles echoing through the noisy hall. Clark watched as his Dad smiled, banners were waved brandishing his name, and a pool of red white and blue balloons spilled down from the roof. Clark smiled from his vantage point.

Then everything changed. A bang roared over the crowd and Clark watched in slow motion as a two inch bullet clawed its way through the air right at his dad. He was running, but he wasn't sure he was going to make it in time. He sped towards the podium, leaping towards the stage. Then in the air a fine green mist began to form. It swirled out, gentle spirals of soft green solidifying in the air in front of his Dad. The world was frozen in front of him, but still the spirals emerged. It reminded Clark of Alicia Baker, she could teleport herself in a similar mist, but she had died last year. Suddenly, in front of his Dad was Danny, Clark watched as the bullet slammed into his chest, lodging itself somewhere near his heart. In the frozen world Clark charged towards his cousin and sped him off the stage.

Clark was barely aware of the screaming crowd and the security as his parents were taken into safety. All he cared about was getting Danny to safety. The boy groaned in his arms as Clark lowered him to the floor backstage. He'd hidden him in an area that nobody could find unless they knew exactly where to go. He wanted to take care of Danny, but he knew the shooter took priority.

He raced up towards the lighting room and found Lois tackling a bald girl to the floor. Clark recognised her as Samantha Drake "Left it a little late there Smallville" She commented "Don't worry; I've got it under control. Missy here wanted to frame me for murder." She sent Clark a cheerfully malicious grin that once more made Clark glad he wasn't on Lois' bad side. Samantha Drake was taken into custody for attempted murder, murder and assault. That done he raced backstage to get back to Danny, only to find him pointedly absent. There was no trace of him ever having been there.

He made his way through the crowd trying to find sign of his parents or Danny. He needed to tell them what had happened. Clark met up with his Dad who wanted to thank him for stopping the bullet.

"It wasn't me Dad, it was Danny. He's been shot and now I can't find him." Clark watched as his Dad visibly paled, a frown crossing his otherwise cheerful countenance. The two of them made their way over to the Truck, hoping that Martha would find her way there.

What he didn't expect was Danny and his Mom to come down the Town Hall steps together. Danny was wearing a top that definitely was not the same one he'd been wearing earlier, but was smiling broadly. Clark watched as he smiled and then tripped on the bottom step, falling once more into his clumsy facade as if nothing had happened. Clark noted that his hand seemed to be fastened around something in the air as the two of them came up to the Truck.

Clark watched as his parents gave each other a warm hug, the surrounding photographers and paparazzi drinking it in. His Dad looked concernedly at Danny who gave the broadest smile and an almost imperceptible head shake, but it was enough for them to realise that he was fine for now. The four of them piled into the Truck, Lois was coming round the house later, but for now they were going to spend time as a family.

Clark stared at his cousin as he opened his hand, a bloodstained dress shirt came into visibility and Clark blanched as he looked at it. "Not here, when we get home. With paparazzi around you never know who's listening, and I know you want to congratulate your Dad privately." Something about his tone told Clark that Danny suspected the car had been bugged. So he had to hold his questions until they got home.

"Thanks for getting me out of there Clark" Danny said as soon as they got through the door as cheerfully as if nothing had happened. He made his way to the laundry and chucked his shirt into the wash pile. He went and sat on the sofa in the living room and the rest of the family followed suit.

"Getting you out of there? What happened?" Clark's mom asked alarmed.

"Danny caught the bullet that the psycho shot at Dad." Clark explained his gaze never leaving his cousin. He'd been shot, and yet he was sitting here cheerful as anything. Actually he looked a lot better than he had this morning. Clark's mind was boggling at the sheer absurdity of the conversation. "You said you were bulletproof, but I saw the bullet go in."

"I never said I was bulletproof, I said I could survive them. And I can." Clark watched Danny wave his hands in the air for emphasis. "See, survived"

"You were shot?" Clark's mom barked disbelievingly. Danny just sighed and shook his head resignedly. Then he reached his hand into his chest and pulled out a bronze coloured bullet. It sat two inches long in his hand.

"Yes, but I'm _fine_." Danny replied, Clark stared back disbelievingly at him and Danny scowled back. "Look, I'm sorry I scared you, but really, Clark catches bullets on his chest and he survives them. I bleed a _tiny_ bit when I get shot but it's not that different. Really. A human bullet doesn't do much. It's all healed up now anyway."

Clark stared at the bullet at the table disbelievingly. He may say that but Clark was worried. Danny shook his head at Clark and slipped his hand into his trouser pocket. Clark watched as Danny pulled out a pocket knife. In a quick motion he had slit straight across his wrist. The three Kents gasped at this behaviour, but couldn't help but watch as the blood pooled for a moment, tiny flecks of green glowing in the dimming room before the flesh knitted itself back together. The whole thing had barely lasted thirty seconds.

"I'm fine, human weapons can't hurt me. They can't end – kill – me, the longest I've had to worry about a wound from a human weapon was two days and that's when I was fourteen. I'm fine." Clark struggled to take this information, there was a cognitive dissonance between the living kid in front of him and the ghost he professed to be, even with his powers.

But there was something more that Clark wanted to know, that weird green mist. "How did you even get there? You didn't run; I'd have seen you." Danny smiled again; he did seem to be getting on a lot better now than he was yesterday. Clark gulped as he realised why, Danny had protected his Dad by taking the bullet. This was all about his obsession, even if he hadn't realised it himself.

"I teleported. Best explanation I've got. That's a power I want to use again, I'll need to practice. But the situation called for it, so..." he trailed off happily, much more energetic than he had been since Friday. Lois came in then, and the conversation was closed. Clark's Dad seemed happy as he set off to work, and Lois was happy on the whole with how his speech had gone. The whole thing had pushed his Dad ten points up in the polls. Clark smiled; things seemed to be settling back to normal. All he needed to do was sort things out with Lana.

_Line Break_

Martha was conflicted. She'd been running the balances and there was no way they could make it through this financially. They'd inherited a bit when the Fenton's had passed on, but most of that inheritance was passed in trust to Danny for when he turned eighteen. They couldn't afford to keep Jon in the campaign. But after his speech Martha finally saw why he needed to run, why Kansas deserved to have Jon as tits Senator.

So Martha did the one thing she'd promised herself she'd not do. Jon would be unhappy with her for this, but it needed to be done. Martha called Lionel Luthor.

"Lionel" She said as the phone picked up.

"Martha" he sounded very happy to hear from her. She tried not to read too much into it. She was doing this for Jonathan. Jonathan who'd accepted help from so many other benefactors. Lionel had just offered to help, and at this point Martha was willing to accept all the help she could get.

"Lionel, it's about the offer of assistance you made earlier. I'd like to talk." There was a moment of silence, and half of her hoped that he'd refuse. But then his voice came back, a deep velvety baritone.

"I'm always here for you Martha."

* * *

><p>AN: Danny can finally teleport, Lois is picking up on the weirdness of Danny, and Martha is finally on board with the election. But what is she doing with Lionel? And why is Danny acting so ghostly?<p>

Tell me what you think.

Till next time

Bluerose


	11. Desire

Chapter 10

Desire

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Danny silently packed up his notebook and pen. After the rally yesterday he felt recharged. He didn't want to believe it, but saving his Uncle's life had given him a serious energy boost. If there was anything to prove how much like a ghost he was it was that. Today was Monday, his first day sitting in the Senior classes. A number of students had given him strange looks, but he couldn't find it in him to care. The teachers actually smiled at him when they saw how well he was able to keep up. He actually surprised himself. He'd only had three classes so far, and it was nearing lunchtime, but he was actually somewhat enjoying the day.

So far he'd been able to catch all seven ghosts within two minutes, so hadn't had to abandon any classes. He smiled as he walked outside. Most students were loitering around in the cafeteria, the Christmas snow having melted slightly leaving icy puddles in the cold January air. But Danny was happier walking around outside. He absently paced through the grounds of Smallville High, reflecting on how much had changed in just six months.

It had been six months since he'd woken up in a private hospital with Vlad's doctors circling round him. An IV filled with pure ectoplasm draining into his system, and the air conditioner blowing constantly on him. Thankfully the doctors had asked no questions; after all they were only being paid by Vlad. There were very few benefits to knowing the froot-loop, but that small bit of protection was one.

But it had been six months since he'd found out that they were gone, that he'd never get to see his family or friends again. Danny sighed as he walked around the football stands. It was so hard without them here, nothing was the same. He didn't want to burden his family with his ghost problems, but it was lonely. He'd never realised just how much he relied on Sam, Tuck and Jazz, on Team Phantom for support. It wasn't just about the ghosts, it was about the camaraderie, about laughing together about the Box Ghost, about hanging after a tough fight and knowing that no matter what they would always be there for each other.

Danny felt his eyes sting, the emotions he'd fought so hard to keep back struggling towards the surface. He walked around, in front of the stands, ignoring all the people around him, altogether lost in his own private reflection. He sensed an object flying towards him, and out of reflex moved to catch it. Blinking himself back to the present he looked to his hand, instead of some dangerous ghost object it was a football. A plain, boring, brown and white, unimportant football.

"Whoa" Danny heard from behind and looked up to see the football team staring at him wide eyed, as if he'd done something really impressive. He lightly tossed the ball back, pulling his iPod out of his pocket as he walked.

Danny felt bad; he knew that he'd inherited a substantial amount of money from his parents, and that if he sold the patents to their inventions he'd never have to worry about money again. However, most of his inheritance was being held in trust which meant he couldn't give it to the Kents to help out. He only had access to enough to get by; clothes and some basic technology. Although he _had_ modified the computer that he'd bought, Tucker's influence on him wouldn't let him rest until he'd upgraded it. And he'd added in his own antivirus program, designed to ward off Technus.

Danny kept walking, listening to the dark gothic rhythm he favoured as he moved away from the football field. He sighed as the bell rang; it was time to head to class. He was glad in a funny way that he'd been skipped ahead. Something told him Jazz would be proud of him, and graduating early also meant that next year he'd have more time to go out and help, to protect more people than just Smallville.

He took a seat in the metal shop class. He'd taken this as an elective mostly because it was a way to actually produce something worthwhile. He wasn't as innovative with inventions as his parents had been, but when it came to ghosts he didn't need to be. Before the winter holiday he'd just gone with a fairly typical project and made a motion detecting candelabra. It lit up only when someone was wandering around in the room. The teacher had been mildly impressed.

This semester the Senior class had to make their own unique project to be judged by the school-board. Danny didn't really know what he wanted to do. He absently fiddled with the electrical components in front of him, making small adjustments as he went. He didn't even really notice what he was doing until he was finished. What he was left with was the electrics for a Ghost-Gabber, the funnily named device that he'd loathed so fully and had dismantled too many times to count. He laughed at himself for his nostalgia.

The boy next to him was looking confusedly at Danny. Danny just smiled at him and continued as if nothing was wrong. Only a tiny spark of ectoplasm and it would work. He couldn't help himself, when he knew no one was looking he gave the odd device a tiny bit of energy and smiled. "There" he nodded to himself. "There, I am a ghost, Fear me." The little machine said back in its robotic feminine tone. Danny scowled and made a quick adjustment. Now it would just act as a translator. He encased it in a small plastic shell that he'd bought for his phone and smiled at the silly little device.

The teacher walked over to look at what they were up to. He frowned at the boy next to Danny who was still drawing a circuit while fiddling with a pair of blue and red wires. He then came over to look over at what Danny was working on. Seeing something like a finished product on the desk he asked.

"What's this Mr Fenton?"

Danny only took a moment to think of a reasonable response. "Something of a translator sir, I wasn't really thinking when I made it though." He paused as the little device echoed his words in its bland voice.

"What's the purpose of a translator that only copies what you say?" _That's what I thought when Dad first made it_ Danny thought, however his experiences with Wulf before he'd taught himself Esperanto had shown its usefulness.

"And why didn't it copy what I just said?" the teacher added

"Estas agordita al mi. Ĝi povas traduki de iu lingvo La angla, provizis min diras ĝin." Danny said in Esperanto, smiling as the little machine repeated "It's configured to me. It can translate from any language to English, provided I say it." Okay, so he'd bent the truth a little, it was configured to translate ghosts, but Danny fell under that umbrella.

The teacher looked up at Danny surprised and disbelievingly shook his head. "You know, I haven't been this surprised by a student in a long time. Although, this doesn't exactly fit into the marking criteria, remember part of the marks come from functionality, not just originality." Danny nodded, he'd realised that in the first place, but he wasn't going to dismantle this. He wanted to keep it, in his Dad's name. When he got out of school he'd make a more appropriate case for it, but for now Danny settled back smiling at his memories of his ever absentminded Dad.

When the final bell for the day rang he walked outside and immediately teleported to the barn. It was weird; all his other powers he'd had to really train to use, but this one came easy as breathing, maybe more so. It was basic, more like instinct, like he was always supposed to jump between locations in a swirl of nothingness. He'd mastered it last night, only spending two hours practicing before he was confident in his abilities. He put his backpack on the desk and walked down the barn steps, listening to the sounds of the saw spinning down below.

"Hey Uncle Jon" Danny said as he came to a stop on the bottom step. He watched as his uncle finished off the piece of wood he was sawing and shut the saw off with a loud squeaking halt.

"Danny, I didn't see you there." Danny's uncle smiled as he set the plank of wood and took off his thick gloves, setting them aside on the work bench. "Is something wrong?" Danny just smiled, lightly shaking his head

"Nope, I just wondered if you could use a hand." Danny offered, enjoying the surge of warmth Jon subconsciously sent at him.

"Sure, I was going to start fixing the fence on the back lot, but I'd welcome an extra pair of hands. Just let me get the truck" Jon said with his wide straightforward smile.

"Which fence?" Danny asked.

"You know the one, it's near the forest line where the palings have rotten halfway through." Uncle Jon elaborated. Danny sent his uncle a cheeky grin before grabbing the whole pile of wooden palings from the table.

"Save the gas" Danny laughed even as he pictured that fence line. With a moment's concentration and a swirl of green he was there. He gently laid the wooden beams on the ground before refocusing on the barn. It really was too easy to teleport. He arrived back to a very bemused uncle.

"You teleported?" he asked, his earlier bemusement settling into curiosity.

"Yep." Danny replied, popping the P. "Want to try it out?" He asked, this would be his first opportunity to take someone with him, and really it was thanks to Uncle Jon that he had learned to teleport in the first place. It was only fair that his Uncle got to try it first. His Uncle stiffened slightly, but didn't say no. Danny laid one hand on his Uncle's shoulder and focused not only on where he wanted to be, but also who he wanted to take with him. Barely a breath later both of them were by the old fence line. Jon blinked at Danny.

"I didn't feel anything, like we didn't move at all." Jon went to lean against the fence, obviously still surprised. "You seem to have gotten the hang of that pretty quickly" he commented "I remember when Clark first got his heat vision I had to set him up in a cornfield with a dozen scarecrows and gave him a whole weekend. We lost the mailbox and I had to replace fifteen foot of fencing." Danny laughed at the anecdote, but remembered some of his own mishaps while training his own powers.

Shrugging he observed "I guess, but it's fairly easy, just imagine where you want to be, and go. It's kinda fun." Danny went over to the fence and phased one of the old beams off the post. There was no one else around and Danny wanted to stretch his abilities out. He hadn't really had a proper training session since Sam and Tuck were there. He handed it to his uncle to move out of the way before going to the next one.

They worked happily together, making steady progress on removing all the rotten wood, and enjoying the gentle strain of manual labour. As they worked Danny mused about his Uncle. There was no comparison between him and Danny's Dad, but they were similar in as much as they were genuinely good people. Uncle Jon was a good man. He was honest, and if you earned his trust he was loyal to the very end. Perhaps his prideful streak was a bit strong, but it was this that bore the foundations for his own unique inner strength.

Danny smiled. That is why he would be a great State Senator _when_ he was elected. He could do things that neither Danny nor Clark could. He was able to bring out the very best in people, encouraging them to be the best they could be. He put the needs of others above himself, and was a true family man, looking out for his whole family. Danny felt honoured that Jon had welcomed him so wholeheartedly into their lives. He was a good man; Danny wished there were more people like his Uncle in the world.

It only took them an hour to fully replace the fence. Of course Danny and Clark could have done it a lot quicker, but that wasn't really the point. With Danny phasing the new posts down into the ground and Jon nailing the new planks in place the two of them made short work of the job. Danny teleported the rotting wood over to the woodpile for firewood, and then went back to his Uncle to accompany him as he walked back to the house.

"So, how was your first day as a Senior, son?" There was a hint of warm pride in his Uncle's voice. Danny was only slightly surprised, with how turbulent the weekend had been Danny would not have been surprised if Jon hadn't known of the school's plan to skip him ahead.

"It was interesting" Danny answered "I was surprised that I could even keep up... well, today there wasn't much to distract me, so that's a good thing." Danny chuckled as he recalled his Shop class. "There's a major project in Shop, something both innovative and useful. I wasn't really thinking and made this." Danny pulled his Ghost-Gabber out of his pocket. He'd managed to fashion a better case for it so it actually looked quite elegant, similar in shape to a stylised iPod.

"You made an mP3 player?" Uncle Jon asked with one eyebrow raised sceptically as he surveyed the silvery device. Danny laughed lightly as he brushed his fingers over the device.

"Not exactly" he explained "It was one of Dad's favourite inventions, I used to hate it. It took everything a ghost said and translated it into English. But most ghosts I know speak English anyway, so it just echoed what had just been said and threw in an "I am a ghost; Fear me" for fun." Danny smiled ruefully "I took Dad's one apart so many times, but he would always fix it. Always."

Danny stroked the buttons for a moment before switching it on. "Amuza afero estas tio, ke ĝi vere laboras. Paĉjo neniam atingis trovi ke for." Danny said in Esperanto, listening as the voice translated for him "Funny thing is that it really works. Dad never got to find that out." He switched the Gabber off, and in English said "I don't know what it means that I made this. Out of hundreds of inventions, I made the most annoying and useless one."

"Son, you said it yourself" Jon replied, his voice warm and encouraging. "This was your Dad's favourite. Making this says to me how much you cared for him" Danny smiled at that even as Uncle Jon gave him a one armed hug. Together they went into the house, Jon to escape the cold January air and Danny to get started on some homework.

Once he was in his room Danny gently laid the Ghost Gabber in the desk drawer along with his sketch book and photo album. He wanted to keep all his precious memories together. Aunt Martha had called from work, saying that she needed to stay late to work on the balances. Something in her attitude had changed since yesterday, and there was an almost guilty look in her eye when she'd looked at Uncle Jon this morning. Still, Danny would eventually figure it out, so for now he pulled out his sketchbook and gently stroked his pencil over the page.

_Line Break_

The ghost smiled as she watched a weaker ghost scurry through the open portal. It had been several months since she had visited the human world and she felt it was time to wreak her own brand of havoc. Rumour had it that Phantom's two bratty friends were out of the picture, and everyone knew that Phantom's portal hadn't been open in months. Natural portals could go anywhere, so it was unlikely that Phantom would be anywhere near her when she got out. The ghost smiled as she passed through the portal, the swirling blue and green closed around her as she floated invisibly into the human world once more.

_Line Break_

Clark sighed as he watched Lana leave. After everything that had happened on the weekend their relationship had taken a severe blow, and Clark didn't know what to do from here. The two of them had fought over her sudden interest in astronomy, and she was upset with him for holding himself back in their relationship. But she'd come up to the loft last night and they'd tried to talk it over. Then she'd revealed something. She'd been looking into the first meteor shower.

Lana had looked into the trajectories of all the meteors and had found one that didn't crash, but landed. She even suspected that there was another alien living among them. She knew he was there. When she'd said that he'd completely frozen, part of him had wanted to tell her, but the other half of him was screaming that she could never accept him for who or what he was. He was responsible for her parent's deaths. So he'd stayed silent, giving nothing away.

But now he was concerned that by saying nothing he'd lose her. Clark loved Lana with all his heart. He was sure that they were meant to be together. So why could he never tell her the truth? It would have been so easy, but he was too scared that she would reject him for being an alien freak. A monster.

So he watched as Lana left, desperately undecided with his thoughts a hundred miles away. He sat there in silence for half an hour as the night deepened around him. The chilled air creped through the barn, making even Clark uncomfortable in its wintry grasp. Still he sat, absently staring at the steps that he'd watched Lana go down. He heard a faint cough from behind him and he looked over his shoulder.

Floating just off the ground cross-legged was Danny. His blue eyes questioning and his head slightly cocked to the side. "Danny?" Clark asked "How long have you been there?" Danny had a habit of popping up unannounced, and that was before he'd learned to teleport. There was something unsettling about living with a ghost in the house, and even though Danny was often fun to be around, times like these Clark would have preferred to have a normal kid living with them.

"Long enough to feel lucky the stairs haven't burned down. You've been staring at the same spot for half an hour. What's wrong?" Danny asked, his blue eyes glowed with a strange intensity. Danny was still only wearing a long sleeved t-shirt despite the cold, but he never complained. Then again, his heart – core – temperature was close to absolute zero, so the chill of winter probably didn't bother him.

"Nothing" Clark replied, finally realising that Danny had asked a question. Danny raised an eyebrow sceptically. "Well, nothing you can help with." Danny silently walked over to the trunk and took a seat on it, opposite Clark.

"You know, one of the best things about Jazz was that even when I knew she could never understand everything she was always there to listen. If you need someone to talk to, I'm happy to listen Clark." There was a strange swirl of emotion in his eyes, and Clark supposed that many of the stresses that he was worried about Danny had had to deal with in some form.

"Lana" Clark began, noting the knowing glint that immediately leapt into his cousin's eyes. "knows that I'm here, or rather that there is an alien living on Earth. Part of me wants to tell her, I know we can never really be together until she knows everything about who and what I am. But the other half of me... I'm worried that she won't accept me, that she'll blame me for everything that's wrong in Smallville. That she'll think of me as a monster." Clark stopped talking and looked back to the barn steps.

"Clark" he heard Danny say, his voice soft and calm. "I know exactly what you're talking about. Let me tell you something, I was always scared of my parents' reaction; I was so terrified that I never told them. And now I'll never get the chance. But I do know that if I had told them they would have accepted me for everything that I am. I know that despite everything, despite the fact that I am little more than a ghost; the one thing they'd sworn to destroy, they would accept me as their son above anything else."

"How?" Clark asked. How could he know that? He'd said it with such certainty, but nothing in Clark's mind was certain.

"I saw it." Danny answered. "Summer after freshman year, it was going to be perfect. I was going on a cross-country trip with Sam and Tucker, and the best part was no ghosts. The summer started with an end of school concert by Dumpty Humpty, and it was just outside the school. But one of my enemies had other plans. Freakshow managed to escape his prison and had gained control of an ancient artefact called the Reality Gauntlet. With it he could manipulate all reality, but he didn't know how to activate it.

"I fought him, and Sam, Tucker and I were able to send the three gems that activated the Gauntlet away. In that blast I lost control of my form. I changed from Phantom to Fenton on national TV..." Danny trailed off, it was obvious that there was something that he was leaving out of the story. "Freakshow kidnapped all our parents and Jazz, and blackmailed me into retrieving the three gems. The three of us did get to go on the cross country tour. I did get to land a spaceship at Cape Canaveral, Tucker did get to go to his comic book convention in San Diego, and Sam got to go to Gothapalooza in the Nevada desert.

"We found the gems again, and went to where Freakshow had hidden our parents, and Jazz hidden. The fight was... not fun, but with Jazz's help I was able to trick him into becoming a ghost, he had a psychological condition Jazz deemed Ghost Envy. So I was able to trap him. But the whole world knew my secret – I wonder what you thought in that world? – anyway.

"Mom and Dad knew, and when I expected them to hate me they said the best thing. They said 'honey, of course we accept you, whether you're a ghost, or a boy, or something in between.' And with that I knew that me being _me_ was more important than what I had become." Clark watched as the blue eyes glittered with unshed tears.

"So why didn't they know?" Danny looked away, out the barn window. When he answered his voice was distant.

"The world wasn't ready to know. My parents may have accepted me, but there were those who couldn't... I changed everything back so that only Sam, Tuck, Jazz and I remembered anything, and then I destroyed the Gauntlet." Danny shook his head and turned to look back at Clark.

"But that's not the point. I know my parents loved me unquestioningly. They loved me for me, and didn't care that I was a ghost. Somehow I think Lana cares more about you than you are giving her credit for. Something to think about." Danny disappeared in a swirl of green mist. Clark blinked at the familiarity of his disappearance.

Last year Clark had briefly dated a girl called Alicia Baker. She was able to teleport, in a similar way to how Danny now could. He had loved her, and he had believed that she was the only one who could love him both for who and what he was. But she had been killed by another psychotic meteor freak. Clark looked out at the starry sky, reflecting on Danny's story. Perhaps Lana would accept him for what he was. He sighed, leaning back into the sofa as he imagined the possibility that Lana could really love him for who he was.

_Line Break_

The ghost smiled from her hiding place as she observed the human students milling about over lunch. This school had much more spirit than Phantom's ever had, but there were more than enough petty jealousies to keep her satisfied. She watched as a blue eyed blonde haired boy passed by her. he ambled over to join a large group of other boys all dressed in the same red and yellow jacket and all of a similar bulky build. The boy grinned broadly as he passed a group of cheerleaders who were gossiping about Phantom.

That was the one problem with this town. By the sounds of it Phantom had been making regular appearances here. While the portals to Amity Park had mostly closed, they were far from the only portals that opened into the Real World. The ghost hoped she could gather some strength before she inevitably had to fend off the teenage halfa.

Idly she mused over her past experiences with the cocky young hybrid. The halfa had always managed to entrap her in that Thermos. It was almost as bad as... well she was free of that confinement now. It had been over two years since she'd first met the Halfa. Two years... she smiled as she realised something important. The Halfa had passed his second deathday, and all ghosts knew what happened during the third year of ghost-hood. She smiled, her next encounter with Phantom would certainly be fun.

"Oh my gosh, he's just so cute" the Ghost's attention was brought back to reality as she listened into the gossip of the cheerleaders.

"White hair, those amazing green eyes, and that cloak" a brunette sighed. The blonde she was talking with dreamily replied "I know, he's such a dream, can you believe that Kat girl actually got to meet him?"

"So unfair, she made the paper and she gets to talk to the ghost boy." A red head chipped in. The ghost immediately knew who they were talking about. She hadn't seen him recently, but with white hair and green eyes there was only one ghost they could be talking about.

"I just wish we could meet him." A foolish girl sighed. The ghost grinned; she could feel the power surging through her core already. She slid out of her hiding spot, startling the group of girls.

"So you have wished it, so shall it be!" she decreed, her eyes lustful as she intoned her spell. While she had to grant every wish she heard, that didn't mean she could not make it her own. Yes, she'd bring the ghost boy here, but not how they expected. Desiree clapped her green hands together and a swirl of purple and pink appeared in the centre of the cheerleaders. Desiree smiled as it cleared to reveal a blue eyed, black haired Danny Fenton.

She watched as Danny blinked for a moment, still looking as scrawny as the day she had first met him, but donning a far darker style. The girls squealed at Desiree's appearance, but Danny was far less easily startled. It was only a moment before he was pulling out the Thermos.

The girls were all still stunned that a ghost had appeared, this was just like the first time she'd met the brat, the humans didn't know to fear ghosts and run. Instead they were looking between Danny and Desiree. "Where's Phantom?" one of them asked and Desiree grinned her Cheshire cat's grin, those two words would activate the second part of her spell.

She watched as a blue ring appeared around Danny's waist, watched as he struggled against the power of her spell, the ring flickering in and out of existence. She grinned as the ring slowly parted, moving up and down to reveal the ghost form of Danny Phantom. Desiree thrilled as the surge of power washed over her, the fantastic feeling of energy as she granted her wishes. And she'd revealed Phantom for what he was to everyone, something so many had wanted to do just to bother the Halfa.

"I wish that I had been perceived as Phantom from the moment you brought me here until I say aloud that I no longer wish to be perceived as Phantom." And it all came crashing back down. Desiree frowned as she was forced to grant his wish, unable to think of any way to twist it to her own benefit. However, she was now strong enough to stay out of that infernal device for a while.

"I see you have become more careful with your wishes." Desiree said to the halfa. Phantom grinned in determination towards her. He leaped into the sky and fired a powerful ectoblast at her. Easily she dodged, but smiled at the crowd that was gathering below.

"Wishes? Did she say wishes" Desiree smiled as she heard this, it wouldn't be too long until they started screaming all their pathetic desires to the sky. She felt her power grow with every little wish she granted. She was creating quite the little mess for Phantom to clean up even as she gained strength.

Phantom was distracted from their fight as an enchanted blade flew towards the crowd of teens. He put up a huge green dome, and the blade shattered on contact. Still the fools in the crowd were making wishes; despite how obviously Phantom was fighting against the products of Desiree's magic.

One of the footballers, the blonde haired one from earlier was watching Phantom keenly; Desiree smiled at the look in his eye. That was the look of a buffoon about to make a really stupid wish that would be incredibly potent and fulfilling for Desiree. "I wish we could see Phantom fight a really bad, tough ghost like the one on Halloween."

Desiree had no idea which ghost that was, but she had no problem creating trouble for Phantom. "So you have wished it, so shall it be!" She intoned, clasping her hands together and watching as the swirl of her magic poured over them. She felt her power swell as this wish was granted, the mist gradually clearing to reveal the ghost she'd summoned. Of course it wasn't a true ghost, just a creature of malevolent ectoplasm. But it was dangerous and it would keep Phantom very busy.

It didn't matter that he'd already dealt with all of the other wishes; she'd already gotten her power surge. The crowd was silent, staring transfixed at the creature that was slowly emerging from her magical mist. The best part of this wish was that Phantom would have no choice but to deal with the creature first. He was locked in her spell, she laughed and decided to sit and watch. It wasn't often a ghost got to watch Phantom fighting, and it would be entertaining to watch a ghost in the middle of his third year fight. She flew over to the stands as the third part of the spell activated. The stands were filled with as many people as she could summon, all there to watch the battle, and none could escape until Phantom defeated the creature.

_Line Break_

Danny Phantom swore under his breath as he felt Desiree's magic fill the air. It wasn't enough that he'd been brought here by a wish, wasn't enough that he'd already had to fend off so many wishes gone wrong. No, now he had to be trapped in a wish. The only good thing was that he had been completely alone when he had been so rudely abducted. As soon as he'd heard Jay say his wish he'd known that this would be bad. He'd felt the energy swirl around him. He could probably escape the magic if he really wanted to, but that would leave him too dramatically weakened to battle Desiree into the Thermos.

He looked over to the stands where hundreds of Smallville students sat trapped by the spell, as well as people from the surrounding shops. _Flames_ he cursed, _why do people have to make such broad wishes? _By saying the word "we" Jay had gotten them all trapped with a rapidly forming ghost creature, mindless enough to tear them all apart.

Danny watched the clearing pink and purple mist as the creature emerged. Danny could sense its power, its malicious intent, and above all its mindlessness. The creature was huge, nearly twelve feet high. It walked on four thick stumpy legs, making the ground tremble as it approached Phantom. It had thick brown skin, somewhere between reptilian scales and the thick hide of an elephant. It glistened with brown slime that seemed to ooze over its entire body.

But its head was the worst thing about it. A hideous combination of a toad like shape blended with the dark black eyes of a wolf and protruding tusks, each ending in a sharp tip. The beast roared, a stream of green energy escaping its enormous maw as it steadily gained on Phantom. Phantom sent a blast at it, but the energy just slid off it, doing no damage and zooming up into the sky. Phantom groaned as the beast swung an enormous claw at him. He only barely escaped the blow, rolling out of the way.

He hastily erected a shield to block the beast's next blow, flinching as the shield shuddered. He had no idea how to tackle this beast. He shot a more powerful blast at it, barely ducking in time as he was blasted back with a roar of energy from its mouth. He dodged around it trying to find any weak points, feeling very much like David against Goliath. He didn't notice its tail swinging towards him.

He gasped as the pointed spike that jutted off its tail sunk deep into his stomach. He phased out, laying a hand over the wound as it oozed green over his tunic. This was getting out of hand, and he knew that the beast would not be distracted by banter so that was out. He focused on his sword, feeling his familiar weight manifest in his hand as he tried to ignore the wound.

Phantom charged the blade with his own energy, coating it in a layer of ectoplasm and ice energy. He swung at the beast, relieved to find that the blade pierced the thick skin. The beast roared, a beam of green energy soaring towards the crowd. Danny gasped, teleporting to float just in front of them, hastily erecting a shield. People behind him screamed in terror as the blast beat against the shield. The scent of ozone washed over them as Danny sped towards the beast.

He slammed into it at nearly 200 miles an hour, sending it soaring back to slam into the ground, decimating the football field. The beast rolled over, growling at Phantom with its dark eyes. Phantom came to a rest ten feet in front of it, daring it to come forward. With a burst of speed the beast raced at Phantom, its claws digging deep into his arm, splotches of green spattering onto the grass beneath him.

Phantom leapt back, releasing a volley of ice blasts at the beast. Each one froze splotches of its brown slime, making it shriek in pain. The beast roared once more and surged forward. There was a crunch of bone as the beast bit down into Phantom's arm. Phantom gasped as he felt the bone shatter. His sword fell to the ground out of his now useless hand. This creature was too tough; it was time for Phantom to bring out his last weapon. He jumped back, doing a one handed backflip to put some distance between him and the beast.

He looked back to the crowd and ordered "Cover your ears" with such intensity that everyone complied. Once more he returned his attention to the advancing beast.

He took in a deep breath, and held it, letting the power swell in his core. He landed firmly on the ground, his feet spread slightly apart to brace himself. He set his jaw, opening his mouth wide and Wailed. The energy poured out of him in waves of visible sonic power. The beast was sent back unable to withstand the sonic barrage. Phantom focused, both narrowing and intensifying the power of the blast. The beast struggled against the energy of his Ghostly Wail, but couldn't withstand it.

The ghostly creature started peeling, thick layers of its skin falling off in the torrent of Phantom's Wail. The brown skin ripped away, the creature's roars of agony overpowered by Phantom's Wail. The beast was slowly torn apart in the sheer force of the Wail. It disappeared back into the ectoplasmic depths from which it had been created. Shaking, Phantom stepped forward before sinking to his knees, exhausted. The scratches on his arm still trickling ectoplasm and the wound in his stomach making itself known. Phantom looked at his other arm as it hung limply by his side as he forced himself to stand up.

He surveyed the damage as he walked over to his sword, picking it up with his good arm before dismissing it. The football field was badly damaged, the grass ripped up and the earth uneven from the beasts heavy feet and sharp tail. One of the football posts was destroyed, lying in white splinters on the ground. Phantom stumbled slightly as he turned his back on the damage, turning to face the crowd.

There was silence for a minute before a tumultuous roar of appreciation rose from the crowd in the stands. Phantom searched the crowd as it surged forth, a few footballers leaping out over the barrier to run towards him as they were freed from the stands. Phantom felt himself vanishing for a moment, it felt like he was dissolving into nothingness, but he forced himself back into reality.

"Desiree" he cried forcefully and the genie ghost came out from her hiding place, looking somewhat sheepish under Phantom's intense gaze. "Look what you've done, that wish could have killed all these people with that creature. You would have been _ended_ in that blast." She studied him for a minute obviously surprised that he was able to hold himself steady after such a fight. Most of it was an act, but Phantom knew that if he needed to he could still battle her into the Thermos. He didn't want to if he didn't have to though.

"He wasn't specific..." Desiree began, but Phantom cut her off with a wave of his hand. He was battling with himself, he could feel the pain mounting, but he needed to set this right.

"I don't care if he wasn't specific. You couldn't have stopped that thing yourself if I wasn't here. What in Hecate's name were you thinking when you granted a wish for "a really bad, tough ghost like the one on Halloween!"" Phantom bellowed at her forcing the wishing ghost to back down.

"I didn't know who you faced on All Hallows, how was I supposed to know how tough it was?" she screeched back, regaining some of her hatred and her hands glowing green threateningly.

"It doesn't matter, you can manipulate the wish, and you always do. But you didn't have the foresight to think this one through. Do you know what, I wish, from now and forever for you to be unable to summon a creature that you cannot defeat with half of your own power." Phantom watched as the genie ghost was forced to grant the wish, the purple pink mist enveloping her for just a moment before disappearing.

"That will save you from your own foolishness, Desiree you have to learn to think, you've been at this longer than I have and even I could see the problems in granting that wish." Desiree had the decency to nod, albeit grudgingly. Phantom surveyed the damage and thought of the best wording in his head before he wished for the football field to be fully restored. He knew he was fuelling the ghosts own power, but at the moment he didn't really didn't care.

Finally he looked her firmly in the eye and commanded her "Now, you will return to the Ghost Zone, I will not fight you today, but let you off with a warning. You are to think your wishes through next time, however, I will not be happy if I see you again in the next two months, now go." With the last of his reserves he opened a portal, ignoring her sputtering about him having that power. There were so few ghosts powerful enough to actually open portals that it was almost unheard of. Some could find and widen weaknesses between the worlds, but Phantom could choose where he wanted to open the portal and where he wanted it to go to.

Desiree dejectedly floated back through the portal under Phantom's firm glare, her red eyes finding no comfort in his cold green ones. He closed the portal behind him and floated back down to the ground. For a moment the crowd surged around him until someone pointed out that there was a dark green stain growing on his white cloak. Phantom pressed his hand to his stomach, pulling it away as he felt cold green ectoplasm coat his fingers. He was physically exhausted after battling that creature.

In the back of his mind he recalled his own wish to Desiree when he'd arrived. He whispered "I no longer want to be perceived as Phantom" and felt the tingle as Desiree's magic trickled off him. He was still holding Phantom form, but only barely. Distantly he heard the crowd and saw the flash of cameras, but he was too exhausted to do anything. He was able to focus on the barn, losing his control of Phantom form and reverting to his human form as he arrived in the barn loft.

He had no idea what time it was, all he could feel was the human blood that oozed from the wound in his stomach and seeped from the deep scratches in one arm. The other had long since gone numb. He stumbled over to the sofa, weakly reaching under it for the first aid kit he'd hidden there. He thought he heard movement, but his consciousness was rapidly fading. He pulled the clean white bandages out; but it was too late, he felt himself sinking into comforting blackness.

_Line Break – An Hour Previous_

Chloe drove up to the Kent farm. Clark had asked her to come over, saying that he needed her advice. For the moment Chloe was happy to be out of Metropolis, while she was thrilled to be working at the Daily Planet it was a bit dull listing the Obituaries, and her journalistic inspiration had temporarily run out. There weren't many stories in Metropolis, or at least few that hadn't already been snapped up. So she'd come back out to Smallville for a break.

She pulled her car into the driveway and stepped out, shivering slightly against the cold January air. She proceeded over to the house, knocking on the kitchen door where Lois and Martha were talking about Jon's campaign. They were planning on running several new ads in the run up to Election Day. Martha had a strange look in her eye though, and Chloe suspected it had something to do with the funding for the campaign. But that wasn't why she was here. Chloe came in and happily accepted the warm cup of tea that Martha offered her. The three of them sat together contentedly. Jon was putting his suit on because he had a meeting with the teacher's union later that day in Metropolis and Lois was going with him as his campaign manager.

Chloe smiled at Jonathan as he came down the stairs, looking very professional in a nice fitting business suit. She wished him the best of luck as he headed off to his truck, a fussing Lois in tow. She raced back inside to grab a blue file that Jon had left on the kitchen bench and smiled at Mrs Kent's warm "Take care".

It turned out that Clark was currently working out in one of the fields and probably wouldn't be back for a while so Chloe sat in the kitchen chatting with Mrs Kent.

"So how's Danny?" Chloe asked, her curiosity overcoming her. She had convinced the Teachers to switch Danny's midyear exams for Senior ones and wanted to find out how that had gone.

"Pretty well" Martha said, her voice proud "He's actually been skipped ahead a grade so he can graduate at the end of this year." Chloe smiled, happy that she'd been right. Danny was smarter than your average kid.

"Wow, that's a pretty big achievement. Does he have any plans for college?" Chloe pursued, smiling proudly along with Martha. While Chloe knew that Danny was meteor infected that didn't mean he wasn't a good person. And she didn't even know what his ability was, just that he had one.

Martha's expression fell slightly "He hasn't spoken about College. He only found out about being skipped ahead on Friday, but he hasn't mentioned College at all. Sometimes I wonder if he even plans to go." Chloe was surprised at that, so few people didn't even consider College, and Danny was certainly smart enough to go. His sister had been accepted into the Ivy League schools; surely he has some ambition.

Chloe couldn't help herself; she had to ask "Do you know why not?"

Martha glanced at the kitchen clock, it was half past one, and so Danny would still be in school for a while. Unless he skipped out again to do whatever he does when he's not in class. Martha gave Chloe a half smile before answering "I think he's not ready to think about it. He has a lot on his mind, but he hasn't fully gotten over losing his family. There have been too many changes in such a short time I think he's still struggling to catch up."

Martha was right, it was so weird to think that he was still in mourning; he was usually so cheerful and positive to be around that it was easy to forget. She was going to reply, but Clark came in, his blue shirt smeared with a large black oil stain. He smiled at his Mom, and nodded to acknowledge Chloe. He raced upstairs and a minute later he was coming down in a clean shirt. He flicked the dirty one into the laundry closet under the stairs before inviting Chloe to go for a walk.

Chloe said her farewell to Martha and followed Clark out towards the barn. She drew her jacket closer around her as they walked, it was still particularly cold.

"So, what's up?" Chloe asked her Kryptonian friend as they got into the barn. It was closed up and still fairly warm, the hay bales stacked along the wall acting as insulation. Clark paused to look at her from the far side of the tractor.

"Lana's knows about the spaceship. My spaceship." Chloe blinked, that was not what she'd expected to hear.

"Wha... How?" she asked, unable to formulate a cohesive question.

"She's been looking into the first shower. She thinks it's possible that there's an alien living among us." Clark shook his head. Chloe's mind raced with possible ways to help her friend. The most important thing was that Clark was safe. She hated the thought, but if she had to Chloe would lie to Lana to protect Clark's secret.

"Chloe, why did you accept me, my powers?" Clark asked, his bright blue eyes searching hers desperately. Chloe was taken aback; she hadn't expected Clark to ask this of her.

"Because you're you. Whether you have powers or not you're still Clark Kent." Chloe said, and it was true. When she'd first found out about his powers she'd been awed, but Clark was such an innately good person that she had no need to doubt him. He was the kind farm boy that she'd met on her first day in Smallville and the same guy who had always been there for her. She had never needed to learn to accept him because he was the same person as always, he was just a bit more unique than she'd first imagined.

Clark smiled at her answer. It was obvious that there was still more on his mind, but he needed to figure it out for himself. He needed to tell Lana his secret on his own terms, not because Chloe or anyone had forced him into it. The two of them slowly walked up the loft steps; they were nearing the top when the lighting changed.

A green mist appeared in front of them. Chloe was immediately reminded of Alicia Baker the teleport, but she had died last year. A moment later... Chloe blinked. There standing in front of her was Danny Fenton, his hair rustling slightly in the wind that came through the open loft window. Chloe was about to call out to him when he swayed.

She and Clark were frozen as Danny staggered over to the sofa; he disappeared behind the trunk as he reached underneath it. They watched as he fumbled with something, pulling it out from underneath. He managed to put it on the trunk, his fingers fumbling as he struggled to open the small red case. It was blatantly obvious that he hadn't even noticed they were there. He managed to open it, and pull something out before he collapsed to the ground in a limp heap.

Clark and Chloe ran over to the boy, a small roll of bandaging in his hand. Chloe looked at Clark confused, but Clark was surveying his cousin. With the intensity of his gaze Chloe knew that Clark was X-raying him.

"His arm's broken." Clark exclaimed, a hint of panic in his voice. "Help me get him up onto the sofa."

Chloe went to grab him, but stopped at the gooey wetness that touched her fingers. She looked; they were coated in a layer of sticky redness. Clark's eyes widened. The two of them lifted Danny's unconscious form onto the sofa and they pulled the shirt off.

One arm was bruising, looking out of shape. Chloe assumed that that was the broken arm Clark had observed. The other arm had four deep gashes, looking like a vicious animal wound. But the worst thing was his stomach. It held a deep mess of torn flesh, still violently oozing crimson, and the wound viciously stood out against his pale skin. Chloe barely resisted the urge to gag at the sight of his wound. She'd seen some pretty ghastly sights, but this ranked up there.

"We need to get him to a hospital!" Chloe shouted, knowing that Danny could very well bleed to death with a wound like that.

"We can't" Clark replied, his voice panicked. He reached for the bandages and tried to start wrapping Danny's wound.

"Why not!" Chloe demanded. Danny needed help and this was way beyond either of them.

"It's not my secret to tell" Clark replied, still concentrating on the bandage. Chloe sighed at his stubbornness and pulled the bandage away.

"If you're talking about the fact that he teleported here then it shouldn't matter, he needs medical attention now." Clark looked up at her, his attention fully on her once more.

"Chloe, think about what he just said: he teleported in here. Imagine what would happen if the hospital found out about that. He'd end up in Belle Reve or worse." Chloe watched as Clark shook his head, making to grab the bandages again.

Chloe mentally kicked herself; Danny didn't deserve to be anywhere like that. Maybe Clark was right about avoiding the hospital. But he still needed more help than she could give. "Clark, get your Mom." Chloe demanded, and Clark nodded, disappearing in a blur and a blast of wind.

Chloe sighed and pulled the disinfectant out of the First Aid kit. She was surprised Danny had been sentient enough to pull it out given his condition. She couldn't do anything for the wound on his stomach, but she set to work on his arm. She gently dabbed the wounds with disinfectant soaked cotton before setting about wrapping the arm tightly with the cloth bandage.

Chloe looked up as she heard the loud thudding as someone ran up the barn steps.

"Danny!" Martha Kent exclaimed as she set her sights on the unconscious boy on the sofa. His prone form looking pale and weak against the sofa. The wound to his stomach was still bleeding as Martha ran over. "Do you know what happened?" She demanded. Clark and Chloe shook their heads.

"He teleported in here, grabbed out the first aid kit and then fell unconscious" Chloe quickly explained. There was a silent conversation between the two Kents, probably because Danny had revealed his secret to Chloe. "He needs help, I did what I could for the gashes on his arm, but the broken arm and the stomach wound..." Chloe trailed off.

Martha turned to Clark "We need to set the bone." Clark nodded and quickly raced to grab a piece of timber to act as a splint. Martha carefully bandaged the arm before turning her attention to the stomach wound. By now it had stopped oozing, leaving a sticky patch of deep crimson on Danny's pale stomach. Martha looked sadly at the boy before grabbing the bottle of disinfectant to wash the wound.

Beneath the blood it looked bad. To Chloe's mind it looked terrible, there was a three inch hole scored into the boy's flesh. He was lucky to even be alive after a wound like that. She brushed her hand against his forehead. It was cold, but that was understandable given his blood loss and on a cold day like today too. Martha's eyes filled with silent tears at the sight of her nephew's wound.

Martha pulled out another roll of bandaging before sending Clark over to the house to get an additional one. Clark came back with a second first aid kit, this one a green one. "It's the one from under his bed; I saw it once and figured it may help."

Martha nodded and opened the kit. There were a few bottles of weird medications in there. Nothing that Chloe could immediately identify. There were two rolls of bandaging; each had a slight glow when she looked out of the corner of her eye. Martha pulled out a big plaster, the gauze was an odd shade of green, but Martha placed it carefully over the wound before wrapping his entire torso tightly with the bandages.

Chloe went to look through the curious first aid kit. Many things looked how she'd expect them to, but held a slight glow. The little bottles were labelled only with symbols that Chloe couldn't recognise. Martha sighed as she finished wrapping the wound and pulled the green first aid kit closed.

"What...?" Chloe began, unsure of what to ask first. What was Danny doing that he needed a first aid kit in his room? What were all those bottles? Why was he even hurt in the first place?

"I don't know" Clark said, looking at his cousin as he rested on the sofa. Danny looked so pale, pale as the grave, but Chloe could see his soft breathing.

"He should have a blanket" Chloe recalled, she had seen this when she took a crash course in first aid two years ago. She looked at the Kents, surprised they had forgotten something so basic. Clark looked uncertain but ran over to the house to get one. It was red, but there was something weird about it. Chloe took it off Clark; it was light and soft and seemed to thrill with gentle static energy as she wrapped it tightly around Danny's unconscious form.

"Is that..." Martha began, only to trail off as Clark nodded

"His one, yes. I hope it helps." Clark replied. Chloe watched as Martha nodded. She had the distinct impression that she was missing something.

"Excuse me, but what's with the blanket, and the weird bandages? And why didn't you tell me that Danny was meteor infected?" Clark sighed. The three of them took a seat around the sofa, gathering the few chairs that were in the barn. They watched as Danny's unconscious slipped into the gentle breathing of sleep.

"The blanket was a gift from one of Danny's friends; I hope it will help him. The bandages, you'll have to ask him about. I think he made them himself." Clark paused to look over at his Mom.

Martha smiled sadly at Chloe "Danny didn't want anyone to know about his powers. There's a lot that he's still getting used to, and he didn't want anyone to think differently of him because of any powers that he has. We only found out because Clark caught him." Chloe blinked in confusion, Martha had said powers as in powers plural? She was going to ask about that when Danny moaned, his face contorting in pain.

All attention turned to the younger boy as he shrunk in on himself, the blanket contorting over him as he struggled to move.

"I think he should be woken up, it looks like he's having a nightmare." Martha said concernedly. Clark nodded.

"Danny, wake up." He said, gently pushing on his side. But Danny didn't stir, moaning louder in his discomfort. Clark sighed. "Danny, come on now" he said, pushing a little harder. But the boy still refused to be roused. "Danny, if you don't wake up I'll dump the trunk on Chloe's foot." He threatened.

Suddenly Chloe found herself on the other side of the barn loft, a pair of strong arms clasped around her shoulders. She blinked as she tried to make sense of what just happened.

"Don't you dare" Danny growled over at Clark before he seemed to wake up fully. Chloe felt the arms drop from around her as Danny stepped back. And Chloe turned to look at him. He still looked pale, but not as deathly so as he had before. It was only now she noticed the finely toned muscle on his chest. It was normally hidden beneath the dark t-shirts he always wore.

"Sorry" Danny said, and then looked down at himself puzzled. He lightly placed his hand on the bandage over his chest before looking up at them. "Thanks for that" he murmured, slowly walking over to the sofa and showing no signs of pain aside from a slight flinch as he sat down. He didn't seem to realise that his chest was practically bare in a cold barn loft in January.

Chloe walked over and put the blanket over his shoulders. He absently wrapped it closer around him before he looked at Chloe, fearful realisation pouring into his blue eyes. Chloe sat next to Danny and comfortingly wrapped an arm around him in a half hug. "I know about your meteor power" She said calmly, trying to be comforting and supportive. "I know you can teleport, you teleported in here before you fell unconscious. And then you teleported me to the other side of the room" she explained, keeping her tone purposefully light. Danny nodded at her, gratefulness in his eyes.

Chloe watched as Martha gazed over her young charge. Worry was evident in her kind eyes. "Danny" Martha pleaded; her voice hesitating and fearful "what happened?" Danny looked over at her, then to Clark and finally his eyes rested on Chloe.

"I don't really know. There was a ghost attack at the school, Phantom was there. In the confusion... well..." He broke off and looked down to the floor. A moment later he looked between the three of them saying "Thanks for patching me up. I could have managed on my own you know." Chloe watched the sixteen year old who had been unconscious and bleeding to death barely an hour before. There was no way he could have taken care of himself, he'd fallen unconscious in a barn. "Can I take the splint off now please?" Clark scowled and intensely gazed at the broken arm before nodding stiffly. Danny unwrapped the bandage and removed the stiff wood that had been used as a splint.

Chloe looked at him incredulously. His arm was broken according to what Clark had said earlier, and now Danny wanted to take it off? She stared down her Kryptonian friend for making such a bad decision "What, it was uncomfortable and unnecessary." Danny said slightly annoyed.

"You didn't need it, but couldn't you have left it on for a while longer? Surely a couple of days wouldn't have hurt." Clark asked. Danny looked over to Clark and muttered something under his breath but Clark's eyes widened in understanding. By now Chloe knew there was something bigger that she was missing. And her inquisitive streak was brought forth.

"Why would a splint be unnecessary? Your arm was broken when you got in." Chloe queried and watched ad Danny cocked his head to the side.

"I heal fast, by-product of my... power." He explained. "Thanks for all the help, really, but I would have been fine anyway. My arm will be better by the morning at this rate. I'm fine, honestly." There was a moment's silence before Martha excused herself to go back to the house. She said that if they wanted to come in later there'd be tea and hot chocolate waiting. Danny practically beamed at the mention of hot chocolate; come to think of it Chloe had never seen him drink any other hot drink.

There was a long silence in the barn and Chloe's mind raced. Here was a meteor freak – meteor infected individual – that had two powers. That was practically unheard of, but it probably had more to do with how he'd been infected than anything else. He'd survived being pummelled by a meteor rock, so that probably was why he could heal and the teleporting was probably how he'd escaped. To Chloe's mind that made the most sense, after all the powers seemed to develop somehow from how the person became infected. Chloe just hoped that Danny never went psychotic like so many others had.

"So you can teleport and you can heal fast? Why didn't you tell me in the first place? You could have helped Clark and Phantom out at Christmas, or helped Lois when she was drowning back in the summer." Chloe reprimanded. Danny looked beseechingly over at Clark who had the strangest smile on his face. His blue eyes lit with silent laughter. Chloe watched the interplay between the cousins curiously as they seemed to be communicating a lot between their bright blue eyes. Clark walked over and took a seat on the trunk opposite Danny. He smiled at his cousin and after a moment Danny nodded, turning his attention back to Chloe.

"I didn't want you to know. See, at home in Amity Park I was always that Fenton freak, kid of the weird ghost hunting parents. The town crazies before anyone believed in ghosts and the obsessive fanatics afterwards. I never wanted to be different, but now..." he trailed off

"Now you're living in a house with a Kryptonian in a town full of meteor infected people. I think weird was going to come up no matter what. But you can be glad Clark is a lot more private about it. You're not the weirdest person out there." Chloe said, smiling kindly at Danny. He half smiled at her and she took that to mean he believed her. "What was in that first aid kit of yours?"

Danny blinked before opening the green kit "I mixed my own understanding of first aid with some of my parents' theories. I made most of the stuff in here just in case things went wrong. The bandages are treated to help speed up healing. This green bottle is just disinfectant, but it can purify ectoplasm as well. The blue bottle is a wash, like saline solution. And the clear bottle is a painkiller, although I forget if it's for humans or ghosts... I never had to use it. I grew up with that stuff in the medicine kit, and it was easier to replicate it than relearn" Danny zipped the case back up again set it aside.

It was silent in the barn for a moment before Chloe broke it. She couldn't resist the opportunity to talk about powers with Danny and she wanted to tease Clark slightly too. So she playfully asked "So, when you're all better will you teleport me somewhere? Clark here refuses to super-speed me anywhere at all."

Danny smiled at the change of topic. He closed his eyes for a moment and Chloe watched as the colour came back into his pale cheeks. He smiled blissfully for a moment as he opened his eyes. Then he was gone in a puff of green mist. Not a minute later he was back, a dark t-shirt had been hastily pulled over his chest. "Well, Miss Sullivan." Danny said in a cheerfully cheesy voice "We'll have to fix that now shalln't we. How would you like to play a game of tag against Clark?"

Chloe smiled and nodded. Clark seemed interested. It wasn't often that Chloe got to see Clark using his gifts for recreational purposes – if she ever had at all. She smiled as she thought maybe Danny having a meteor power was actually a good thing for Clark. "Rules?" Danny asked Clark with a cheeky grin.

"Teleport only, no fancy martial arts stuff, and you have to stay within the Smallville county line. Say my name when you get there" Danny raised an eyebrow. "That's it? Okay, if you're sure." Danny held out his hand and Chloe took it. Next thing she knew she was standing on the roof of the Talon. She was slightly disoriented by the sudden change, but she hadn't felt anything at all. That was different to how it felt with Alicia, but every meteor power was as different as the people who had them.

"Clark" The both of them sang out, smiling. They waited a full minute before Clark got there, but before he could tag them though they were off again. Chloe laughed at the brotherly game. While Danny may be meteor infected, he was a good kid. Here he was playing tag through Smallville with her and Clark, despite having been badly hurt earlier in the day. He just bounced back and kept going.

Chloe smiled as she found herself in the Gazebo on the Luthor grounds. Danny was using his gift for perhaps the greatest purpose of all, helping Clark find the balance in his hectic life. Helping him through the ridiculous responsibilities shoved on him. Danny was helping Clark realise that he wasn't to blame for all the miseries in Smallville which he blamed himself for. And above all Danny was giving Clark something genuine to smile about.

* * *

><p>AN: Now Danny knows Chloe believes him meteor infected. And he's letting her believe it (Although he never admits that he's meteor infected)<p>

Thanks to all my reviewers, you make this worthwhile. And to everyone who has favourite/alerted you're awesome.

Till next time

Bluerose


	12. Trust

Chapter 11

Trust 

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Warning: Includes Character Death

Vlad Masters frowned as he looked over the Daily Planet Headlines. It was not a paper that usually held much of his attention, but was proving an important resource in his current plans. He surveyed the details of one of the smaller articles. There was a small scuffle in the Metropolis slums that Vlad believed could have been the Little Badger interfering. Known criminals tend not to wind up tied up and unconscious for no reason, but it was not his usual style.

But this article was not the reason for Vlad's ill temper, no. The problem was Jonathan Kent and his strong position in the Kansas Senate election polls. Somehow that farmer had managed to pull ahead of Lex Luthor, as well as running an exceedingly successful campaign that seemed just as well supported as Luthor's.

Vlad tossed the paper aside as he moved to pace across his opulent sitting room. Really he could not care less who won the election from a political angle, but there was a worthwhile prize on the line all the same. The plan had been simple, a few subtle pushes to force Jonathan's hand, to scare him out of the election, then buying out the advertising companies to make it difficult for him to rally support. Anything to make that hick farmer feel like he stood no chance of winning. Vlad had even gone so far as to openly endorse Luthor in the business world, greatly increasing the odds against Kent.

However the farmer had pulled back, somehow he had kept his spirit despite it all. And that simply wouldn't do. Vlad wanted the man broken so that by the time he made his final move the whole family would crumple. Then the Little Badger would have no choice but to come with him. He paused, glaring down at the poll statistics on the paper. Jonathan Kent was ahead, and it seemed that he was embracing the pressure of the political campaign. Unfortunately the election was tomorrow, so Vlad had to recalculate his strategy.

It hardly mattered, with the Fenton's gone it was only a matter of time before the Little Badger came to him. He picked up the paper, one story grabbing his attention. He smiled, and a lustful red haze swirled through his eyes. Yes, it was only a little longer and he would finally have his perfect half-ghost son by his side.

_Line Break_

Clark sat in the barn loft staring at the lump of coal in his hand. The early morning sun glittered off the late January snow. Today was the day, he was sure of it. It was a cold day, but the sun shone with a certain vibrancy that warmed the soul, despite the fact that it was only early morning. Today was the day of the vote. Months of campaigning would pay off today. With how well his father had been going, Clark was sure that tonight there would be a Victory Party.

The first thing he had done that morning was stop by Danny's room. It wasn't often that Clark was awake early enough to catch Danny before he went downstairs, but he had been so nervous that he had woken up an hour before usual. He had gone in to find Danny sketching at his small desk, but before Clark could ask Danny had closed the book up and stood up to face Clark.

"What's up?" Danny asked, his blue eyed stare meeting Clark

"Nothing much..." Clark began, but paused when Danny raised an eyebrow. "Just because you can feel other people's emotions does not mean you get to act all high and mighty over us." Clark finished, his voice light but still slightly accusatory.

"It does when Mr Anxious decides to keep the Halfa up all night." Danny joked back, leaning back against the desk. "But, no. You're up an hour earlier than usual and you usually don't say 'hi' until breakfast. So what's up?" he commented with a shrug.

Clark sighed and went over to the bed to take a seat. Somehow he felt this conversation would be easier with Danny than his parents since Danny had felt the exact same concerns that Clark now was. "I think... how did you know...? Why did you...? What I mean is how did you know you could trust...?"

"How did I know I could trust you guys with what I am? Why did I tell you everything about me, and not tell Chloe?" Danny asked, and Clark simply nodded. Danny swivelled the desk chair around and took a seat opposite Clark. "In a word; faith. I believed enough in you to protect my secret, just like you trusted me with yours. I knew you could keep it safe but I also knew you yourself would be safe with it. I knew it would be wrong of me to ask you to keep Phantom from your parents, you trust them to guide you. Chloe, while I'm happy enough with her thinking I am meteor infected doesn't need to deal with my ghost half that wouldn't be fair on her."

"Clark, I never wanted my powers, I never wanted to be turned into this, but knowing that there's people like you who'll look out for me means the world. But then, this isn't really about me, is it?" Danny paused for a moment and looked into Clark's eyes and a strange intensity swirled through his cerulean orbs. "She'll accept you." Danny said bluntly.

"How?" Clark blinked.

"Clark, Lana loves _you_. Just because you come from another planet does not change who you are. And just because you have your gifts doesn't change the fact that you are Clark Kent. I know how much you love Lana, and I know how much she loves you. But for as long as you keep your gifts a secret there will always be a barrier between you. Not because of your powers, but because you feel you can't trust her enough with it." Danny explained.

Clark's mind raced with all his fears. "But what if she rejects me. It's my fault her family died. It's my fault for all of the problems in her life. How can she accept me when it's my fault? How can she forgive me for everything I've caused?" Danny sighed and pulled out his sketchbook. He flipped through it to a picture of Lana and Clark. The two of them were sitting together out by one of the fences. Lana had a tender loving look in her eye and had her hand gently resting against Clark's cheek. Clark couldn't even recall this happening, but he'd so often seen that look in Lana's eyes that it seemed real.

"Lana knows you, and because of that there will be nothing to forgive. You know you didn't cause all the trouble. The responsibility for that falls entirely on Zod. Lana knows you Clark, and she wants to know all of you. She wants you to trust her. I'm only telling you what you already know, but if you truly love her, she deserves to know everything about you."

Danny walked out of the room and Clark continued to stare at the picture in his hands. It was so realistic, but it touched perfectly on how he felt. Danny was right; Lana deserved to know everything about him, today was the day. He joined the rest of his family for breakfast, but was not paying too much attention; all he knew was that all of them were going to the Election Party at the Talon that evening. He got onto the phone, he needed to do this. He barely knew what he was saying, but he arranged it.

Thus Clark found his way up to the barn, still thinking about what he was going to do. He went over to the shelf to pick up the lump of coal he had saved for this particular day and sat waiting. He was certain this was the right thing to do, he knew it had to be done if he wanted to continue his relationship with Lana, and he wanted to prove to her how much he trusted her. He heard a slight shuffling downstairs and tucked the coal into his jacket pocket.

"I brought gloves and a scarf, just like you said" Lana said, coming up to stand behind Clark. Clark spun around to look at her. She was beautiful, a soft white jumper under her warm brown jacket, a white scarf loosely around her neck and her soft brown hair framing her perfect face. She truly looked like an angel.

"I was afraid you weren't gonna come" Clark said, trying to disguise the nervousness in his voice.

"Well," Lana began her voice a little edgy. "To be honest, I don't think a mystery date is exactly what our relationship needs right now." That broke Clark's heart, he knew they were drifting apart, he knew he needed to trust her. And today he was going to do just that. He was going to prove once and for all that he loved her. Today was the day.

"That's why I called." Clark said, finally closing the distance between them to hold onto her arms. He needed to do this, but he couldn't deny how scared he was.

"Are you okay?" Lana asked, placing a hand over his heart "Oh my God, your heart's racing."

"That's because I'm terrified." Clark admitted, plastering a nervous smile on his face and his heart beating a mile a minute.

"Clark, what's going on?" Lana asked, and his heart melted, even with how far he'd pushed her away she still cared about him. Lana deserved the truth, and he was going to give it to her. It was up to her to decide, but he needed to do this. "Lana, the way you've been... I can tell by the way you look at me that I'm losing you. And it's not your fault."

Clark stopped to look into her confused brown eyes. "There's something I should have shown you a long time ago. Please, it's time." Clark looked at her, and guided her to his car. The drive to the Caves was tense, Lana kept looking concernedly over at him, but all Clark could think about was what he was going to do; what had to be done. The key was burning a metaphorical hole in his pocket as he guided Lana down towards the antechamber.

"I don't remember this place ever being here" Lana commented as Clark guided her towards the chamber. The metallic altar-like table rested in the middle of the chamber, a shaft of light falling onto the centre of the octagonal top. "How'd you find it?"

Clark took a deep breath. This was the beginning, and he was determined to do this right. "It was left here, for me."

Lana turned to look at him, confusion evident in her eyes "For you?" she questioned sceptically.

Clark rubbed fingers through his hair anxiously. "I rehearsed this like a thousand times." He dug into his pocket and pulled out the octagonal key. "Lana, what I'm about to show you... may change the way you feel about me."

"Clark, whatever it is, it's okay" Lana said. Clark took a calming breath; that was exactly what he wanted to hear, what he needed to hear. It gave him the confidence to take the next step. Looking at her with a warm smile he plunged the key into the key-slot and the two of them were embraced by warm golden light.

"Do you trust me?" Clark asked; his voice calm and strong as he held out his hand for her. He smiled as she laid her soft hand in his and Clark comforted Lana as they were transported through the passage to the Fortress of Solitude, waves of warm golden light and comforting blue swirling around them as they were moved hundreds of miles in a matter of seconds.

Clark watched Lana as she took in her first view of the Fortress; slowly she stepped forward, inspecting the beautiful crystal structure. "Oh my god." There a hint of confusion and awe in her voice, but underlining that was a sense of happiness that Clark only hoped that he could understand. Lana turned to look at him, and Clark watched a thousand emotions flash through her eyes. It was clear she was trying to figure out what all this meant. Clark's mind raced as he struggled to find the right place to start. Eventually he settled on one specific memory.

"When you asked me whether I believed in life on other planets you had no idea how ironic that question was." Clark watched Lana's beautiful brown eyes, but didn't stop "I'm from a planet called Krypton." Clark felt Lana place her hand gently on his cheek, her touch soft and comforting.

"But you're just like everyone else." She said, comforting warmth radiating from her soft voice. Clark half smiled, she had accepted that without question. Clark steadied himself and lifted Lana into his arms. He gently shifted her so she sat bridal style in the space between his arms. He could feel her gaze on his cheek, but focused on the platform seven hundred feet above them. He braced himself and jumped; the air racing around them as they moved through the air.

Clark came to rest on the crystal platform. There were many places in the Fortress that could only be reached in this way, or he supposed by flying. Gently he set Lana down and she walked forward inspecting the ledge.

"This isn't the first time you've done that is it?" She questioned "How many times have you been there when I didn't know it, saving me?" The snowy air whipping around them as Clark moved to look her in the eyes.

"It doesn't matter Lana" he murmured "I couldn't let anything happen to you." Slowly Lana turned to look at Clark and in her eyes he saw the most wonderful swirling of understanding.

"And no one knew" she commented breathlessly.

"There were so many days that I wanted to tell you." Clark said, forcing himself to speak steadily.

"And what makes today any different" Lana asked, confusion coming back into her eyes

"I wanted you to know who I really am" Clark pulled the lump of coal from out of his pocket, showing it to Lana. He closed his fist, applying intense pressure, and with his eyes heated the coal to such an intense degree that he could feel its structure changing. He'd gotten this idea in the Far Frozen, using his powers to make something beautiful for the girl that he loved. Slowly he opened his hand to reveal a perfect diamond.

He pulled out a ring setting and placed the diamond into it, fusing it into place. From the corner of his eye he saw Lana's awed gaze, but he wanted to see this through. Clark got down onto one knee and lifted the ring towards Lana.

"Lana, I have loved you since the day I first met you. I am never happier than when I am with you. I want nothing more than to share the rest of my life with you. Lana Lang, will you marry me?"

Lana glanced between him and the ring. But he continued "I don't want you to tell me now, I want you to have time to think, but know that I will always love you, I want you to answer in your own time." Lana smiled gratefully at him and carefully he took her back to Smallville.

_Line Break_

Jonathan smiled as he heard his wife's dulcet laughter, pulling the truck up in front of the house. Jon was so glad that Martha had come around. She had been so supportive these last few weeks and he felt like the whole campaign had solidified them as a couple. By now he knew that Martha had accepted election funds from Lionel Luthor. That explained her suspicious behaviour a few weeks back, but he forgave her. She had only wanted to do the right thing by him and he would work hard to pay back Lionel Luthor so that man had nothing over him.

"Hey" Jon commented lightly as he noticed Clark coming towards them "I thought you were gonna meet us at the polls." He smiled and wrapped an arm around Martha. Today was a great day, they were heading out to vote in half an hour, but for now a nice cup of tea was in order. His smile widened as he thought of how close the family had become in the last few weeks. Although Danny hadn't been with the family long he somehow fit right in. This morning he had said he was going off into one of the back fields to train, although he had taken his sketchbook with him.

Jon heard Clark say "Yeah, I took a shortcut, thought I'd get everything loaded up for the victory party tonight." And he inwardly laughed. While the vote of confidence was appreciated he hadn't won anything yet, and he said as much to Clark. Gently he guided Martha towards the house, but was interrupted by the worried edge to Clark's voice.

"Mom, Dad" Clark began, conviction in his tone "I have something important to tell you. I told Lana everything." Jon blinked in confusion, but Clark wasn't finished "Right before I proposed to her, in the fortress." Jon was stunned, Clark had told Lana his secret and he hadn't given them any warning. Sure he knew that things between his son and Lana were pretty serious, but he had hoped that Clark would talk to them first.

"So, what did she say" Jon heard Martha ask from beside him, seemingly as bewildered as he was.

"I asked her not to tell me, it's a lot to put on her all at once." Clark rationalised, but Jon was concerned. He had exposed his secret and didn't know for sure that it was safe. All Jon had ever wanted for his son was for him to be safe, and so this was a huge risk.

"Clark, have you really thought this whole thing through?" Jon asked.

"If I was ever going to risk sharing who I am with anyone, I want it to be with her" Clark explained. While Jon had been aware of this sentiment he was still worried. Part of him would always worry for the safety of his son. But the truth was it was Clark's decision to make, and Jon would respect him for having the conviction to do so.

"I'm proud of you Clark." Martha accepted, seemingly echoing Jon's sentiments. "I know this has been weighing on you for a long time. Just like with this election, any big decision has risks with it."

Jon smiled at his son and looked him in the eyes. "I guess it's just hard looking over at your son and realising you're talking to a man. A man who doesn't need his father's advice anymore." With that he gave Clark a confident hug. He would always remember the little boy that they had raised, but he was so proud to think of how Clark had grown to become the wonderful man that stood in front of him.

Clark broke away from their embrace first to look him in the eyes. "I'm always gonna need you Dad" he replied with a smile. Jon happily clapped his son on the back, knowing that he would always love his son. His heart surged with pride at the young man that stood before him. He felt a slight tightness in his chest, but passed it off. There were more important things to worry about today than his heart condition.

"So what are your plans for the rest of the day, son?" Jon asked as the three of them came into their living room.

"I had planned on quickly running by the Polls on my way to Metropolis, I hoped to stop by the Planet for a while before I came back here to get ready." Clark quickly explained with a nervous smile on his lips. Jon just nodded. He wanted to spend some down time with Martha before this evening himself.

"Can you take Danny with you?" Martha asked "Otherwise he'll probably spend the whole day out in the fields." Jon couldn't help but smile at the image. It wasn't often, but occasionally he'd seen Danny while he practiced out in the fields. He rarely relied on his powers but seemed to have established a thorough martial arts routine. Usually Danny stopped when anyone came near, but occasionally he would be so involved that Jon couldn't help but watch the young boy as he swiftly moved through the forms.

Clark smiled and called out; it wasn't long before Danny stepped into the house with his sketchbook firmly in hand. "Hey" he said as he came into the house somehow completely comfortable in his long-sleeved t-shirt, despite the freezing temperature outside. He didn't even look flushed from the cold. Jon happily shook his head as the two boys headed off. They wanted to race to Metropolis rather that waste fuel on the truck.

"Sometimes I think that Danny coming here was a good thing for Clark." Martha commented as the two of them went to the kitchen and put the kettle on. Jon knew exactly what she meant. With Danny around Clark was starting to truly embrace his powers as another aspect of who he was. Clark no longer seemed so resentful of how different his powers made him from everyone else and he was becoming more confident in himself.

Danny seemed to be able to relate to Clark in a way that Jon and Martha simply couldn't, and he was glad that Clark had someone to talk to. In the past there were times where Clark would completely close up because he couldn't handle the burden placed on his shoulders by his powers. Yet Danny was able to help Clark in a way that Clark really needed. Jon wondered if it was Danny's influence that gave Clark the confidence to reveal himself to Lana.

Jon was still a bit shell-shocked from the suddenness of Clark's proposal to Lana, but he realised that Clark had the right to choose who to let into his life, and there were few people as deserving of Clark's trust as Lana Lang. He smiled at his wife, the love of his life. If Lana was half the person that Martha was, Clark would be lucky to have such a wonderful woman to share his life with.

Jon and Martha settled into the living with their cups of tea. Jon could hardly recall a time where he felt so happy. He had a son he could be proud of, a loving wife, a nephew who brought so much good into the family and he had run a political campaign that brought the whole family closer together. Whether the result was good or bad he could rest well knowing that he had a strong family that he could be proud of.

There was another slight tight twinge in his chest, but he ignored it as he gazed at his wonderful Martha. Yes, there were few moments in his life where he was as happy as he was right now.

_Line Break_

Lana blankly stared as she walked up the stairs to the Talon. She didn't know what to think. Clark Kent, the boy next door, the farmer's son was really an _alien_. It was just too surreal. She couldn't process it. Absently she pulled the door to Lois' apartment open and stepped in. Clark came from another planet, and had used his alien powers to save her life too many times to count. But...

It was as if the clouds had moved, and now that she could finally see the sun she was blinded. She didn't know what to think. Was Clark still the man she thought he was? Could she still look at him the same way? And to top it all off he'd proposed to her. What was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to react to having her whole world view revolutionised.

Lana was so distracted she almost missed Lois losing balance on the stool she was standing on. But Lana managed to catch her just in time. Was that what Clark would have done, caught her? Or would he have just stopped the stool from falling in the first place? What were all Clark's powers anyway? How was he so different from those other aliens; the "disciples of Zod" that had arrived in the second meteor shower? God, Clark was the one who landed during the first meteor shower all those years ago.

"Okay, spill" Lana blinked to awareness as Lois completely derailed her train of thoughts. She couldn't tell Lois Clark's secret. Not when he'd just trusted her with the deepest secret in his life.

"It's nothing." Lana responded, but Lois was persistent.

"Let me guess, tall, dark and bumbling." Lois said as she turned the tap off and pulled the kettle out of the sink to put it on.

Lana shook her head lightly, absently thinking of the ring that sat in her pocket. The diamond setting that Clark had made himself. "It's just, um..." Lana had no idea what to say. "What would you do if you thought you knew someone really well and it turns out there's this whole other side to them."

"Depends" Lois replied "are we in arms-dealer territory or are we talking _The Crying Game_?" Lana couldn't help but smile.

"Nothing like that" Lana sighed. While she couldn't process exactly what had happened she knew that Clark's secret was amazing. He had done so much good for Smallville. No, there was no doubt in her mind that Clark was a good person.

"Then I guess the question is does it change the way you feel about him?" Lois asked.

"Maybe" was all that Lana could reply, too lost in her own confusion.

"Look, I don't know what's going on. But I would be lucky to end up with someone as honourable as Clark someday." Lois comforted. Lana looked at her and then thought of all the things that Clark had ever done for her. Whenever she needed him he was there. He was a good person. He was a strong man. He was a kind, wonderful and honourable man. He was a man that would do anything to take care of her. Lana fingered the ring in her pocket. Really there was only one answer she could give him.

_Line Break_

Clark and Danny arrived at the Planet's front doors in a great rush. Clark had been beating Danny until they got to the edge of Metropolis, but by then Danny's slight form and agility gave him the advantage. The two of them were laughing as they went through the doors only to bump into Chloe as she walked in as well.

"Hey Chlo'" Danny said and she smiled a greeting at the younger boy. Clark took a calming breath. Their race had relieved some of the stress from earlier today, but Chloe still needed to hear the news, and he hadn't officially told Danny either.

"So everything's set for the party tonight, right." Chloe began. "I just got back from the Poll myself." Clark was glad she was in such a positive mood. It would make this all the easier.

"Yeah, it's all set. Although, I actually wanted to talk to you." Clark said as they started down the stairs towards her basement desk. Clark and Chloe were having trouble navigating through the crowd, there seemed to be more people here today than usual. However Danny managed to avoid everyone anyway. Clark shook his head and got back to the task at hand. "I told Lana everything"

Danny beamed at him but Chloe blinked in disbelief "You told Lana your secret?"

Clark just nodded.

"Wow, um, Okay." Chloe stuttered "God, after all this time with me yanking on your closet door, what's the real reason for the sudden coming out party"

Danny just smiled knowingly at Clark as they headed through the glass office door. The crowd was just as busy in here as it was outside. A deliveryman came in and Clark flinched at the high pitch squeal of the secretary as she was given a bouquet of flowers.

Continuing where he left off Clark explained that it was only a matter of time before she broke it off.

Chloe smiled at him, saying "Well you guys are like, meant for each other. You're like Kansas' own version of Ken and Barbie. Except they broke up for some reason which is weird." She trailed off distractedly.

They were interrupted again by an argument from the bosses' office and the aggressive "You can't fire me, I quit!" resounded through the room as a man stormed off.

"I think it's a good thing you finally trusted her enough to confide in her." Danny said with his goofy smile. Honestly, it was impossible to keep up with the constant shifts between his personas. At the moment he was goofy and klutzy Fenton, but ten minutes ago he'd just been plain Danny.

"Well, I think I was pushing Lana to the point where I don't know if we could come back from." Clark explained for Chloe's benefit, adding on "And I love her too much to let that happen."

Chloe still looked shocked. But she still managed to ask how Lana had taken to the news that Clark was an alien. There was a soft gasp from Danny and Clark watched as he closed his eyes briefly. By now Clark recognised that Danny had sensed a ghost and sent off a duplicate to deal with it.

Chloe still needed to be answered, so hoping to conceal his true nervousness he answered "Not sure yet. I was hoping she would have called by now." Just then by some miracle that made all three of them jump the phone rang.

"Hello..." Chloe answered. Clark couldn't help his anxiety, this was probably Lana. "No, this isn't Mr Fu's Noodle House. Sorry." Clark couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, but strangely was relieved at the same time. Chloe looked up to him and pointed out that "if Lana cares about you as much as I know she does, I seriously doubt anything's gonna change."

"You should listen to her. Like I said earlier, it's _you_ that Lana knows and loves." Danny said, although he did seem a bit spaced out.

"One thing might. I haven't gotten an answer yet. I asked her to marry me." Clark said. Danny froze as he looked over at Chloe.

"Wow," she said "Well that one wasn't on the Doppler. Not even a blip." She seemed stunned. Maybe even a little disappointed. Clark wanted to explain it to her.

"I know what you're gonna say. That we're too young, there's a reason I hadn't told her before, there's too much at stake." He started rattling off all the reasons that he had justified to himself not doing this before.

In a strangely distant yet firm voice Chloe said "That's funny, because what I was actually gonna say is, there are very few people out there who really know what they want, and are willing to risk everything for it. If anyone deserves to be happy Clark, it's you."

Clark smiled at Chloe. He was glad to have her as his best friend. She was someone who he could always rely on to talk things through with. She was a voice of rationality when he was confused. But above all she was someone who had always looked out for him. Clark smiled at her as he gave her a friendly hug.

Then he glanced at his watch, he really needed to get going if he wanted to be ready in time. He excused himself, but Danny elected to stay behind. As he raced off Clark saw Danny gently lay a hand comfortingly on Chloe's back, but Clark couldn't think of a reason why such action would be necessary.

Clark raced back towards the Kent Farm. By now his parents would already be on their way to the Election Party, but Clark had said he'd be arriving later. He hurriedly showered and changed into a formal suit, putting on a red tie before checking his phone once more. There was still no news from Lana. He sighed as he headed out the porch steps. He needed to be there for his Dad tonight.

Clark heard the gate swing opened and brightened as he saw Lana walking up the path. Then a wave of nervousness overtook him. He had no idea how this was going to turn out. Did Lana hate him now? Was she scared of him? Nervously he spurted out "I thought I'd see you at the party."

He searched Lana's eyes for any hint of what she was feeling, but found himself too nervous to understand, especially when her reply came "I know. But then there'd be all those people."

Clark was nervous and scared. Everyone else who'd found out his secret had found out so differently, but the person who he cared about most in the world... he didn't want her to be scared of him, to think of him as a monster, a freak. He couldn't hide his worry as he asked "do I look different to you now?"

Lana looked up at him with her big beautiful brown eyes. "Clark, you look like the same handsome guy I've always known."

Clark gulped. "Handsome as in "I want to spend the rest of my life with you"? Or Handsome as in "I'm gonna let you down easy"?"

Lana smiled and pulled the ring out of her pocket giving it back to him. "As in "yes, Clark, I'll marry you."" Clark beamed. Lightly he took the ring ant gently slid it onto her ring finger. Then he picked her up and gave her as big a hug as he could muster. The two of them laughed happily in the snow as the rest of the world faded out of existence.

In that moment nothing mattered more than that the two of them were together. Nothing mattered more than that they were engaged. Nothing mattered more than that Lana had just made Clark the happiest man on Earth. The whole world was them, and it spun around them in flawless harmony in their moment of perfect bliss.

_Line Break – A Few Hours Previous_

Danny sighed as he heard Clark call him from the house. He closed up his sketchbook and stood up, turning intangible to allow the unmelted snowflakes that had landed on him to fall away. He teleported to the house, but was met with a wall of happiness and anxiety. It seemed Clark must have told Lana his secret if he was feeling this way. Subconsciously he put up a mental barrier to protect himself from Clark's powerful emotions.

He smiled as Clark challenged him to a race to the Planet. This would provide Clark with a distraction if only for a short while. It only took a moment to put the sketchbook back in his room before he and Clark raced out of the house.

There was something truly exhilarating about running this fast. Sure, it was not as speedy as flying, but it was only fair to Clark if Danny kept himself on the ground. For the moment there was a slight snowfall, but at their speed it seemed frozen still in the air. Danny could feel his ice core thrilling at being so surrounded by his element. He couldn't help but laugh in the snowy air.

The two of them were keeping a fairly even pace as they raced along the highway, although Clark was slowly pulling ahead. It was always like this when they raced along long straight paths. Clark was just that bit faster than him. Then they hit the outskirts of Metropolis and Clark was forced to slow down to avoid all the additional traffic. Danny was so used to having to dodge people that he quickly gained on him. Danny's agility made quick work of the many cumbersome blockages in the city even without resorting to intangibility. The two of them arrived outside the Planet not even out of breath.

Danny smiled as they bumped into Chloe just outside the door. It was a lot busier today than usual, but that was probably due to the Election. Happily he said hello to Chloe and was glad to see her vibrant smile. Something about Chloe really reminded him of Jazz, without the constant threat of psychoanalysis... although maybe she reserved that for Clark.

Danny felt rather than saw her shock as Clark told them he'd revealed his secret to Lana. Danny was proud of Clark. He just hoped that nothing bad would come to her, knowing about Clark's origins. Something told Danny that their discussion earlier may have assisted Clark in his convictions. The three of them went down into the basement and Danny winced at the high shrill and overly positive wave of energy as a woman received a bunch of flowers.

The discussion continued, but Danny was distracted by the aggression coming from in the boss' office. With all these people around it was really giving him a headache. Today he felt overloaded by the emotions pouring off of everyone and it was driving him to distraction. He had no idea how he was going to handle the Party tonight. The boss' door erupted and a young man stormed out yelling "You can't fire me, I quit!" as he threw off his press pass and marched off.

He shook his head and brought himself back to the conversation at hand. "I think it's a good thing you finally trusted her enough to confide in her." And he gave Clark a goofy smile. At the moment he was too distracted to put much effort into the Fenton Facade that he still used around Chloe, but he realised that for her own safety he had to.

Danny heard Clark explain that he loved Lana too much to risk losing her and Danny watched the battle of emotions that crossed Chloe's face. Danny wasn't worried about how Lana would react; he knew how much she cared for Clark so she would eventually come around.

Danny struggled to repress the gasp as a cold shiver ran up his spine. He felt as the moist breath in his throat crystallised and the cold air escaped in a small mist escaped his lips, alerting him that a ghost was near. The ghost was fairly weak, and he didn't want to suspiciously run off if he didn't have to, especially around someone as suspicious as Chloe so he duplicated himself, invisibly flying off to tackle the ghost and leaving his duplicate behind.

One of the problems of duplication was how distracting it became experiencing two things at once, he was aware of what his duplicate was doing, but the main problem came when the duplicate was reabsorbed in the memory integration. It was something that a human mind couldn't process, but part of being a ghost meant that he could deal with it, although he did wonder how it worked for Vlad sometimes.

Phantom flew off to the basement of one of the nearby buildings. He sighed at the slight flickering of lights as he came up to the ghost. There was mild pandemonium as files were being thrown everywhere. Interns were running about in a panic as they tried to rescue files from the spirit and the flying papers that soared across the room. Phantom was somewhat surprised at who he saw, since he hadn't seen him since he left Amity Park.

"BEWARE for I am the BOX GHOST. You shall tremble in fear as you face the wrath of..." Box Ghost looked at the nearest box as it floated near him "2004 Employee Audits!" Some of the interns screamed as the files flew out at them. Phantom stared in disbelief.

Phantom was absently aware of the conversation his duplicate was having at the Planet as the duplicate commented "You should listen to her. Like I said earlier, it's _you_ that Lana knows and loves." He quickly reoriented himself to the situation at hand.

"Hey Boxy." Phantom said bluntly, not even bothering to charge up an ecto-blast.

"YOU! You shall not trap me in your cylindrical container of non squareness!" Box Ghost screeched, but Phantom just sighed and encased his torso in ice. A moment later the Box Ghost was sucked into the Thermos and out of the way. Phantom stayed for a moment to help neaten up the mess that Boxy had made. Really that was the only good thing about the annoying ghost, rarely were his messes overly destructive. With a small wave he flew back to the Planet and remerged with the duplicate.

"One thing might. I haven't gotten an answer yet. I asked her to marry me." Clark said. Danny froze as he looked over at Chloe he could feel the torrent of pain that swept through her. Danny felt terrible, he had believed that Chloe's care for Clark was strictly fraternal, but right now it was obvious that she had wanted more than that. She really was a true friend to have sat on her own feelings for Clark's sake.

Danny felt Chloe's heartache when she stammered "Wow, well that one wasn't on the Doppler. Not even a blip." There was a resounding wave of disappointment, but she was quickly covering it up. She really was a true friend to Clark. Danny heard Clark prattle on about all the reasons why he shouldn't have asked her to marry him, but his attention was on Chloe.

"That's funny," Chloe said, and Danny felt her pressing back her own heartache for Clark's sake. "Because what I was actually gonna say is, there are very few people out there who really know what they want, and are willing to risk everything for it. If anyone deserves to be happy Clark, it's you." Clark really was lucky to have such a good friend in Chloe.

Danny watched Clark give Chloe a brotherly hug before he ran off. Danny decided to stay behind to talk to the loving young woman who sacrificed herself for the sake of her friend.

"Hey there" He said and he allowed his own aura to spread out just enough to comfort her.

"Hey Danny" she replied with a slight smile. "What do you think about...?" She trailed off absently gesturing in the air where Clark had stood.

Danny shrugged "I'm glad he told Lana the truth. It was putting a barrier between them that would have destroyed their friendship."

Chloe smiled as she acknowledged that, but it dropped to a frown "And the...?"

"I don't know, maybe he should have waited to let the dust settle a little, but... as long as I've known them Lana and Clark have been together. It would be sad to see it all fall apart over something so insignificant as his powers." Danny explained. He really didn't want Chloe hurt anymore. She looked at him inquisitively.

"Insignificant?"

"Yes" Danny nodded adamantly "The powers don't make a person, it's what they do with them. What makes Clark, Clark is his heart. So his abilities are arbitrary"

Chloe lightly laughed. "Yes, I suppose you would see it that way." Danny saw that Chloe was coming back to herself so withdrew his aura back to normal. "Speaking of, I was wondering if I could get a lift with you back to Smallville."

Danny smiled at her, but couldn't help but point out "You do realise I don't have my drivers' permit yet" She laughed and shook her head.

"You do realise I know you didn't bring a car here." Danny rolled his eyes and patiently waited as she finished off her work, idly spinning on an office chair and picking through some back articles. With all the bustle around today it was mildly entertaining to just sit and people watch. It was just over an hour before she closed off her computer and tugged on her jacket. The two of them headed out of the _Planet_ together. Chloe shivered from the cold, but Danny felt happy in it. He took a deep breath of the icy January air. He was kind of glad that Chloe knew he could teleport. While he didn't want her to know about Phantom he was able to let himself go a little in her presence. For Danny that little bit of freedom meant the world.

In a swirl of green the two of them arrived in the empty alleyway behind the Talon. Chloe hurried inside and away from the cold while Danny teleported back to the Kent Farm to change clothes; something made him suspect that he'd be roped in for photos that night. He heard a car drive off outside and assumed that Clark and the Kents were already on their way. Four minutes later he was outside the Talon in a neat evening suit with a blue tie. The swell of emotions was almost tangible from outside, but Danny gritted his teeth and went in.

He was bombarded with the flashing of cameras and the loud excited rabble of the anxious crowd. Luckily for him the first people he saw as he came in were his Aunt and Uncle.

"Hey Danny" Uncle Jon said with a smile, and Danny beamed back. While it was distracting to have so many positive people around he always had time for his Uncle and his family.

"Hey Senator" Danny laughed and his uncle shook his head in bemusement.

"Like I told Clark, I haven't won anything yet." Jon scoffed before he helped Martha put her necklace on.

"Danny's not too far off, one more district and you'll have a commute to Topeka" Martha laughed, smiling.

"Whatever the outcome, sweetheart, the only victory that's changed my life was when I won your heart" Jon replied and gave his wife a deep hug. Danny backed up a little to give them some privacy, smiling at their happy nature. Their embrace was interrupted by the MC for the evening and the three of them were dragged further in, joking all the while.

The three of them came up to Clark and Lana who were standing by one of the least crowded pillars. By the broad smiles on Clark and Lana's faces it was apparent that she had taken the news well and had accepted Clark's proposal. Danny smiled as he saw the simple ring glittering on Lana's ring finger.

"Mom, Dad, Danny" Clark began, slightly awkwardly.

"Mr and Mrs Kent, I know that this is as much of a surprise for you as it is for me." Lana smiled, her arm tightening against Clark's waist. Danny smiled at the obvious sign of affection. Jon and Martha beamed at the couple before Jon stepped forward to give Lana a fatherly hug.

"Lana, we couldn't imagine Clark spending his life with anyone but you." Jon took a step back and took Martha's hand, holding it tight. "We hope you have as many happy years as we have."

Lana smiled in thanks and the four of them helped themselves to a glass of champagne while Danny got a glass of apple cider. Danny smiled; moments like this were rare for him. While the Kents could never take the place of his family he was glad to be surrounded by such loving people. Their private celebration was interrupted by a loud whistle from upstairs.

"Everyone" Lois proclaimed, carrying her voice over the busy coffee shop. "I just got the heads up from the news room. And Ladies and Gentlemen, you are looking at our new Senator." The room erupted in tumultuous applause. Jonathan was heartily congratulated, several people coming up to clap him on the back or shake his hand. A bright sparkle came into his eye as he shone with radiant pride. The intensity of his congratulations only heightened when the announcer on the TV proclaimed _"Jonathan Kent has just been elected State Senator in a staggering upset over corporate mogul, Lex Luthor._"

Eventually the crowd around them thinned and Lois came up to the Kent family, happily saying "Okay, I need to wrangle you guys here for a photo shoot" with definite pride in her voice. Danny thought it was well deserved; she had been the campaign manager and had almost single handedly brought Jon to victory. The two elder Kents were swept away into the crowd, leaving Danny unsure as to whether to follow, but Lois dragged him along too, proclaiming "Casper, you are as much in the family for this as Smallville is. You're not getting out of the family photo." She laughed as she dragged Danny towards the elder Kents.

That didn't mean Danny missed Clark saying "Is this really happening?" in happy bewilderment, nor did he miss Lana's jovial reply of "Go do your photo op." Before he knew it the four of them were blinded by photo flashes and continued congratulations being sent towards his uncle. Eventually he was able to escape as Jon excused himself to answer a phone call. Danny stepped out of the Talon into the cool night air. He noted that Lana's car was no longer where she had left it, but was able to pass it off.

Danny heard something move in the alley behind the Talon. He stepped around back, senses on high alert. But there was no more movement. The dumpster was closed tight and there were few other places to hide. He continued his search, but found no trace of anything live around. His eyes traced the ground, and they landed on a gear shaped medallion lying in a puddle.

Confused he moved to pick it up, wondering why his guardian would leave one of his Time Medallions just lying around. As he picked it up he noticed a note stuck to the back.

_Young Phantom,_

_Time shifts readily, always in a state of flux, now perhaps more so. I trust you shall know what to do with this once the time comes._

_Your guardian_

_Clockwork_

Danny read the note twice more, but couldn't make sense of it. Then again, Clockwork usually preferred to speak in riddles that only made sense in hindsight. He slid the medallion over his neck and tucked it in underneath his top. The gear shaped pendant rested against the DP symbol on his necklace. He thought he could figure out Clockwork's riddle later. Danny walked around the front and noted the tail end of the Kent truck as it pulled off into the distance. He wondered why someone had left the party early, but figured that he would find out once he got back inside.

Danny pulled through the happily buzzing crowd, giving Chloe a quick wave when he saw her. Danny walked over to her and they were soon joined by a beaming Lois. The three of them found a comfortable seat and Lois grabbed a glass of Champagne for Chloe and herself. Chloe mentioned a story that she was looking into. It turned out that there were criminals turning up unconscious and reports of a masked blur racing through the Metropolis slums. Danny was curious, it wasn't ghostly, but sounded like an intriguing story.

Eventually Lois excused herself saying that she had some follow up campaign managerial things to do. At this point Danny imagined that had more to do with talking up the photographer than anything else. Chloe went off to talk to Martha and Danny went over to find Clark. He just got over to his cousin when Clark's phone rang. It took one look in his eyes to know that something was drastically wrong.

_Line Break_

"You okay? You sounded pretty upset in your message." Lana said as she stepped into Lex's office in the Luthor mansion. Half way through the party at the Talon he had called, and Lana felt that she ought to come over to comfort him. Today had been the perfect day for her, Clark had finally trusted her enough to tell her the truth about himself and she had happily accepted his hand in marriage.

She closed the door behind her as she moved towards the centre of the room. Lex' back was facing her, but by his posture he was fairly drunk. He stood slightly slumped over his bar table, a crystal scotch bottle glittering in the firelight as he poured out two glasses carelessly.

"Probably shouldn't have called." Lex said, turning around to face her. His eyes were slightly unfocused as he looked over at Lana. "Shouldn't do a lot of things, but I uh, seem to do them anyway." Lex paused for a moment, seemingly studying Lana. He waved his scotch glass at her before continuing to say "I'm sure you want to get back to the party so..."

Lana was uncomfortable with his drunken state so she took the opportunity to interrupt. "Lex. I know how hard you worked for this, but I don't think you should take it so personally."

Lex seemed to take offense to this, before Lana realised it he was virtually yelling "you know how many people are cheering right now, that the spoiled, rich-kid lost to some salt-of-the-earth farmer?"

Lana had never seen Lex like this. She knew she needed to calm him down. She asked him "since when do you care what other people think?" hoping that it would help.

Lex fumed "Since I was branded at birth with the sins of my father." But then he slumped in on himself, defeated. "Just once Lana, I wanted to get out from under his shadow, you know? Earn something on my own." So that was what all this was about, he wanted to prove himself? Lex half laughed "Well, consider yourself lucky you never had a father to endure, huh."

With that pronouncement all her sympathy evaporated. Her father had died in the first meteor shower. She'd never been able to know him or love him. Icily she told Lex "I think it's best we talk about this when you're not drunk." And with that she moved to leave.

From behind her she heard Lex drawl "See, now I've hurt your feelings. Perfect. Through this whole campaign I've managed to alienate everyone I care about. I can't lose you too." Lana felt some of her sympathy return. Here Lex was, a dejected man who had just lost what he saw as one of the biggest chances to get out from under his father. She walked back over to him and gently held his hand. She looked into his eyes.

"Lex. Hey. You aren't gonna lose me." She pronounced with a soft smile. Lex's grip tightened on her hand before he let go, running his fingers against hers. He moved onto the ring that Clark had made for her, twisting it slightly around her finger.

He didn't look at her when he said "well I guess this is a bigger day than I thought."

"Yeah. You know it happened so fast. We never really got to tell anyone about it." She happily looked down at the ring, the proclamation of the love between Clark and her. Looking at it all the pain and confusion from his secret just disappeared. A faint smile flitted onto her lips.

"Yeah. So after all the lies he told you, you still chose him." Lex sounded angry. Lana looked up into his eyes to see the aggressive hurt in his alcohol darkened eyes.

"You don't understand." She needed him to though. Lana wanted Lex to know how wonderful a person Clark really was, but knew it was not her secret to tell.

"How many times did you come to me, wondering what Clark's hiding from you? Why he disappeared to Metropolis for months. How he rose from the dead." Lex shot back in quick succession. And it was true, there were so many questions she still had to ask Clark, but with this one revelation everything seemed to make sense. Something about his powers had saved him, and his powers had let him save her.

There were no secrets between them. Lana finally knew about Clark and they had forever together for him to share his life, his experiences, his burdens and his happiness with her. She felt like the luckiest person in the world that someone like Clark had chosen to give his life to her. "It's not like that now." She whispered. Her heart filled with the love she no longer needed to shy away from.

Lex scoffed "Really? Come on. Lana. I know you. You'd never say yes with all the doubts you have." His voice dripped with heavy scepticism. Lex felt threatened as he searched her eyes, his own widening slightly with sudden realisation. "Whatever it is he's been covering up all this time. You know, don't you?" Lana felt a surge of fear race through her, but was able to cover it up.

In a calm and steady tone she replied "Clark isn't hiding anything Lex." It was half true. Clark wasn't hiding anything from Lana, not anymore. Lex however seethed.

"After everything I've done for you, how could you lie to me?" Lex yelled coming up to her. Lana didn't know what to do. Lex no longer looked like the same man who had comforted her when she needed someone to talk to. Lex threw his glass of scotch into the fire as he yelled "Tell me!" The glass shattered in the fire with a loud crash and a flare of fire. Lana took the opportunity to run, quickly making her way through the labyrinthine corridors and out to her car. She soon found herself on the highway back into town but couldn't stop the fear thrumming through her heart.

She wouldn't have before she found out, but now she knew that Clark would save her. She quickly dialled the number, hoping that Clark could help calm her down.

"Hello?" he answered and Lana felt a surge of relief, but it didn't entirely dispel her panic. "Lana, where'd you go?"

"Clark I'm so sorry. I went to see Lex. And he was really drunk." She sniffled as the terror she felt settled back into something manageable. She shielded her eyes for a moment as a car passed from the opposite direction.

Clark's voice sounded worried as he demanded "What happened?"

"He knows. I don't know how he could tell, but he could tell I was hiding your secret. I didn't say anything to him. But he got really angry."

Clark paused for the barest of moments before he replied confidently "Lana, that's okay. Where are you now?"

Lana looked around for a moment, in her hurry she hadn't taken much notice of where she was going; only that she had to get away. Fortunately by now she had calmed down enough to recognise where she was. "I'm on route 40, right before the Loeb Bridge." She heard a car horn from behind her. She glanced into the rear view mirror and her panic one more heightened. The car was swerving slightly on the road but there was no missing that car. "Oh God." She said in disbelief, her fear surging once more, narrowing her view of the world in her need to escape "Oh God he's coming after me."

She heard Clark say "Lana" over the phone, but her attention was drawn by Lex as he pulled his car up next to hers. The window came down and he heard Lex yelling.

"Lana! Lana! Just pull over so we can talk!" Lana looked over at him fearfully, he was so drunk and they were going so fast that if he lost control there was no way it could end well. Suddenly Lex's eyes widened in fear as he shouted a warning "Lana Watch out!"

Lana turned to look, but everything was drowned out by the flood of light from the approaching vehicle and the roar as she felt the world tumble out of control around her.

_Line Break_

Clark raced out of the Talon not caring about his secret. In an instant he was at the scene, but was horrified by what he saw. A bus had hit Lana's car, which had rolled over sending a spattering of glass and metal across both lanes of the road. Lex stood by dumbfounded, but Clark couldn't find it in himself to care. All that he cared about was Lana.

Clark ran over to the destroyed car, racing around to the other side. Somehow Lana had been thrown out, she lay on the ground her body surrounded by glass and metal shards. Her porcelain skin smeared with crimson. Clark couldn't believe it. He dropped to his knees stunned beyond belief. This couldn't be happening. Not today. Not to Lana. He was barely aware of his own screaming. He just wanted Lana back.

He felt himself being pulled away, but he fought back; struggling to get back to Lana. He had to do something. Had to find her pulse. It had to be there. He couldn't lose her. She looked so fragile lying there, so broken. Couldn't they see he had to save her? "Lana!" he screamed, struggling to get back to her. The grip around him tightened and he felt himself being drawn away, finally hearing his Dad as he tried to comfort him.

Clark felt his Dad pull him into a tight hug. "No. There's nothing you could have done. Nothing" tears stung in Clarks eyes as he heard his Dad. Clark's hands were laced with Lana's blood. No, he couldn't lose her. Not Lana. He felt himself sob as his Dad pulled him further away from Lana's body. He heard the sirens as an ambulance approached, but the paramedic just pulled out a body bag. That's when it became real. He couldn't let this happen. This was all his fault. He had to do something about this.

Clark raced back to the farmhouse, tearing into the barn to retrieve the key. He pulled it out and barely a minute later found himself in the fortress. Somehow the blood had been cleaned away, but that did nothing for the tears in his eyes, nor the roaring pain that stabbed through his heart. It felt as though it was on fire; as if a thousand lances had stabbed through his heart and made it shatter. Nothing could describe the agony as he tore through the Fortress towards the central console.

"How could you take her from me!" he yelled into the air. He was fuming, his father Jor-El had seen fit to take away the one person on the planet that mattered more than anything to him.

"Human life is fragile, my son. You knew a life would be exchanged for yours." Jor-El's distant voice came back to him. It was irritating in its calm tone. Clark couldn't take it. Not today.

"Don't make her pay for my mistake. If I hadn't told her the truth about me she'd still be alive! You have to let me fix it." He beseeched the air.

Once more Jor-El spoke "Your powers on Earth may seem extraordinary, Kal-El. But we are not gods." Who was Jor-El to say that? He had played god to bring Clark back to life. How could he take Lana away from him as if she was nothing?

"This is not her destiny! And you know that!" Clark yelled, venting his frustration and agony. His voice dropped to a whimper "There has to be a way. There has to be a way... to fix this. Please." He moaned, begging his birth father to for once set things right. He couldn't lose Lana. There had to be something he could do.

Jor-El's voice once more permeated the room, a hollow emptiness in it as he said "There is one trial you have yet to experience." What was that even supposed to mean? Clark dismissed it, needing some way to save his beloved. "But you must heed my warning. The tide of fate is impossible to stop. Even if you are able to alter one course of events the universe will find a balance." A crystal separated from the mass in the central console, floating tauntingly in the air. "There is only one crystal. Once you make this choice there is no second chance. Decide carefully."

For Clark there was only one choice. If this was the way to save Lana, to make sure that he never lost her then he would gladly deal with whatever repercussions came with it. All that mattered was having Lana back. He reached forward, clutching the delicate crystal as if it were a lifeline. "I have to save her." He declared, and the whole world faded.

It felt like the universe was spinning around him, he felt himself being pulled backward as everything continued to swirl around him. He felt the crystal dissolve into nothingness as the world slowed around him. Suddenly he found himself sitting up in his barn loft, his hand clutched around a lump of coal. He looked around disoriented for a few moments before he heard the most wonderful voice in the world. Lana Lang, the voice of an angel, beautiful and warm and _alive_. He could barely contain his joy as he heard her for the first time in what seemed like an eternity.

"I brought gloves and a scarf like you said"

* * *

><p>AN: And I'm gonna end it there and leave you in suspense.<p>

This chapter corresponds with the Smallville episode _"Reckoning"_, and I had to split it. This worked as the best point to do that.

See you next time.

Bluerose


	13. Tempus

Chapter 12

Tempus

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Warning: Includes Character Death

_It felt like the universe was spinning around him, he felt himself being pulled backward as everything continued to swirl around him. He felt the crystal dissolve into nothingness as the world slowed around him. Suddenly he found himself sitting up in his barn loft, his hand clutched around a lump of coal. He looked around disoriented for a few moments before he heard the most wonderful voice in the world. Lana Lang, the voice of an angel, beautiful and warm and alive. He could barely contain his joy as he heard her for the first time in what seemed like an eternity._

"_I brought gloves and a scarf like you said"_

_Line Break_

Clark was stunned beyond belief. He felt tears leap into his eyes as he saw her. Somehow Lana was alive. His beautiful brown haired angel. And she was still here, entire and whole and perfect. "You're here." He said, bewildered. What on Earth had just happened? It seemed that somehow time had shifted and he was back where he started. It felt like he was back before he told her, and maybe he was.

"Of course I'm here, Clark." Lana commented a brief flash of confusion in her eyes. "I'm just not sure a mystery date's exactly what our relationship needs right now. So, where are you taking me?" She'd said that this morning – yesterday – before. Clark was pretty sure that somehow he'd gone back in time. He could save her, keep her safe. Make sure that this time around she stayed alive. If he hadn't told her his secret then she'd never have been put in that kind of danger. Lex wouldn't have chased after her. It was his fault that she had died and he was not going to let that happen again.

"I just thought we could spend the day together." Clark murmured

"That part I kind of figured." She commented with light sarcasm. "But it was the quote "day that I'll never forget" that I was a little curious about."

Clark was thrown for a moment, before everything, he had planned on telling her his secret, but now... " Right. Well, I thought we could go for a drive." He fumbled, trying to think of something on the spot. If he didn't tell her she'd be safe. "Maybe up to the lake and um... but you know with this cold snap we're having the bridges are probably iced over. So we should just stay here."

Lana's eyes turned cold and she took a step back. "Don't you think I know by now when you're lying?" She met Clark's eyes firmly, barely disguising her disappointment and it killed Clark to see her like this after how wonderfully everything had gone the first time around. "Just... just say something. Anything."

Clark felt lost. He had been so happy, but now he could see it all evaporating. He couldn't tell her he just... "You know, it wasn't a big deal. Really, I mean... trust me it was..." but it felt so insincere to say so, and he knew Lana wasn't fooled.

"Clark. You know that it goes both ways." Lana said bluntly. He had trusted her entirely, and he knew she had accepted him. But he had to protect her.

"Lana I..." Clark began, struggling to find any reasonable excuse. But he was interrupted.

"Don't." Lana held her hand up to him, her face turned away ever so slightly. "Unless it's the truth. Clark, as much as I love you, I can't do this anymore."

"Lana, you don't understand. If anything ever happened to you..."

"Like what? What could be worse than losing the person that you love?" Clark blinked the sting out of his eyes as Lana said the one thing that broke his heart. He could never see her like that again. He couldn't live in a world that she wasn't in. She had been so broken, so cold, so gone. She had been so irrevocably dead that Clark knew he'd die if he ever saw her like that again. Far better for their relationship to die and have her alive and well than to risk losing her ever again.

"Nothing" Clark replied sadly, knowing that this could very well end it. He saw the heartbreak in Lana's eyes, the hurt. It killed him to know that he was the cause, but he knew he could not risk losing her again.

Lana took another step back and coolly looked him in the eyes. "I need a break."

"From me?" Clark asked, hoping that she'd not walk out of his life.

"No, from us." She replied, and with that she was gone, walking out of the barn and away. Clark's heart froze as he heard the gravel crunch as her car pulled away. He didn't know how long he sat there in stunned silence. Lana may be alive, but that didn't save him from the hurt of watching her walk away, knowing that he had pushed her to leave.

"It'll be alright" Clark jolted as he heard Danny's voice echoing through the barn. He opened his eyes to see his cousin sitting opposite him on the trunk. Sympathy washed through his eyes and he had a soft smile on his lips. Clark couldn't help but feel comforted by his presence. "I'm sorry"

Clark blinked in confusion "For what?"

"What you had to do to protect her" Danny replied wearily.

Clark just nodded, looking down to the floor, but then snapped to attention. "What would make you say that?" Clark demanded incredulously. It sounded like Danny had changed his opinion from that morning. Either that or...

"The last thing I remember I was with Aunt Martha at the Talon and hearing that Lana had... was in a really bad car accident. I'd hazard a guess and say you talked to Jor-El?" Clark blinked at Danny's question. Somehow he knew.

"Yes. I couldn't let Lana die, not because of me. I couldn't let it be her life that was traded for mine. But how did you know?"

Danny let out a dry laugh "If I say I have friends who like meddling in my life does that work?" he asked, fiddling with something buried under his dark blue t-shirt. "Point is, I know what happened and I know exactly how much you just gave up. I'm sorry."

Clark and Danny sat in silence for a while before Clark finally started to get his head back together. "I just... it was all so perfect. I had Lana and she said she'd marry me. It seems lately that whatever I do I just end up losing the people I care about. I never asked for Jor-El to bring me back to life when I was shot, and now I almost lost Lana because of it."

"I know" Danny empathised "sometimes it's so hard just dealing with the guilt. Sometimes you'd rather go back and make it so that nothing ever happened at all to save yourself the hurt. But life... it's what you make of it that counts. You've been given a second chance, a choice, and only you can make it. Hecate knows I've had my fair share of them."

Danny trailed off, looking into the distance. Clark didn't really feel like dealing with things just now, he couldn't. He knew he'd have to make sure Lana was safe, but for now he needed to reassert himself of reality. He needed a break, and he was still traumatised by the image of Lana lying dead and blood soaked on the asphalt surrounded by all that metal and Glass.

"How about you come out and practice with me for half an hour?" Danny offered breaking Clark out of his reverie. For now Clark wanted to get his mind off things so he accepted. Danny led him out to one of the back fields, near the snow capped tree-line. Danny walked to the middle of the field and for a second his eyes glowed a brighter blue. The snow within twenty feet of him disappeared, leaving a round circle of grass visible around him.

Danny had never invited Clark to practice with him before, so Clark was at a loss as to what to expect. "Okay" Danny said, looking over at Clark "Usually I'd work on something else, but how about we try some target practice?" Clark looked curiously at his cousin, trying to imagine what he would dream up.

"Sure" he answered. Danny nodded with a small smile.

"Okay, so I'm gonna set up a few targets, and then we can work on accuracy. Sound fair?" Danny waved his hand and a three foot ice target appeared with concentric circles of frosty ice and clear ice leading to a bright blue bullseye. Clark raised an eyebrow, but Danny just shrugged and two more appeared.

"Do you want to go first?" Danny asked.

"With what?"

Danny shook his head, laughing "Well if you want you can throw snowballs at it, but I had envisioned that you'd try your heat vision on it."

"Won't it melt?" Clark asked, raising an eyebrow sceptically.

"Only one way to find out" Danny said, smiling as he gestured towards the target. Clark nodded and focused his eyes on the centre of the target. He let the warmth swell up behind his eyes and released the solar heat that dwelled within him onto the target. There was a slight hiss and a bit of steam cleared away leaving a foot wide indentation on the target. Danny nodded and walked up to it.

"You're going to need to go hotter, and focus more. You should be able to fire pin-point accurately. Try again." Danny encouraged, acknowledging the minimal damage to his target. Clark was surprised at how well it had held up against his heat vision. Danny walked back behind Clark before taking a seat in mid air and gesturing that Clark try again. This time there was only a five inch circle, but it was slightly off centre. Danny sighed.

"How often do you actually practice stuff like this?" Danny demanded.

Clark was slightly abashed and admitted that he never really practiced, mostly relying on brawn to get him through what he needed to. It was hardly as if he needed to be out fighting all the time.

"Oh, how I wish that life were that simple." Danny sighed "You should practice to refine your skill so that if it's needed you are confident enough to use them. Look." Without even looking at that target Danny flung out his hand, a thin green beam emitted from it, landing in the centre of the target leaving a half-inch indent going three quarters of the way through. It was pretty impressive.

"How did you do that?" Clark demanded incredulous.

"Skill born of necessity, unlike you I've had to fight pretty much every day for the past two and a half years, so I forced myself to learn precision. It also helps to be situationally aware, know every element of your environment and all that." Danny explained, leaving Clark blinking in confusion. That was a practice that Clark had never gotten into.

Danny rolled his eyes, apparently having expected this. "Okay, let's try a different demonstration." Danny dispelled the target and made a dozen small round discs, handing them to Clark. "Can you throw these, please?" he requested, pulling out a short black cloth ant tied it over his own eyes. Clark baulked at the notion, but eventually acquiesced.

Clark tossed one of the disks in the air to the right of Danny, and he instantly moved to shoot it with another green blast. The disk shattered in a light powder of snow. Danny's lips twitched slightly into a frown, but Clark had already thrown the next disk. It met a similar fate, not getting past Danny at all. He threw two at once and Danny got both simultaneously.

Within a minute all the disks were gone and Clark was impressed. He'd never really seen Danny use his powers like this and was slightly awed at the skill. Danny pulled off his blindfold "Someday you should be able to do something like that with your heat vision. But for now" Danny summoned a tiny icy crystal that floated in the air two feet in front of Clark. "Melt that."

Clark nodded, determined to succeed now that he'd seen that powerful display. Aiming carefully he focused on the crystal. It evaporated in a swirl of steam and Danny smiled. Another crystal appeared a little further away and Clark hit that too. Pretty soon he was able to accurately hit a quarter inch crystal from ten feet away. Danny smiled at his progress.

At twelve feet Clark started losing control of his precision. The crystal was destroyed, but a beam of heat flew out behind and struck an invisible barrier that Clark hadn't realised Danny had put up. Danny just nodded and motioned Clark to try again. After the sixth attempt Danny's mouth twitched as if he were holding back a laugh.

"It's not easy focusing heat through your eyes you know." Clark spat, frustrated.

"You're right, I can't do that. But you just need to focus. I know you can do it." Danny encouraged. Clark did feel a little annoyed at the thought of being taught to control his powers by a sixteen year old, but in a way was also glad for the guidance. He tried again, but this time missed by a wider margin.

"What does your heat vision feel like? How do you do it?" Danny asked.

Clark thought for a moment. The sensation was hard to describe "It's like there's a burning behind my eyes, like if I don't let it out my eyes will just shrivel up. So whatever I look at gets the flame instead of my eyes."

Danny just nodded and another large target appeared. "Okay then, I think I know how to help. It was like that when I started using my ecto-blasts. You feel the power and send it out in that direction, but when you do that..." he thrust his hand out toward the target and a blast of green surged from Danny's hand, incinerating the target and sending shards of ice careening across the clearing. "Well, it can be explosive." Clark blinked at the destruction, considering that his heat vision had barely marked the ice when he'd tried earlier.

"Instead" Danny continued "Try to focus, let the heat energy gather, but instead of simply releasing it allow yourself to see the target do what you want. Once you learn focus you can pretty much get it right every time. Care to try again?" Clark nodded and once more found himself facing another large target. He focused, envisioning what he wanted to see before he released the energy. A quarter inch hole melted straight through the middle of the target. Clark smiled and Danny beamed, clapping him on the back for a job well done.

"How'd you learn?" Clark asked "I mean, I've had heat vision since my sophomore year at high school and I've never needed such precision."

Danny sighed and summoned an icy bench, indicating for Clark to sit. Danny simply elected to hang sit in mid-air. "The difference is necessity. Two years meant I had to learn pretty much surgical precision with my ecto-energy. The difference between hitting a ghost and a hostage can be as slight as a pin, so I forced myself to learn. I don't recommend it."

Clark nodded, but that simple statement brought him back to reality. Danny had provided a great distraction – and part of him realised that was probably why Danny had suggested this – but now it was time to face the music. He was now ready to go and fix this properly. He still needed to make sure that Lana was safe from Lex at least for tonight, and for that he needed Chloe.

"I think I need to go to the Planet. Do you want to come?" Clark offered.

"To be honest, it's too busy today, but I know that the Box Ghost will be there. So if you don't mind me being there I'll tag along." Danny replied with a shrug.

"Thanks for the distraction." Clark said

"It's nothing. Little bit of harmless fun. What else are cousins for, hey?"

Clark laughed and ruffled the younger boy's hair. Clark laughed at his unamused glare and accompanying pout. "Come on, we should be heading off now." Clark said and Danny sighed, rolling his eyes. Clark watched his eyes glow a bright blue for a moment and all traces of their practicing vanished in a thick blanket of snow.

"It's still weird seeing you do that you know." Clark commented as they walked over towards the house.

"What? Make snow? Clark, I have an ice core. This weather is good for me, if I didn't think it'd worry your mum I'd literally sleep outside. Manipulating the element is easy. Now, do you want to run, try the truck, or teleport?" Danny replied jovially.

"We ran yesterday... before... you know what I mean." Clark started and Danny just rolled his eyes.

"Alright, well I'm gonna teleport. If you want, I'll meet you there. Otherwise, grab on." Danny said holding his hand out. Clark sighed at his cousin's antics. At the moment it was hard to fathom what he was actually thinking. He seemed so light and casual, radiating comfort. But Clark had other things pressing on his mind. He had pushed Lana away, and this time he wasn't sure he could get her back. He just had to make sure she was safe. Clark grabbed onto Danny's shoulder and the two of them disappeared in a swirl of green mist.

_Line Break_

Chloe frowned at the bustle of the Planet. The basement room wasn't usually this busy. Her eyes flicked over to the time on her computer screen. She sighed and stood up. While it was busy, there was very little for her to actually report. Most of the excitement was down to election hype, although those stories all went to the more senior reporters. So Chloe stood up, she was going to need a coffee if she planned to make it through to tonight.

She trudged up the stairs and over to the coffee shop just across the street, picking up her 11am Latte. The hot beverage in her hands immediately banished the lingering cobwebs and also pushed back the cold as she walked back to the Planet. She had barely gotten through the rotating front door when she met up with Clark and Danny, a rather unexpected surprise. However both of them seemed in a more sombre mood that she would have expected.

"Hey Clark, Danny" She said with a small wave Danny perked up slightly, but Clark looked off into the distance. "What's up?" Chloe asked of her Kryptonian friend.

"Lana... not Lana. She's really done this time." Clark said

Chloe blinked, this wasn't the first time Clark had come to her with news like this, but there was a sort of defeated finality today that seemed far different than before. "Really, what happened?" She asked. Clark sighed, by now they had got to the bottom of the stairs and Clark guided her into the slightly emptier space of the elevator well. He looked her in the eyes

"Ready to put on your Wall of Weird hat? I've lived this day before." Chloe scoffed but Clark continued awkwardly "I kind of went back in time."

Chloe found that highly unlikely, sceptically retorting "Right. What'd you do, spin the Earth backwards on its axis? Come on, you didn't pick up the winning lottery numbers while you were at it, did you?"

"He's not kidding." Danny interjected "Look, see those flowers" Danny indicated to the delivery man who was walking into the office space.

"They're going to the secretary" Clark finished, looking over to his cousin

"Margaret? She's a workaholic; she hasn't had a date in like a year." Chloe denied, but couldn't hide her shock when indeed the flowers went to the secretary. Both boys visibly flinched at the noise of her excited squeal. Clark led them in and over towards her desk. Danny gestured over to the office and Clark nodded.

"Your boss, he's firing someone right now." There was a loud slam from the Boss' door and Peter, one of the office slackers stormed out. He yelled "You can't fire me, I quit" as he threw his press pass to the floor. Clark's claim was looking slightly less unlikely.

"Watch him though, he doesn't leave or move to pick up his stuff" Danny commented and sure enough Peter went out the office space, turning right towards the filing room under the stairs. Chloe raised an eyebrow. Then the phone rang.

"Don't bother, it's a wrong number." Clark commented "Chinese takeout"

Curious, Chloe picked up the receiver "Hello" she said, and the man on the other side of the phone briskly said _"Hello, Mr Fu's Noodle House? I'd like two orders of egg rolls and..."_ Chloe cut him off saying "No, I'm sorry, we're all out of egg rolls." She carefully put the receiver down before grabbing Clark and Danny's shirts, physically dragging them into the deserted printer room.

"All right McFly, do you wanna start with the how or the why?" She demanded as soon as the door shut behind them. Clark took a step back and explained.

"Jor-El." Okay, for now she'd accept that, but that didn't explain Danny's knowledge.

"And you?" Chloe demanded

"Temporary immunity to the movement of time?" He replied, with the slightest questioning inflection as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Teleporting at the wrong time?" Chloe questioned, that was the best explanation she could come up with. Danny shrugged unhelpfully so Chloe was left to presume it was somehow connected to Danny's meteor power. She snapped her attention back to Clark, realising the ramifications of what he'd said.

"You went to Jor-El? Your birth father Jor-El?" Chloe demanded exasperated. Not that she'd ever had a conversation with Jor-El, but every time Clark asked something of his birth father there were terrible consequences. Not the least of which was the Faustian deal which had brought Clark back from the dead. Chloe knew how horrible Clark felt about the terms of that deal, but had no real choice when Jor-El had brought him back to life without his asking.

"I went to him to try and change things back." Clark said, looking down to the ground. Danny gently laid a hand on Clark's shoulder and Clark sent him a small half-hearted smile. Chloe just observed in confusion.

"Back to what?" Chloe asked

Clark sighed and looked Chloe in the eye. "The first time around, I told Lana the truth about me. And I asked her to marry me."

Chloe was stunned. Clark had asked Lana to marry him. While she had always supported their relationship, a small part of her had always held onto her schoolgirl crush. Chloe had been pining for Clark since she first met him, before she knew about his powers. Back when he was just the simple farmer's son with a cute smile and the biggest heart. Sure she'd been able to let him go, she wanted him to be happy. Clark deserved that in his life. Still, it hurt to think that she really stood no chance.

"What? What... what...? What did she say?" Chloe asked, struggling to conceal the tumultuous emotions in her mind.

With a small smile Clark replied "Yes" and Chloe felt her heart tear on another level.

"Oh my god." Chloe stated. Surely by now Clark had caught on, she wasn't that good of an actor. Sure she'd never shown openly how deeply she cared for him but... "Well, what was my reaction?"

"A lot like that." Clark replied quickly, but then he frowned, pain roaring through his usually bright eyes. "But listen it was a big mistake. Lex was chasing her on Route 40 and... there was an accident, I didn't get there in time."

"Why was he chasing Lana?"

Clark answered quickly defeat evident in his posture. "He figured out she knew my secret. It's why I've always been afraid to tell her." With that confession Chloe pushed all her own emotions aside, knowing that Clark came first.

"This time you can warn her about Lex. This doesn't mean you have to lie to her forever." She babbled. Hopefully Clark could pull through this. Clark needed Lana in his life, and Lana deserved better than to have the truth hidden from her all the time. Now they had advance knowledge they could save her. It would all be alright. Chloe sent her Kryptonian friend an encouraging smile.

"Chloe," Clark pointed out bluntly, hurt dominating his blue eyes "she knew my secret for less than a day. There's always gonna be someone trying to find out about me. As long as we're together, they'll be watching her every move." Chloe sighed. That just wasn't true, she was safe knowing the secret, Danny was safe knowing. Mr and Mrs Kent had raised him and there had never been any much more suspicion than Lex doing a bit of digging. There were ways to keep it safe.

But now wasn't the time to argue over that. Now they needed to get a plan in action. "Don't worry Clark." Chloe said, easily slipping into a confidant and commanding facade. "We won't let her near that road. Do you know exactly what time this is supposed to happen?"

"11.02" Danny interrupted. Chloe jumped, she'd honestly forgotten that he was even in the room. Clark however wasn't perturbed by the interruption.

"There's only one problem," Clark expanded "she's not talking to me right now. I was hoping you could stay with her and make sure that..."

Chloe understood why he was asking her, Danny couldn't do it seeing as how he was so close to Clark. Lana would probably not want to talk to him either just at the moment. "That fate doesn't get a second chance? I won't leave her side." Chloe said with a smile. Clark thanked her and said he had to leave. He was on the way out when he turned around to Danny

"Okay, there's something I know I'm forgetting." He said, a confused look on his face

"Between "you're Fired" and Noodles." Danny nodded with a smile. "Already taken care of" Clark nodded and ran out, leaving a slightly bewildered Chloe behind.

"What was between Peter losing his Job and the Noodle Shop?" Chloe asked, suspicious. Danny shook his head and replied that the first time round he'd had a cold shiver and accidentally messed up a couple of files. Something told Chloe that that wasn't entirely true, but since she hadn't been there let it slide.

Chloe packed up her belongings for the day; she needed to head off if she wanted to get to Smallville soon. "You know" Danny said, helping her neaten up the loose paper sheets on her desk "I know it doesn't seem it, but Clark wants you in his life as much as he wants Lana." Chloe blinked, she was surprised that Danny had picked up on her emotional rollercoaster in the printer room.

"Sometimes I wonder" Chloe said, a slight frown gracing her lips.

Danny picked up her jacket and lightly put over her shoulders. She shrugged it on properly as the two of them walked towards the elevator. She needed to pick up her car if she wanted to hang around with Lana today. "The fact that you're the first person he came to says so. He's got a big heart, and you have a huge place in it."

Chloe scoffed as she unlocked her car. Part of her knew that, it's just... part of her wanted to be the one that Clark looked at the way he looked at Lana. She wasn't jealous, just that she wished she'd had a chance. "I know" She replied. She didn't know why she felt comfortable talking to Danny about this, there was just something about him that said he earnestly wanted to help. "It's just... Lana's lucky with him."

"She is, but you know what, I know somewhere out there there's the right guy for you. Clark loves having you in his life, but for now... okay I'm really not good at this" Chloe couldn't help but laugh at his struggle to find the right words. Although she had to admit that being around him was comforting. It was as if somehow he was radiating positivity with that goofy smile of his. She offered him a lift back to Smallville, which he easily accepted.

Chloe smiled at the younger boy. She had no romantic inclinations towards him, that would be a bit weird, but times like now he was almost like a little brother. He was a good sounding board, happy to listen to her and always had a smile to help pick her up. The two of them held happy conversation as she drove back to Smallville, Chloe arranged to meet Lana at a different Cafe since the Talon was being set up for tonight. Lana had been supposed to help out, but she had flaked on that. Chloe thought that was understandable given the circumstances.

Danny bade Chloe farewell as soon as she had parked the car, disappearing in a green swirl of mist. It was still unusual to her to think of him as meteor infected. He just didn't have the usual mental instability associated with it. She was glad for the few times where he had given her a lift though, and it had felt nice to be involved in that game of catch between the two cousins – brothers? Sometimes that seemed closer to the truth – a few weeks ago. Danny was perpetually light-hearted. She had noticed that since she found out about his meteor power he wasn't quite so clumsy around her, but he was still the mild-mannered goofball she'd first met when he came to Smallville.

She waved to Lana as she came into the Beanery, and Lana gave her a distracted smile back. Chloe inwardly sighed. It was not going to be easy keeping her safe and unsuspicious today. But it was for Clark, her friend. Chloe gritted her teeth and gave Lana a cheerful smile.

_Line Break_

Phantom frowned as he soared over the Kent Farm. Why was he doing this? Why did Clockwork give him the Time Medallion in the first place? He soared up another thousand feet, the barn turning into a tiny red dot. As soon as he'd got back to the Kent Farm he'd transformed to go for a fly. He really needed to reign in his emotions. He'd put on a brave face for Clark and Chloe, but it was really difficult hiding his true emotion.

The truth of the matter is that Lana had died. This struck so many chords for Danny. Not only was it another death which he'd failed to prevent, like his family, but the situation was similar in a way to his own experience with his alternate future self. Phantom's frown deepened. Clark had been given a second chance, an opportunity to save Lana. And Danny knew Clark would go to the ends of the Earth to do just that. But there was something more that he was missing, and he didn't like it. There was some reason why Clockwork had made sure that he had gone back in time with Clark, and it frustrated him that he couldn't figure out why.

More than that the Ghost of Time had removed his Lair from the time-stream; meaning that Danny couldn't get there to talk to him himself. Frustrated, Phantom dove back towards the ground, enjoying the exhilarating feeling of freefall as he let gravity claim him. He turned intangible as he neared the ground before floating through the earth to return to the surface. He stood for a minute in the snowy field, his white cloak billowing in the wind as he reflected on what he knew about the day.

Determining that he needed to finish the day before he figured anything out he returned to the house to get changed. Uncle Kent and Aunt Martha were already at the Talon, but Clark was out by the woodpile. He had resorted to chopping wood in his frustration. After transforming back to his human form, Danny called him in, and Clark grudgingly complied. Danny sighed and shifted himself into a more positive outlook for his cousin's sake, gently pushing a bit of comfort out towards him with his aura. Today it seemed like he'd been doing it more than usual and he found it quite ironic how different one decision made the atmosphere of the whole day.

The first time around Danny had been practically drowning in positive emotions. His ghost half had been empowered, thrilling to get out and he had barely managed to prevent himself from turning into his ghost half. This time however was so very different. Clark's not telling Lana had changed everything. Lana was in a bad mood, Clark was miserable and Chloe was feeling rejected. What sort of game was Clockwork playing? Sure, Danny was friends with the Ghostly Time Master, but his methods were always so confusing. He knew there was a lesson in this that Clockwork wanted him to learn, but it was still a long way from that happening.

Clark was still in the shower, so it was going to be a while before he was ready. Danny however was ready to go already. He sat in his bedroom musing over everything. This morning he'd decided to take Clark out to practice with his powers. Danny had meant it as a distraction, knowing that it always helped him when things got tough to train. But there was something more to it than that.

Danny had always expected that Clark took his own opportunities to practice, but his confession and subsequent demonstration had proved how little Clark actually knew of his powers. Of course their powers had developed in two completely different environments, but surely Clark would have seen the benefit in looking to refine them before Danny had come along. Danny determined that this would not be the last time he and Clark trained together. Somehow Danny got the feeling that he would need the skills in the not too distant future.

Clark came down the stairs in his evening suit. Aunt Martha had taken her car earlier so Clark and Danny hopped into the Truck. The half hour drive was silent, Clark entirely focused on the road. Although with Danny's continuous efforts to lighten him up he was gradually losing the tension coiled in his muscles. They pulled up, but Danny immediately felt something different, wrong.

He didn't even acknowledge the disgruntled looks people gave him as he moved through the crowd, up the stairs to Lois' apartment. He just knew something was wrong. He knocked on the door, but there was no reply; only the steady trickle of running water that was gradually making its way out from under the door. Danny phased his hand through the door, unlocking it from the inside and he stepped in.

Lois was lying unconscious on the floor right aside the stone kitchen bench-top. The lights were off, indicating that she'd been there since before it got dark. The tap was running, the sink overflowing and spilling over the bench-top and onto the floor. There was a stool toppled over in front of the fridge. Danny picked her up just as a radio, dislodged by the water fell onto the floor. The thin sheet of water was electrocuted, and Danny felt a strange sensation thrilling through his core. But he couldn't think about that now.

Danny carried Lois' unconscious form over to her bed, quickly checking her vitals. There was a large bruise forming on the back of her head, and she likely had a concussion. Otherwise she was fine, Danny yelled out to Clark, knowing that he'd hear him. An instant later Clark was by his side.

"What's wrong?" Clark demanded

"She fell off the stool by the fridge; knocked herself unconscious. I think she has a mild concussion, but otherwise she's fine." Danny quickly explained

"How do you know?" Clark asked and Danny sent him a dry look. Two years of ghost fights had taught him quite a bit about human injuries. He suggested Clark call an ambulance if he was worried. Lois blinked herself into awareness before the paramedics came, and was irritated at Clark for bothering at all. Still, she allowed herself to be taken with them as she stood up; Danny barely managing to steady her as she swayed violently.

Clark and Danny headed downstairs together and Clark immediately went over to Chloe who was looking worried. When the radio had fallen it had shorted out the power for the whole Talon, so many of people had left. In the thinning crowd Danny heard Uncle Jon answer his phone. The halfa shook his head in dismissal. It was probably just someone calling to congratulate his Uncle for winning the Senate seat.

Danny walked through the crowd to see Chloe. She was talking in a whisper with Clark, but allowed him to hear when he came over. "I've looked for Lana everywhere" she stammered. "I can't find her." Clark looked down at his watch and frowned. Glancing at his own watch, Danny realised the danger. It read 11.01.

_Line Break_

"You okay? You sounded pretty upset in your message." Lex turned around as he heard Lana come into the room. He poured scotch into the two crystal glasses he had out. This would be his fifth – or was it sixth? – of the evening. He had called Lana unthinkingly. The crushing defeat of finding out that he had lost had gotten to him.

Blearily he replied "Probably shouldn't have called. Shouldn't do a lot of things, but I uh, seem to do them anyway. I'm sure you want to get back to the party so..." Lex blinked in his intoxicated haze. Part of his mind realised that he didn't want Lana seeing him like this, but the other part couldn't help but thrill at the fact that she'd come.

"I was kind of looking for a reason to get some air." Lana said, and Lex saw a hint of pain in her eyes. Somehow he was unsurprised when she announced "Clark and I had our last fight." But that didn't dismiss his scepticism. There had been so many false finishes in their relationship that it had almost turned into a soap opera.

"Last, huh?" Lex scoffed as he took another sip of scotch. He watched the emotions play across Lana's face. She was so beautiful when she was upset; she got a cute little crinkle in her eyes. She was even more beautiful when she was happy though. Lex's tired mind thought of dozens of ways to encourage a small smile from her. But now was not the time for him to woo her. Now she needed a friend. Maybe.

"I kept waiting for that armour to crack, but..." Lana trailed off; Lex had tried the same thing. But he had eventually realised that it was a fruitless endeavour. "I thought that if I was patient enough he would finally let me in. But I guess people have armour for a reason." Lana concluded. And Lex couldn't help the strange feeling of relief in him. He wasn't sure why, but the fact that Lana had seen this made Lex feel satisfied.

"Lana." Lex said. At the moment it seemed like a good idea to drive the idea home. Make Lana realise that Clark didn't let people into his life "I hate to say this, but it's possible that Clark's never going to trust you."

Lana looked up into his eyes. Her beautiful brown eyes searched his for comfort as she whispered "I don't understand. Why would you lie to someone you love?"

"I wouldn't" Lex whispered. And he couldn't resist; all these months of waiting, gradually getting closer to Lana. He'd seen her in a dream of the future as his wife. He wasn't sure if it was the alcohol that gave him the confidence or if it was just him trying to make something out of what had been a terrible day. He leant forward and kissed her.

She resisted, but Lex was more forceful. Eventually though she physically pushed him away. He blinked as he realised what he'd done. He'd ruined it. Come on too quickly and was now going to pay the price. "I wouldn't. Wow, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I didn't..." He stammered, trying to find some way to redeem himself and still hold some of his dignity.

Lana backed up, and he saw how offended she was. "It's okay. It's okay. I'm just gonna... I'm gonna go" Lana said before she fled out the door.

Frustrated Lex looked at his scotch glass. He'd drunk far too much. In a bout of anger he threw the glass into the fire, savouring the heated flare as the alcohol blended with the flames. He could fix this. It was a matter of pride. He had to fix this. Lex grabbed the keys to his Porsche and headed out the door. He'd stop Lana and they'd talk. It was all going to be okay.

_Line Break_

Clark felt the adrenaline rush through his veins as he raced to where the accident had happened. This time Lana hadn't called him, so he had to hope that he could get there in time. He felt the cold air still around him as he ran faster than he ever had before, pushing himself to get to the intersection in time. There was probably only a matter of seconds left.

Clark huffed and grabbed the tail end of the school bus, the weight of the vehicle strained against him as he struggled to find purchase on the icy road. There was a loud scream and a sigh of relief as the buss came to a complete stop. The teenagers poured out to check that everything was okay. But Clark's attention wasn't on them. Instead he watched as Lex's car skidded to a stop, the front of Lana's car actually going through the side Lex's car as hers too came to a sudden halt. But there was no damage done. If Clark didn't know any better he would have said it was a trick of the light.

Clark watched as Lex and Lana got out of their cars and gave each other a tight hug. Stinging tears jumped to his eyes. He may have saved her, but he'd also lost her. There was a level of tenderness in Lex and Lana's embrace that he doubted he would ever feel with her again. He felt a cold hand on his shoulder and turned around.

Phantom gave him a half hearted smile. His green eyes glittered with sympathy and understanding as the wind passed through his snowy hair. His ghostly aura was dim enough to be hidden in the moonlight. Clark sighed "You turned her car intangible, didn't you." He commented.

Phantom just nodded. "You've been given a second chance. She's alive, and that's what counts." Clark looked back over to the two, by now Lex had shepherded Lana off the road. A blue truck drove by, and Clark thought he saw his Dad for a moment but passed it off. In a way Danny was right. Lana was alive; they'd managed to save her. If keeping her alive meant that he couldn't be with her then he'd sacrifice their relationship a thousand times over. That decided he headed back to the Talon to pick up his Mom.

As he arrived there was a bright flash in the Alley behind the Talon and Danny came out, back in his human form. Clark sighed as the two of them headed back into the building. By now the lights were back on and most of the people had left. Apparently Clark's Dad had slipped out unnoticed, and his Mom was just waiting for Clark and Danny to show up before she went home. The three of them got into her car. Clark sighed as he looked at Danny in the rear-view mirror.

The younger boy was looking out the window, a look of deep concentration lighting his blue eyes. Clark couldn't imagine what he was thinking about, but something told him that the halfa was too lost in his own thoughts to pay much attention to him. Clark mused over the day; it was disappointing to see how one choice sent everything spiralling out of control. Lois was in hospital, Lana had all but broken up with him, and the look in Lex's eyes had said that he was just waiting for the chance to move in.

Although, Clark was glad Danny had taken the opportunity to go out and help him train. In a way it felt strange to be taught by a sixteen year old, but when you looked in his eyes... sometimes Clark saw the eyes of an older man, weighed down by heavy responsibilities and harrowing experience. It felt like an accomplishment to have so improved his accuracy with his cousin's guidance. It made him wonder why he had never tried to do it before. The light from a passing car brightened Danny's eyes, sending a strange shiver down Clark's spine.

Clark's mom struck up a conversation about the election in good cheer. So much so that by the time they pulled into the driveway they were all laughing. Then the headlights flashed over something different. Clark looked out the window and saw his dad walking out in front of the car. He looked dishevelled, his suit jacket abandoned and his white shirt tugged loose. He staggered. "What's your Dad doing out here?" Clark heard his mom ask. Clark's eyes widened as he saw his Dad collapse.

The car pulled to a stop and Clark raced over to his Dad. He looked so weak. "Dad!" He called, hoping for any response. He vaguely heard the fearful cries of his Mom and Danny as they gathered around the unconscious man. Clark pulled him over to the hay-bales near the fence, carefully laying his father down on them as he struggled to find a heartbeat. He felt tears leap to his eyes, he couldn't do this. His Dad was fading in his arms and there was nothing he could do.

"Dad!" he cried, a sob wracking through his body as the guilt threatened to overcome him. He had saved Lana, why couldn't he save his Dad? "Dad!" his cries grew ever more desperate as he felt the warmth leaving his Dad, the once bright eyes draining of emotion as they fluttered closed for the last time.

"No! Not yet! Jonathan!" The desperate cry of Clark's mom pierced the night as she frantically clutched her husband's chest. Clark grabbed his Mom and drew her into a tight hug. The two of them struggled to understand, to accept what they had just seen. Clark looked over to his cousin who was strangely silent during the exchange. Clark felt a surge of hatred surge through him. How dare Danny not care? His father was dying and he sat there doing nothing with his eyes closed off to the word.

Clark was about to say something when Danny opened his eyes. They glowed bright silver, glittering far brighter than any star. Danny held out a hand to someone that wasn't there and he gave an almost imperceptible nod. "It'll be all right" Danny whispered, so softly that Clark almost missed it and his hand fell down to his side. A strange wind moved around his cousin, Clark watched as his hair flittered in an ethereal breeze. Clark suddenly got the feeling that something bigger was happening. He watched as Danny moved away, his shoulders slouched over as he made his way into the house.

It was not long after that the paramedics showed up, Danny apparently having called them while Clark and his Mom were lost in their stupor. They quickly ran a diagnosis and figured out what had happened to Clark's Dad. He'd had a heart attack, his already fragile heart finally giving up. Clark tried to ignore the pang of guilt. It was his fault that his Dad had the heart condition in the first place. It was his fault that his Dad had a heart attack. It was his fault for dying and having Jor-El demand a life in exchange for his. His fault for going back and letting his Dad die. It was all his fault.

And there was nothing he could do to fix it this time.

_Line Break_

The days quickly blurred together for Clark. His Mom arranged the funeral, Clark found himself unable to help anyone in his guilt. He talked to no-one, despite the careful prompting of his friends and his Mom. The only one who respected his silence was Danny. Although Clark noticed that much of the light had left his usually bright blue eyes.

The morning of the funeral arrived, there was heavy cloud cover and the weather seemed to reflect Clark's mood. He came down the stairs in his suit, the same one he'd worn just days earlier as he heard the news that his Dad had been elected Senator. The same suit he'd been wearing when Lana agreed to marry him. Yet now it was to be worn for this, the saddest of occasions. Clark looked over to his Mom and his cousin, his own sadness reflected in their eyes.

"I guess it's time then." His Mom said sadly and Clark felt his heart break.

"I'm sorry." He murmured softly, looking to the ground. He couldn't face his Mom's gaze not now.

"Sit down." His mom commanded softly. Clark reluctantly complied, still finding it difficult to meet her eyes. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and instantly knew that Danny was encouraging. "Clark." His Mom said, and Clark finally had the courage to look up into her eyes "I know you're blaming yourself, but this was not your fault."

"How can you say that?" He demanded "I went back to save Lana and now Dad's gone."

"Do you think you could have chosen between them if you'd had the chance?" His mom softly asked. "Clark, A heart beats only so many times in a life. Your father used his more than anyone I know." Her voice was filled with quiet comfort, there was truth ringing in her words, but Clark still felt... lost.

"I just don't know how I'm supposed to be the man he wanted me to be without him here."

"You're his son." His Mom said "You know what's right and wrong. Whether your father is here with us or not, you're a man he's proud of. A man he could look up to. And something tells me he won't be the only one." At her words Clark felt something he hadn't felt in days, hope.

"Your Mom's right. Your Dad loved you with his whole heart, but the thing you do best, what made him the most proud, was you being you. The strong man that he knew he could rely on to be there for anyone." Clark couldn't help but feel encouraged at his cousin's words. Maybe he could make it through this after all. He looked down to his Mom's hands and noticed the pearl necklace tucked tightly between her fingers.

"Can I help you with this?" he softly offered and gently fastened the necklace behind her neck. "I love you Mom." Clark said, pulling her into a tight hug. "I love you too." His mom replied. Clark stepped back and ruffled Danny's hair. "Thanks" he said to the younger boy. He took a deep calming breath and made his way out to the car.

The service was simple. There were so many people that came to pay their respects to the brave and kind man that was Jonathan Kent. Idly Clark remembered something that Lex had once said to him. _"When my father dies, kings will come to the funeral, but when _your_ father dies his friends will come."_ There were no truer words than that. There were so many people that his Dad had helped; so many people who he'd been there at just the right time for. He watched sadly as the coffin slowly lowered into the grave.

Lana had come, taking Clark's hand as he watched the coffin sink below the earth, but she soon left. The snow softly fell around them, gently fluttering in the winter breeze. Clark's father had been a strong man, a great man. He was an idol, someone who always knew the right thing to say; to do. He was someone who Clark was proud to call a father. Clark only hoped that he could be half the person his Dad had been. Clark grabbed a handful of dirt and gently poured it onto the coffin, sending a silent farewell to the great man that had been his Dad.

_Line Break_

Danny silently watched the funeral. His Uncle was one in a million, so few people held his courage and strength. He was a pure soul and Danny would greatly miss him. He didn't know how, but he had watched his uncle as he moved on to the next life. He had never seen that before, but the man's last words played on his mind. _"Take care of Clark and Martha. Someday Clark will be a symbol of hope. Please, help my son to find the right path." _

Danny saw Lana leave Clark alone at the graveside. He watched as Lionel Luthor comforted Aunt Martha. He saw Lex in the background, sympathy in his eyes. Lois and Chloe looked over to Clark before leaving along with the gradually thinning crowd. Eventually it was Martha and Clark alone by the graveside as the snow drifted around them. Danny felt tears prickle in his eyes. This was the first time he had attended a funeral. He had been unconscious when his family and friends had been buried. Something about it made him feel empty.

He dug his hands into his pockets and felt the Time Medallion's cool gear-shaped pendant brush against his fingers. Surely by now he had seen whatever he needed to see. He let himself fade into the background before opening a portal to the Zone near Clockwork's tower. He felt relieved when he finally found it, shifting into his ghost form as he floated through the portal.

Four minutes later he was in his ghostly guardian's tower, the echoing mechanism unusually distant and silent. He watched his guardian's back for a minute as Clockwork observed his viewing portal. Phantom came up to the Ghost of Time, taking a place by his side. Clockwork was currently in his elderly man form, slightly bent over himself as he watched the scene play out. Phantom flicked his eyes towards the scene himself.

_Lionel Luthor walked down the stairs of the Kent barn loft "Senator Jonathan Kent." He said, his polished aristocratic tone carrying a hint of superiority. "I didn't expect you to duck out of your victory party tonight. But I'm here. And I'm alone, as you requested."_

_Jon stood aggressively on the bottom step, looking up towards Lionel as he continued his way down the stairs. "Good." Jon said, danger flashing in his eyes. "So why don't you come down and face me, you son of a bitch."He tossed his suit jacket off and onto the workbench._

"_Perhaps a few lessons in tact; senator. Now that you're going to be in the public eye." Lionel replied with a level of condescension that would rile even a toddler. _

_Jon loosened the tie around his neck and flexed it almost threateningly. "Why don't you just cut the crap, Luthor? Sure I know my campaign accepted funds from you, but I also know I'm gonna pay them all back. So I won't owe you a thing."_

_Lionel seemed unfazed by Jon's obvious aggression "I wonder how far that virtuous stance will get you one you're in office."_

"_I just wanna make sure you understand; you don't have a puppet here." Jon replied, poking his finger deep into Lionel's lapel._

_Lionel scoffed "I should hope not. I didn't put my financial and political clout behind a candidate who would be anyone's puppet. I envision this rather as a partnership." There was a hint in his voice that suggested that he would be the dominant partner._

_Jon saw the loosely veiled threat and retorted "The day you and I become partners will be the day..." But he was cut off by Lionel_

"_Careful. Careful. Careful, senator. Don't forget you and I have a... a common interest. One that both of us would protect with our lives. I have nothing but respect for a man who would deliberately hurl himself in the spotlight with such a dangerous secret that must stay hidden." Lionel pulled a photograph out of his pocket, handing it over to Jon who snatched it out of his hand. Jon growled at the photo before crumpling it and throwing it to the ground._

"_I won't let you destroy my family." Jon exclaimed "We can withstand anything you bring down on us." Jon physically picked Lionel up and threw him across the workbench. Lionel collapsed in a weak heap on the far side and Jon came around to look down on him. "Because we have each other. That's what will always separate the Kents from the Luthors." Jon looked tempted to kick Lionel's prone form, his fingers twitching as if to grab a farm implement. Fortunately Jon thought better of it, his hand going to his heaving chest "Now why don't you get..." Jon paused for a moment, a pained look crossed his face, his fists tightened in repressed pain. "Now why don't you get the hell off my property."_

The scene faded and Clockwork turned to face Phantom. Phantom was shocked. He had never seen this side of his Uncle, downright scary and dangerous. He had no idea what to say. Having just witnessed the man's funeral it was saddening to think that this was what led up to his last moments on Earth. And that is exactly what this scene displayed, that was obvious with how he was dressed and how he reached to his heart.

"Why?" Phantom puzzled sadly.

Clockwork looked down at him, his solid red eyes piercing Phantom's green. "Time is not completely flexible. While your choices change your destiny there are always some constants. The day you witnessed showed Jonathan Kent at his worst, but his death was not in vain. You know as well I that I am bound not to interfere in the time stream unless the consequences of not doing so would be dire."

Phantom nodded. He already knew this of his guardian. "Why did you send me the Medallion?" Clockwork smiled, shifting to his infant form. The pendulum in his chest swung heavily as the Time Ghost sent Phantom a cheeky smile.

"If I were to say that this confrontation happened in most timelines..." Clockwork began, smiling broadly as Phantom caught on. Unfortunately it wasn't the most pleasant of revelations.

"Then no matter what Uncle Jon would have had that Heart attack. He would have died even if we hadn't gone back in time." Phantom paused, there was still something he was missing "But why let me go back too?"

"Can you see no reason?" Clockwork retorted. Phantom gazed up at the blank screen as the grey mist swirled across it.

"Clark needed to save Lana; otherwise he would have blamed himself for her death. But... Clark would have lost two people he cared about instead of just one. Uncle Jon's death wasn't Clark's fault, but his life wasn't exchanged for Lana's. But Clark won't see that, he'll only see the exchange that Jor-El made." Phantom looked over to his ghostly guardian "So I'm meant to tell him that it wasn't his fault?"

Clockwork smiled and shifted to an adult "Not yet. However he will need guidance. Things that you set in motion the second time you lived that day will greatly help Kal-El to not only survive, but thrive. This is why I allowed you to see this day twice. Had you not lived through the young Miss Lang's demise yourself you would not have followed the same path."

"I thought you weren't supposed to meddle." Phantom said.

"Jor-El manipulated the time-stream. I simply allowed my ward to see a different perspective on the day." Clockwork replied. Phantom just rolled his eyes at the ghost of time. However it was clear that it was time for him to leave. Usually if they got into this type of argument it lasted for hours, and gave Phantom a headache. He returned the medallion to its rack, knowing better than to keep one of those artefacts from its owner. Phantom slipped through a portal back to the Kent farm, feeling slightly mollified about Clark's choice, yet weighed down with his discoveries.

_Line Break_

Vlad Masters smiled as he hopped into his Limousine. Things could hardly have played out better for him. With Jonathan Kent winning the election, but losing his life, the political environment would be in turmoil until a solution was found. This meant that he could implement his own plans with little governmental interference. The turbulence would allow him much more freedom to move and until a new political stance was taken. He was all but assured to go undetected. It was time to bring up the heat on Smallville.

The chessboard was set. His pawns were in position. A little subtle prodding and young Daniel would have no choice but to retreat to him. A dark grin crossed his lips as he took a sip of port. "Soon, Little Badger" He uttered sinisterly "Soon you will be in the loving arms of your dear Uncle Vlad."

* * *

><p>AN: I hope I played the balance out right. I'm so sorry, but Jonathan had to die; it's part of Clark growing up. Clark can't be who he needs to be without it. But I hope it felt right, or as right as a funeral can be.<p>

Hope you're still enjoying it. Next time you get to see how the family is dealing without Jonathan.

Farewell until then

Bluerose


	14. Retribution

Chapter 13

Retribution 

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

"Ectoplasmic trace 2.4, deteriorating." The bulky, white suited man said to his companion.

"Catalogued, residual energy wavelength compatible with Entity 2.0013." Came the sharp reply, followed by a sharp electronic beeping, the faint whirring of a computer and the tapping of keys as the burly man input data into his device.

Agents O and K of the Guys in White (GIW) had originally been assigned to Amity Park in the hunt for the Ectoplasmic Entity; 4.0046. However, they had been unable to detain or eliminate the threat of the subject during their year and a half tenure in Amity Park. They had lost several ranks with their many failed attempts, and the debacle involving the foreign student "Elliot" had nearly lost them their place at the GIW. It was not their fault that the entity was so elusive, nor that it was so manipulative. However the specter had grown while they had observed it. No other ectoplasmic entity had such phenomenal growth in its power levels.

The GIW identified ectoplasmic entities by two key components. First, there was its power level, rounded down to the nearest whole number. Thus a level 5.9 entity would have the first identifier as 5. The second component of the identification was the catalogue number, usually relating to when that entity was identified in relation to others of its class. Usually this was sufficient ectoplasmic entities had very slow power growth if any. However entity 4.0046 had been drastically different.

Entity 4.0046 was one of the strangest ectoplasmic entities the GIW had ever encountered. When they had first arrived in Amity Park it had been an energy level 4.7, thus the first identifier 4. Over the thirty years of the GIW agency's existence they had only observed 45 other class fours, and that was down to lucky coincidence. However, the strange thing about entity 4.0046 was that it changed. In fact at their last observation it was identified as entity 7.0046. Operatives O and K had been dumbfounded at the change.

Their observations of the entity had shown drastic changes, going so far as to have a complete "costume change". It was the strangest of all their subjects, and the most elusive. Over the last year they had managed only to see it six times with appropriate equipment available. All six times it had escaped them, defying their ability as Government Agents. It was only ever seen in association and conflict with other ectoplasmic entities, leading to speculation of a violent obsession or one based on proving dominance. The two agents had been observing the ectoplasmic collisions for signs of its weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

However, ectoplasmic activity in Amity Park had drastically reduced over summer, and had not picked up again in the cooler months. Instead the town had settled into the rigid normality expected in small towns. The ectoplasmic activity had reduced to the normal background radiation of level 1 un-manifested entities. Instead the activity seemed to migrate into the state of Kansas. There had been several reports of increased activity in the small town of Smallville; however red tape had kept the GIW Agents out until very recently.

Agents O and K had been reassigned to the Metropolis district after entity 2.0013 had been observed in the warehouse district. That particular entity was always seen in association with boxes, proclaiming itself the "Box Ghost". Names were irrelevant to the Agents. Ectoplasmic entities had no mind, no emotion. At best they were comparable to rabid dogs; fit only to be studied and eliminated. The agents knew on the field that the entity could be identified and even confused with using its "name" however such a label was arbitrary in the scientific field.

Thus the GIW agents were enthused when their device picked up a faint trace of a level 7.9 entity two days ago. The energy wavelength had decayed fast, but they had picked up entity 7.0046's signature in the bottom of an office building along with 2.0013's. A strange gleam had run through their eyes as they imagined the opportunity to finally run lots and lots of experiments on the annoyingly elusive Entity 7.0046, known to itself as Danny Phantom.

_Line Break_

Danny gasped; sweat pouring off his forehead as he jolted awake breathing heavily. Ever since the funeral he'd been having nightmares, or rather one nightmare. The day he watched his friends and family die at the Nasty Burger, and it was all his fault. But this time it was different. He couldn't save them, he couldn't touch them. It was as if he was intangible, but he couldn't become solid again. Shakily he stood up, but somehow it didn't seem the same. He couldn't feel his feet on the floor; this wasn't too unusual in itself. He often had to force himself to obey the laws of physics. Something was just off.

He made his way downstairs, hoping to make himself useful to the two mourning Kents. Clark was not coping well; he had descended into a passive aggressive phase which was making him very short tempered. Danny himself was lost, not only had he lost his family and friends, but within six months he'd lost his uncle as well. He felt ungrounded, like the world was moving around him, but he wasn't a part of it. The only way he was able to deal with anything himself was the fact that he knew the consequences of letting his emotions get the better of him.

He went to the cupboard to pull out a mixing bowl, but his hand went straight through the door. Danny frowned, concentrating on making his energy denser, closer to the physical spectrum. His hand still passed through the door. He spent five minutes trying to shift himself into the physical world, but there was nothing he could do. He heard the top stair groan and looked over to see his Aunt coming downstairs.

"What's wrong" she asked as soon as she saw his face. Danny blinked; he didn't want to burden her with anything more.

"Nothing" he replied, giving her a half hearted smile. He turned his attention back to the cupboard but realised there was nothing he could really do. He shook his head in annoyance, and to his surprise the cupboard door jumped open. Aunt Martha jumped back in surprise.

"What was that?" She gasped with a hand over her mouth.

Danny frowned. He had never really practiced his telekinesis. He had accidentally used it on occasion, but hadn't worked on it much. He'd never needed to. But maybe now was a good time to.

"Telekinesis, I think. Sorry, I'm just a little..." Danny began

"Out of it." Aunt Martha finished with a sad smile "We all are. It's hard, knowing that Jon isn't here anymore. But I know he would want us to move on, to keep going and be happy." Martha went to squeeze Danny's hand, only to have hers go straight through it. "Danny?" she questioned.

Danny sighed. He had no idea why it was happening, but he could explain what it was "I'm intangible. Stuck intangible. This morning I woke up and I can't touch anything, it's like I'm not here." Aunt Martha's eyes widened in sympathy, but Danny didn't want that. Hopefully this would be over in a couple of days. If not... well he could always go to Clockwork or maybe Frostbite. "It's nothing. Really."

Aunt Martha just raised an eyebrow at Danny. Danny shrunk back slightly; he hated to see everyone so miserable. He wanted to give her a hug, to promise her that somehow it would all be okay. Uncle Jon would have wanted them all happy, to not dwell too much and to remember him with pride, not pain. But he couldn't even manage that. Inwardly he growled in frustration, but kept his shy yet confident facade outside.

Danny went over to the counter and floated above the seat, giving the appearance that he was sitting. Aunt Martha looked at him questioningly, but he just gestured for her to take a seat.

"Aunt Martha" he began, fumbling for the right words. "I am fine. I may be intangible, but I'm still here for you and Clark. You don't need to worry about me. I'll manage. What's more important is to make sure that you and Clark are okay."

Martha smiled, going to give him a hug, but stopped herself in time. Meanwhile Danny mused over his current predicament. There was no way he could go to school like this. Instead of brooding he focused on an apple in the fruit bowl. He smiled when it rose up and floated over to him before dropping on the kitchen table with a thud. Danny definitely needed more practice.

"Did you do that?" Aunt Martha asked, bringing Danny back to the present. Danny just nodded. It was obvious that neither of them were ready to have a deep and meaningful conversation about Uncle Jon and how to cope now that he wasn't around. Danny had to force himself not to look up the stairs as he expected Jon to come down. Instead they decided to keep the conversation light.

"How about you sit, I'll make breakfast today" Aunt Martha offered, to which Danny silently agreed. It was hardly as though he was in a position to cook, let alone eat for that matter. Danny refocused his attention on the apple, trying to make it float back to the bowl with limited success. Ten minutes later Clark came downstairs and grabbed a piece of toast before marching out the door. At the moment Danny had no idea whether he should go talk to him or if he should give Clark some space.

Martha donned a jacket after calling up the school. She had reluctantly agreed that having an intangible child at the school was not going to help anyone in the slightest. Martha headed out the door, heading to the Talon for work. The bills still needed to be paid and all of them were looking for some form of distraction. Danny elected to go for a fly, switching into his Phantom form he floated up above the clouds, his legs disappearing into a trailing mist as he soared over the Smallville skyline.

He dipped into a cloud, the cool moist air seeping through him. He could almost feel it, but at the same time it wasn't substantial. Or was he just not substantial enough to feel it? He stopped in midair, looking at his tail. Absently he wove the wispy tip through his fingers as he brooded, floating above the cloud tops. So much had changed recently. Within six months he had lost not only his family and friends, but also his uncle who had helped him pick up the pieces of his tattered life.

Uncle Jon had helped encourage him, reminded Danny why he bothered fighting ghosts in the first place. The Kent Farm just wasn't the same without him there; all three of them were just waiting for him to come down the stairs or through the kitchen door with a huge smile and his warm laugh. That he wasn't there anymore was unsettling. Danny had never been good with change, even less so since he became half ghost.

He sighed, lying back on the cloud with his face to the heavens. That was another problem; his ghost half had been acting up lately. He just didn't have the same control he usually did on his basic powers, like his tangibility. This was the first time though that all of him had been stuck intangible for so long. He looked down at his spectral tail, the ultimate symbol of what he was. It wasn't normal for people to have legs change into a misty tail, but for him it was natural. Danny huffed and sank down through the cloud, enjoying the strange tingle of electrical static passing through his body.

Danny drifted down towards the earth; he had apparently drifted over to Metropolis as he floated above the clouds. That's what using the clouds as a reference point got him. Danny sunk lower, towards the LuthorCorp building rooftop before he changed directions, heading across to the clock tower. He floated invisible on the rooftop, listening to the soundscape of the city; sirens, cars, alarms, children screaming and people laughing. The world never stopped moving around him, but now he couldn't even touch it. His green eyes glittered in the sunlight. Danny had never felt so disconnected from reality. Never felt so apart from the world.

Danny had never felt so much like a ghost.

_Line Break_

One week. It had been one week since they had buried his dad. Ten days since he had been taken from them. Clark felt betrayed. How could his dad just leave them like that? How could Jor-El have stolen his Dad's life for Clark's? How could his mom not be hurt by all this? Everyone just carried on, like there was nothing wrong. They were all stuck in a world of make believe, but Clark saw through it all. His dad was gone, and it was Clark's own fault. They could all pretend that everything was okay, but Clark would not.

Clark spun the wrench around on the tyre bolt. The tractor needed a new tyre and really anything at the moment was better than thinking. He grunted as the metal in the wrench shattered in his hand. Frustrated he set it aside and pulled out another one as he moved to tighten another bolt. He chanced a look in the tractor's mirror and saw his mom come into the barn with a box in her hands. She looked lost, but Clark ignored it.

"You're home from school a little early." His mom commented softly.

"Yeah, well I sorta dropped out for the rest of semester" Clark replied. It wasn't as if he'd really focus on studying, there were more important things than university. The farm needed to be tended to, and it was his dad who had told him to go to university in the first place. Without him here there was no point going. Besides, if his dad saw fit to leave Clark when he needed him most there was no need for him to stay in school on his orders.

"Clark, how could you do that?" His mom asked in a disappointed tone. Clark didn't even bother to turn around. How could she not understand? There was no point in him staying in school.

"You need me here, there's too much work to be done." Clark coldly replied, as he finally looked to her.

"But Clark, I'm here, Danny's here..." His mom started, but Clark cut her off.

"Mom, it's done. Besides, the ghost is hardly around anyway." Clark said firmly, only briefly meeting her eyes before looking over into a darkened corner of the barn. His mom sighed and put the box aside, walking over to him. Clark absently retreated, putting the tractor in between them.

"The Governor's office wants to see me; something about your father's Senate Seat. It's the last place I want to be, but I have to go to Metropolis. While I'm there I... I thought I'd drop some of your father's clothes down at the homeless shelter. It's probably too soon, but I... it's so hard seeing them in the closet every day. I can still smell his aftershave on his shirts." His mom said. Clark couldn't really find it in himself to care. It hurt too much to even think about his dad.

"You should take a look; see if there's anything in there you want to keep." His mom offered, but Clark just shook his head.

"No" he replied, ignoring the emptiness in his own voice "I'm sure there's someone who can use it more than I can." Clark turned away to get back to work. He needed to finish the tractor, and then he needed to feed the cows. There were other things to do other than waste time here chatting about clothes.

"Oh" he heard his mom say "I think your father would have wanted you to have this." She pulled out his dad's old watch. Clark felt a painful pang rip through his heart. He couldn't wear that, it wasn't his. "I... I still remember the day he taught you how to tell the time with it."

"You should wear it" he replied, ignoring the slight cracking in his voice. He didn't want to do this, he couldn't do this. He shoved the pain away to the farthest recess of his mind and turned back to his work. "You should head to Metropolis now if you want to be there before it gets dark." Clark commanded distantly. He ignored his mom as she picked up the box and left the barn, focusing instead on tightening another bolt as he finished fastening the tyre in place.

He had work he needed to get done. His mom did a bit here and there, but Clark didn't want to think about Danny. The ghost boy had hardly reacted at all; he was the worst of them. It was as if Clark's Dad had meant nothing to him. Come to think of it, he'd hardly been any better when his own family had passed on. It was as if he didn't care. Red tinged Clark's vision as he thought that. For all he may say that he was different from ghosts he showed many of the same personality traits. Maybe that's all ghosts were; cold unfeeling masses of ectoplasm. Danny could act sympathetic all he wanted, but Clark no longer bought into it.

The tyre in place Clark walked over to the haystack, picking up a few bales to take out to the truck. He had actual work to do.

_Line Break_

Lana was worried. Not just her normal worry, but something deeper, edged with unsettling concern. After the funeral Clark had closed himself off to the world. She felt a twinge of guilt; just before Clark's father had died she had all but broken up with him. But no matter what she was there for Clark, she wanted him happy again, not the self loathing angry man that he had been the last time she had visited. She knew Jonathan Kent would never have wanted that for Clark. So Lana had resolved to try and pick Clark out of his self destructive circle, but so far she had not been having much success. If anything he was angrier, more distant every time she saw him.

Lana pulled her car up in front of the Kent house, moving around to the kitchen door. It seemed more appropriate to use the less formal entrance today. Idly she noticed that Martha's car was missing, and the only lights on in the house were in the kitchen. Clark must be home alone. Lana knocked lightly on the door before letting herself in.

"Hey, the muses weren't helping me with my astronomy paper so I thought I'd come by and talk you into a frothy cappuccino" Lana said to his back. Really she just wanted to get him out of the house, to stop brooding so much. It wasn't doing him any good to be like this.

"I was on my way to the hardware store. I gotta pick up supplies for tomorrow." Clark cut her off. Lana heard the emptiness in his voice. It was a weak excuse, Lana knew he didn't need to go, didn't need to be doing this, but he wouldn't stop punishing himself. Clark moved out of the kitchen and into the hallway.

"Clark are you sure it can't wait? Because I was really hoping we could talk" Lana moved in front of him, effectively cutting him off from his path out the door. Gently she laid a hand on his chest. "Clark, I understand. You and your Dad were really close." Clark looked down. Lana desperately wanted to help him, this attitude of his wasn't helping Clark at all.

"Lana, I..." Lana sighed and cut Clark off

"Look, you don't have to open up to me. You just can't keep bottling this up inside." She searched his eyes, hoping that he would take this as an opportunity to open up and trust her. This... phase was only hurting him and she needed him to see that.

"Thanks for coming by, I really have to go. The hardware store closes in half an hour". Clark said, ignoring the disappointed look in Lana's eye. Lana couldn't help the twinge of hurt as he pushed her away. But she wasn't going to give up on him that easily. This anger was only going to destroy him if he didn't let anyone help.

"No" She replied softly "You're angry, and you should be. But don't keep hiding behind it. Trust me, I've tried." Lana had lost her parents when she was young. She still felt the sting from knowing that she could never see them. It hurt to know that she'd never been given the chance to get the two people who cared about her most in the world. To lose a parent, to have them taken from you, it hurt, and the hurt never fully went away. You had to learn to move on, to live your life to make them proud. To realise that all they would have wanted for you was to see you happy. Clark needed that now.

"I know you're trying to help" Clark said dismissively, half-heartedly meeting her eyes. "And I appreciate it, but you don't have to worry about me. I'm fine." Clark made his way over towards the front door when the lock clicked.

Mrs Kent came in the door, carefully closing and locking it behind her. As she spun Lana saw a deep crimson bruise on her left cheek. She looked jumpy, like she was expecting someone to jump out and attack her. But the worst thing was the fearful lost look in her eyes. Lana had seen that look in the mirror after so many of the meteor freaks had come after her. To see it in Mrs Kent was unsettling.

"Mom? What happened? Oh my god" Clark demanded, brushing the backs of his fingers against the angry red swelling on her cheek. Lana grimaced, saddened that someone had hurt Martha at a time like this when the whole family was already hurting.

"I was dropping off the clothes and these two guys came out of nowhere" Clark's mom explained, her usually calm voice fearful.

"Are you hurt?" Clark asked, Lana hovering over his shoulder observed the elder woman. Aside from the red bruise on her cheek there were faint purple marks against her throat, as if someone had held her by the back of her neck.

"No, I'm fine" she replied, looking at her son "Clark, someone rescued me. But not before they... they took your father's watch." Lana flinched, there were so few things left of her parents and to have one of them taken away was painful. She could hardly imagine what it meant for Clark to hear that given his current emotional turmoil

"Who rescued you?" Lana asked, leading the three of them into the kitchen and making all three of them a hot cup of tea. Clark ignored his, but Martha picked hers up, staring into the steam as she grasped the mug with both hands. It was only then that she answered.

"I didn't get a good look, I was still dazed. But she wore a red top, long leather coat, almost like a cloak. She swooped down from nowhere, and drove the two men back." Mrs Kent explained, looking deeper into the mug.

"Anything else? Anything about the attackers?" Clark pressed, and Lana was shocked.

"Clark!" Lana admonished, he was being insensitive. His mom had just gone through a tough ordeal and should be given time to recover, not forced to relive it so soon.

"The man had a snake tattoo on his face but that's all I saw. It all passed so fast. And the woman, she wore a mask, I couldn't see her face. I couldn't even thank her; she jumped away, almost like she was gliding..." Clark's mom trailed off, staring at the bottom of her mug like it held answers. "Next thing I know the police are there, telling me that it will be alright." Clark let out a frustrated groan, and Lana instantly knew that he was going to go after his mom's muggers.

"I'm going to see Chloe" Clark said, standing up and shrugging his jacket on. Lana called out to his fleeting back. He shouldn't be going out like this; he was only going to end up hurting himself. But it was too late to stop him, and he was too stubborn anyway. Lana offered to close up the Talon for Martha, knowing that the best thing for her for now was to stay in the safety of her own home.

"Should I call Danny?" Lana offered, knowing that having someone else around to make the house feel safe would probably be helpful. Martha had a strange confused look in her eye, before a flash of realisation.

"Thank you, he'll be around eventually, he usually ignores his phone anyway." Martha replied. Lana frowned, but didn't look any further into it. She hadn't seen Danny since the funeral, but this all had to be hard on him too. He was still in mourning from the loss of his own family and now he had lost his uncle.

As Lana drove back into Smallville her heart went out to the boy, to the whole family. It wasn't fair on them for this to have happened. She only hoped she could be there for them, to make things easier and to help them through their grief. Martha seemed to be coping, but Clark was bottling up his pain. Lana had no idea how Danny was coping, but she hoped the younger boy would be alright.

She parked her car, easily finding way into the Talon. The motions were so familiar to her, since she had run the Talon herself for a good three years before Martha took over the manager's position. She worked steadily, putting all the chairs up and powering down the lights. She went over to the counter to browse over the records for the week. It would save Martha a job when she came back to work.

"I saw your car out front; looks like old habits die hard." Lana looked up to see Lex Luthor ambling in as if he owned the place, which he did. However his tone suggested a more caring and humble position. He stopped near one of the pillars, a good distance away.

"I'm closing up for the night for Mrs Kent. They're going through a lot right now." Lana said lightly. At the moment she wasn't sure where things stood with Lex. Last time she had seen him he had been the day Jonathan Kent died. He had kissed her, in a drunken haze and she had run. But then she had almost had a car crash and he had comforted her. At the moment Clark needed her more than Lex did, but it didn't change how complicated life was at the moment.

"Look" Lex began, but Lana cut him off, knowing what he was going to say.

"Lex, it's fine. You already said 'I'm sorry'" She replied, retreating absently back into her work.

"It means a lot more coming from someone who's not drunk." Lex retorted, but it was self directed anger that fuelled his remark. "You were pretty upset with Clark that night. Things better?" He asked and Lana looked away. As far as their relationship went the truth was things were exactly the same. But Clark needed her, as a friend, at least for now. And that was what mattered.

"None of that really matters anymore; I just want to be able to help him through this difficult time." Lana replied, and she meant it. It was sad in a way, but she didn't want to lose her friendship with Clark, and she didn't want to let him hurt himself with his grief either.

"How's he doing" Lex asked. There was a strange edge to his voice. As if he really cared, but was trying to sound like he didn't or as if he was completely uninterested, but acting as if he truly cared for her sake.

"Lex" Lana said looking up at him. "We both know what it's like to lose a parent, he's devastated."

"Yeah, I tried to get a hold of him, but he didn't want to see me." Lex coolly replied. Honestly Lana wasn't surprised. Clark barely wanted to see her, let alone Lex. While Lana had become friendlier and more accepting of the young billionaire, Clark had all but destroyed his friendship with the man and settling into an antagonistic, almost adversarial relationship. "And Danny?" Lex queried.

Lana creased her eyebrow, wondering what interest Lex had in Danny. It wasn't the first time he had asked her about him either. Lex seemed to have taken an interest in the young boy, even though they had only met in person a few times. It was strange, but Lana wasn't going to complain. If Lex took someone under his wing he was a fierce friend. "I haven't seen him since the funeral, but I think he's handling things better than Clark."

"It's hard when people won't let you in to help them." Lex sadly replied.

"Well as much as we both wanna help, there's nothing much we can do other than just be there for him." Lana answered, looking the younger Luthor in the eyes. Lex however looked away, dropping his gaze to the ground.

"He's... He's very lucky to have you in his life Lana." Lex murmured before looking up, his gait becoming stronger. "But when the time comes for you to lean on someone, know that I'm always here for you." Lana felt a crushing wave of guilt. She didn't know what to think, she had been angry with Clark, but he needed her now. Lex had... well he'd been a shoulder to cry on and a friend to talk to since even before this. She'd been confiding more and more in Lex since after Clark's miraculous recovery from the dead and now she was internally conflicted.

Lana didn't even notice Lex leaving her in the darkened Talon.

_Line Break_

"I just spent half the night down at Metropolis PD" Clark fumed as he walked through the _Daily Planet_ next to Chloe. He had taken a detour to see if he could find any leads on snake tattooed criminals and red costumed women, but he'd had no success. That meant he had nothing further to give to Chloe. "There's not one person who can tell me anything about who mugged my mom."

"Now I've got that covered" Chloe said, taking the lead and gesturing with the piece of paper in her hand. "My mole at the precinct said he'd fax me the police report." Chloe paused a moment before spinning around and demanding "So your mom actually saw the vigilante."

"Barely, she left just before the police got there" Clark said, annoyed that Chloe had distracted herself on this tangent.

"There have been rumours about her flying around Suicide Slums for weeks." Chloe said, moving over to her news array board. "But I couldn't get a confirmed eyewitness until your mom." Chloe placed the final piece of paper onto the board, finishing off an array of sketches and articles about the vigilante. "Now, this had front page news written all over it. The vigilante is for real." She concluded proudly.

"That's great Chloe" Clark stated dryly as Chloe led him over to her desk, taking a seat at her computer. "I let my mom go into Suicide Slums alone, she gets mugged, and you're cashing in on it."

Chloe barely hid her hurt flinch "Clark, I was just trying to help, no need to bite my head off."

"I should have just accepted the watch like my dad would have wanted." Clark fumed, full of self loathing. "I couldn't even look at it. Now all I can think about is getting it back." He finished ruefully.

Clark took a step back from the desk and accidentally bumped into someone, sending her papers flying. Clark quickly squatted down to help her pick them up. The woman had dark brown hair tied up in a neat ponytail, her chocolate brown eyes were hidden behind a pair of glasses and she wore a pale lilac jumper that made her look far too innocent and bumbling to be in the bull pen of the _Daily Planet_. Clark had seen her around before, but she was never much of a presence.

"Sorry" they both said at the same time, frantically picking up the last of the spilled papers and standing up. Clark handed a stack back to her, and she handed half to Chloe saying they were today's obits. She slunk off after briefly looking at the fax of the police report that Chloe had been sent. Clark picked it up, looking at the full life sketch of the vigilante. At the moment she was the only lead that Clark had, and he had no idea how to find her.

"All right, this is what I need Clark; a catchy moniker for our new crime fighter" Chloe said as she stopped typing. Clark was still buried in the various pages of police reports. She certainly got around if the rumours were to be believed. "Miss Death-Wish... No that's lame. Crimson Combateur... no, that doesn't mean anything." There was a brief pause before "I got it! I got it Clark. Your mom said she swooped down from the heavens, so how about the 'Angel of Vengeance'"

Well, it was a better press name than 'Inviso-bill'. But it did nothing to help Clark find those muggers. "Chloe, police report" Clark said hoping to get her back on track.

"Sorry" Chloe said as she jumped slightly "Right, I'm sorry Clark. Once I go Woodward and Bernstein I get carried away." Chloe quickly flicked the page away from her unfinished article. "I'll go check the fax" she said, moving away from the computer and leaving Clark to mill through a dozen old reports of the vigilante.

Clark heard an unfamiliar voice coming from just outside. "I heard you were asking around about me. Something tells me that a front page story would be a little bad for my health. Let it go. _Comprende?_" the voice said in a dangerous whisper. Clark heard the muffled cry of Chloe's struggles to escape and raced out to help her.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Clark demanded as he raced out to see a leather clad woman basically suffocating Chloe. Before he even realised what was happening he was thrown back across the bull-pen, but then something stopped him, gently lowering him to the ground without causing any damage to the room. He looked back to see Phantom, one hand outstretched and looking over at Clark's assailant who had just swooped over to land on one of the desks.

"Stay out of my way, I'm one of the good guys." The leather clad woman demanded and in a second and a whooshing sound she was gone. Clark stood blinking as Chloe came back into the room, a look of fear on her face.

"Clark are you alright?" She asked and Clark simply nodded in the affirmative before turning his attention back on Phantom. He was about to demand what the halfa was doing there, but he vanished in a swirl of green mist. Clark groaned in frustration. Not only had he lost the vigilante, but now he had no ideas on a lead to find the muggers. Clark went back out to the fax machine to pick up the police report, hoping it would give him a lead.

"I guess round 1 goes to the X-chromosomes" Chloe commented lightly, snatching the report away from Clark and fetching herself a coffee from the machine. "And how about that costume, how cool was that?" Clark resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Chloe was too distracted this evening.

"A little over the top I reckon. Police reports?" Clark said and Chloe distractedly gave them back.

"Oh, yeah, of course." Chloe murmured slightly flustered as she took a sip of coffee. "You know, choke hold aside and everything I gotta give the girl props for patrolling the streets. I mean, Phantom's around, but he doesn't do the same job as the Angel. What was he doing here anyway?"

"I don't know." Clark quietly fumed. If he was so easily able to magically appear in the _Planet_ when they needed help, the ghost-boy should have been able to save his mom. He should be able to help them find the muggers and bring them to justice. Instead he goes and vanishes on them. "Next time I see him I'm gonna talk to him though."

"Right." Chloe sarcastically remarked. "Moving on, I wonder if we're dealing with natural-born-ninja territory, or if she's just your garden variety meteor freak."

"Whatever she is, she's got issues" Clark said, still studying the report for anything helpful. There was nothing, it was starting to look like their best bet was to talk to this Angel, and there was no way to do that.

"Oh come on Clark, haven't you ever taken things a little bit too far to protect your identity?" Chloe demanded, incredulous. There had been a few situations where Clark may have been a bit over-zealous, but he had never threatened a bystander. At least he didn't think he had.

"Yeah, well it looks like I'm gonna have to know her a whole lot more than I wanted to." Clark replied, ignoring her question. "The Police reports have no leads; your Angel of Vengeance may be the only one who can ID the guys who mugged my mom."

"After the way she chop-socked you tonight I wouldn't wait for her to ask you out for tea." Chloe retorted. The main problem was how to find her. He thought for a moment, before a strange idea crossed his mind.

"We might not have to. Chloe, how about we lure the Angel of Vengeance to us?"

_Line Break – One hour previous_

Phantom soared over the Metropolis skyline invisible. He had passed most of the day on top of the clock tower, just observing and trying not to fall through the rooftop. It was strange to be intangible like this. Even when he'd first gotten his powers he'd never been stuck for longer than half an hour. Here he was fourteen hours later and he was still unable to touch anything in the Real World. There had only been two ghosts all day, and those had been happy to go through a portal to the Zone without being beaten up.

Danny had spent the day just listening. There was so much going on in Metropolis, happy people, sad people, people calling out for help and others laughing with their present company. It was all so busy. It was about 9pm when Phantom decided to take to the skies, but he hadn't gotten far. He was flying over the _Daily Planet_ when he felt a major pull, demanding his attention, demanding he protect. Without a second thought he flew into the building towards the pull and saw Chloe running away from a leather Clad woman.

The woman turned to face Clark and physically punched him, throwing him across the office. Phantom teleported behind the Kryptonian and held out his hand, concentrating on slowing him down telekinetically. It took a lot of focus, but he was able to lower his cousin down safely without causing any damage to the _Planet_ office. He turned to look at the assailant and felt a sudden wave of familiarity. He knew this woman, he recognised her aura.

"Stay out of my way, I'm one of the good guys." The leather clad woman demanded and vanished. But Phantom wasn't fooled, he felt her energy moving away, coming to rest on top of a nearby skyscraper. Without a second thought he teleported over to her.

She was tall, her brown hair swung loosely around her masked face, fluttering in the breeze. Despite the darkness Phantom recognised the rich chocolate brown colour of her eyes. She wore a long leather cloak, the inside was lined with red, perfectly matching her scarlet top. Tight fitting leather pants led down into knee high leather boots. Most interesting was the buckle on her belt. It was a large circle, encompassing a silver skull with two crossed blades beneath. She jumped at the sudden appearance of Phantom.

"Who are you?" She demanded, before managing to compose herself. Phantom sighed. Smallville may have embraced him, but Metropolis still had yet to accept the idea that ghosts were real. At least he wasn't stuck with bad publicity anymore.

"Phantom" He replied lightly, carefully studying her. He knew her, but he had never expected her to be like this. The woman worked at the _Daily Planet_. She was shy, one of the few people there who was never pushy; she was slightly klutzy, hiding behind her glasses, with a shy smile on her face. However she was meteor infected. Now he knew what her power was, and she had become enough of a threat to appeal to his obsession. "Andrea Rojas, I assume" Phantom said calmly, cutting straight to the point.

"How do you know that name?" She demanded, stepping up to him with a dagger drawn out. Phantom kept his face still. On a good day that would barely hurt him. Today, she wouldn't be able to touch him.

"How did you get into the _Daily Planet_?" Phantom replied rhetorically. This time of night the only access to the _Planet_ was by employee key-card. He knew she wouldn't just run without finding out more, and hopefully he could talk her down from doing something stupid. The woman looked at him, but seemed to decide she didn't like that answer. She spun around to give him a kick in the abdomen, but lost her balance when her foot went right through his chest.

She almost fell backwards, but seemed to have some martial arts training and managed to keep her balance. "Okay, you have my attention." She slowly said meeting his eyes and taking a step back from him. "But that doesn't mean I'm gonna tell you all about me."

Phantom raised an eyebrow "Why did you attack Chloe Sullivan at the _Planet_?" he asked.

"She's been looking into me. I don't want my identity splashed all over the front cover of the newspaper." Andrea replied and Phantom fought to keep his head. She was being offered good publicity, and she almost killed Chloe to stop it. There was something wrong there.

"You could have found another way." Phantom replied coldly. "You could have hurt one of your Colleagues."

"I wouldn't have, I'm one of the good guys." She retorted almost too quickly. Now Phantom understood, she was a lot like Valerie. Right intentions, wrong motivations, and that could lead to innocent bystanders, and whoever got in the way being hurt.

Danny was momentarily distracted by the sounds of a mugging in the streets below, but it sounded suspiciously like Clark and Chloe. It also sounded horribly artificial. What were they playing at? "You know that's a fine line to walk." Phantom replied ruefully, drawing himself back into the current situation. "If you let yourself, those small choices can lead you down a bad path. One that's almost impossible to save yourself from."

"And I suppose you know that. You're what 15?" Andrea replied, attempting to regain her composure. Phantom inwardly bristled at the insinuation about his age. It wasn't his fault that half-dying seemed to have stunted his growth. However he wouldn't let himself fall into her distraction. He was a ghost, and had seen realities shift on a whim. He knew that particular line all too well.

"Yes" he replied simply "Andrea, you are a reporter. How much do you know of a little town in Colorado called Amity Park?" He hoped he could set her straight, if it meant sacrificing a little part of his own history it would be worth it. He hoped.

"The ghost town? It's a hoax though. The town probably made up the ghosts for the tourism. There's no such thing as ghosts. I mean, the main attraction is the ghost Danny Phantom..." She trailed off as Phantom bowed his head slightly in recognition of his name.

"Who am I to say whether ghosts exist? It's not like I'd know, seeing as I am one and all." Phantom replied with a knowing smirk. Andrea visibly backed away for a moment.

"So you're a ghost?" She asked. Phantom nodded and was about to answer when a more desperate cry for help pierced the night. Andrea looked between Phantom and the source of the noise before swooping off the building to the rescue. The problem with that, Phantom mused as he jumped off the edge of the building, was that it was only Chloe and Clark doing – whatever it was they were doing to attract attention.

Phantom landed before Andrea did; raising an eyebrow at the attempted 'mugging'. The two of them weren't particularly believable. But it was enough to convince Andrea who swooped down, coat flaring in the wind and she punched Clark away from Chloe.

"You again?" Andrea demanded, shoving Clark away from Chloe. Chloe ran over to stand next to Phantom.

"I don't wanna fight with you." Clark replied, grappling with her. Phantom rolled his eyes; really Clark had a poor way of initiating a friendly chat. It seemed Andrea agreed.

"Yeah, well I'm not wearing dance shoes." She elbowed Clark in the face, but he threw her off. Andrea stumbled into a pipe sending a spray of steam out in the cold night air. As the steam cleared she stepped forward, but her mask was gone. Phantom cringed as her identity was revealed to both Chloe and Clark. Without a second's hesitation she leaped forward, kicking Clark into an electrical generator, sending sparks flying. A second later she swooped away, scaling the building in a series of graceful jumps.

Phantom frowned as Clark sped off to meet her up top. This could go really badly if his own experiences were anything to go from. Phantom soared up to the top of the building to head them off, hoping to mediate the conflict.

Phantom paused when he got to the top of the building, waiting for the other two to appear. Andrea leapt up, her coat flaring as she came into land. Andrea seemed unsurprised that he was still around, but jumped when Clark blurred in apparently out of nowhere. Phantom stood his ground and Clark flinched slightly under his demanding glare. After all, despite her tough exterior, this situation would be overly intimidating for Andrea.

Phantom watched as Clark just stood, blankly staring at Andrea before she snapped to her senses. "You want a show-and-tell meathead, I suggest you go first." She spat, walking almost threateningly up to him. Phantom stepped between them, sensing Clark about to yell something stupid again.

"Calmly." Phantom said, holding out a hand to Clark. While he knew he probably couldn't touch him, the gesture meant the same. He took a step back when he saw Clark compose himself, letting the two meet each other's eyes.

"I don't know." Clark said, shaking his head slightly. Andrea moved to walk away, but paused when Clark continued "I was born this way."

"You're lucky. The worst part is remembering what it's like to be normal." She spat. Phantom felt a painful pang, knowing exactly how she felt. There were some days where he wished he was human, fully human. Or even fully ghost, rather than the painful line right between the two. He felt Clark's gaze land on him for just a moment before returning it to Andrea.

"But then how did you...?" Clark queried, but was cut off by Andrea

"Turn into a freak of nature?" Andrea looked down at the ground "When I got a heart transplant, six months ago."

"You're not a freak of nature." Phantom stated, diverting all attention to him. Andrea sent him a questioning glare. "You're still human, still you. Nobody can take that away from you."

"And what would you know?" Andrea demanded.

"I'm not. Not human, not living. You're not a freak of nature when you still have that, no matter what gifts you've been given." Phantom replied distantly. In a way he was envious of her, especially today when the gap between him and the Real World was so vast. He couldn't even stand on the building top; rather he was floating above it, creating the illusion of standing. If he lost concentration for even a second then the illusion would shatter.

"He's a ghost" Clark interjected bluntly by way of explanation.

"So how did you die?" Andrea asked softly, but it wasn't enough to quell the pain from the question. The bright "O" from the sign behind them shattered in his anger as he struggled to suppress it. He didn't like talking about how he died. No ghost did. Flashes of electrical pain as his molecular structure was rewritten passed in front of his mind as he recalled the day he became a halfa.

Clark had apparently seen this display and said "It's not smart to ask a ghost how they died" coolly, giving Phantom a chance to calm down slightly. Something in his tone told Phantom that something deeper was going on with Clark. Phantom closed his eyes for a moment as he composed himself.

"It hurt, a lot. That's all you need to know." Phantom said; his tone clipped. He took a moment more to settle himself before comforting her "Andrea, you still have your humanity, you've been given a second chance. You your gift won't take that from you."

"A girl dies in a meteor shower and I get a souped-up second chance. You have no idea what it's like to know that someone's life has been exchanged for yours." Phantom flinched; he knew that Clark blamed himself for his father's death because of exactly that. The deal with Jor-El had done that to him. "That's why I carry this." She continued, pulling out a locket. "So I'll never forget." She opened the locket to reveal a glowing meteor rock.

Clark stumbled back, the effects of the stone already hurting him. Phantom stayed back, the radiation didn't hurt him, but physical contact with the stone was painful. Andrea flicked it closed seeing this, and Clark caught his breath. "Sorry, I'm kinda allergic." He murmured, breathing deeply.

"To a rock? Okay, whatever." Andrea commented. "So, I guess you and Sullivan have all the dirt you need on me now to write your little article." She said, closing in on Clark.

"He won't" Phantom promised, and she snapped around to face him.

"I'm not gonna expose you." Clark repeated "I need your help." Phantom was intrigued he had no idea why Clark wanted with Andrea, so this was news to him. "You saved my mom earlier tonight. Some guys were trying to mug her outside the Eastside shelter. They took a watch." Phantom faltered. He'd failed to protect an innocent, Aunt Martha had been hurt because he wasn't there. A sharp ache swelled in his core, making it hard to focus. He just blankly watched the rest of the scene play out.

"I'm sorry, but there are people down here that need a lot more help than finding some missing Timex." Andrea spat, turning away.

"Belonged to my Dad" Clark murmured softly.

Andrea rounded on him, her eyes soft and understanding."You lost him, didn't you. And now you can't say goodbye." She replied softly.

"What makes you say that?" Clark demanded, but it was a weak threat.

"Because I've never been able to." Andrea answered. "My mom and I were coming home from my gymnastics meet when these two guys mugged us. I didn't even feel the knife go into my heart." She paused for a moment, blinking away a tear from her glittering eye. "When I looked up, I saw her lying there. And they walked away, laughing." She spat, venom entering her otherwise quiet voice.

"Is that why you do this?" Clark asked softly.

"She dedicated her life to this group, Acrata." Andrea explained, ruefully looking over the city rooftops. "They fought the gangs, the dealers, even the suits who wanted to tear down our homes. She was this... little woman, but she was a badass."

"It's not fair." Clark said; his voice cold "It's not fair to have someone like that just ripped out of your life."

"I can help you get the watch back. But that's not really what you're after, is it?" Andrea demanded a strange edge in her voice. "You want justice, just like me." Phantom blinked, he didn't think she wanted the right kind of justice. He felt a twinge in his core as he heard Clark's answer.

"Can you tell me where they are?" And in that it was obvious that he wanted more than justice, he wanted retribution.

"They're part of the Thirteenth Street Gang. But the guy you want has gone underground, and his gang's all packing 9 mils. But I'm in if you're in." Andrea answered keenly. She was operating from the same motivation as Clark. There was no way this could end well. Phantom steeled himself and followed the two of them to the _Planet_. He had no idea who needed protecting most, the gang or the 'heroes'.

_Line Break – Thirty Minutes Before_

Chloe stood in awe as she watched her colleague Andrea Rojas step out from the mist. Her jaw dropped in astonishment, her colleague was the Vigilante, the Angel of Vengeance. That was so amazing. She was leading a double life, saving people's lives and working at the _Planet_. Chloe saw her swoop away and couldn't help but feel that that was a pretty amazing power. Clark sped after her. Chloe turned to Phantom to ask why he was there to find he too had vanished.

Chloe shivered in the night air. Not knowing how long Clark would be distracted by Andrea and Phantom she decided to head back to the _Planet_ where it was warm and they had a late night supply of coffee. Swiping her key-card she entered the building, stepping over the power cords as the cleaners vacuumed the foyer. It wasn't long before she was back on her computer, she no longer was interested in publicising the Angel of Vengeance since that would offend her colleague, but there was one question on her mind; how did Phantom know she needed help earlier.

She plugged in a search; most of the information readily available was the still open debates into Phantom's morality. Half the news articles were scientifically explaining why ghosts were all an elaborate hoax, so also useless. It was at the bottom of the fourth page that Chloe found a helpful resource; '_the Hunter's Almanac of Ghosts and Spirits'_. The first half of the homepage was a large explanation of what ghosts were hypothesised to be, varying from a potent silicon based semi-conscious slime to pure energy. Scanning further most of the information was stated in the hypothetical.

Chloe was about to click off the page when she noticed a link to known 'entities'. There were several ghosts that had been in the paper in Amity Park, as well as a few that she didn't recognise. But the one with the most logged information was Inviso-Bill/Danny Phantom. Unfortunately the information was nearly nine months old, so Chloe wasn't sure of its accuracy.

_Inviso-Bill (aka Danny Phantom/Ghost Kid/Whelp)_

_Level 7 ectoplasmic entity_

_First observed 1.2 years ago; physical assault of citizens with ecto-blasts, observed as Level 4._

_Rapidly accelerating power levels; cause unknown – hypothesised unstable power source_

_Known to appear in Amity Park, usually in the company of additional ectoplasmic entities_

_Appearance_

_Appears as a young teenage boy; White Hair, Pale Skin (Unusually human tone), Glowing Green Eyes._

_Originally observed wearing a black Hazmat Suit, White Gloves and Boots. _

_White "DP" Symbol on its chest appeared after 4__th__ month of observation._

_Appearance changed again after 16__th__ month of observation. White Cloak, Black Tunic and Trousers, White Fingerless Gloves, Silver Boots. Occasionally bearing Silver and Green Sword. _

_Changed appearance hypothesised as related to power, also a potential ploy for sympathy, posing as a "white knight"._

_Abilities_

_Basic Ectoplasm Manipulation (Energy Blasts) – Standard _

_Paranormal Strength, Speed, Agility, and Durability__ – Standard _

_Flight – Standard_

_Intangibility – Standard_

_Invisibility – Standard_

_Overshadowing – Standard_

_Regeneration – Standard_

_Advanced Ectoplasm Manipulation (Inc. Projection, Shielding etc) – Particular_

_Bodily Manipulation (Inc. Flexibility, Mist Like "Spectral Tail" and Reshaping Own Body) – Particular _

_Duplication – Particular_

_Electrical Charge Generation – Particular_

_High Speed Flight (Observed at +250mph) – Particular_

_Sword – Particular _

_Rumoured Sonic Attack – Particular_

_Hypothesised Enhanced Senses – Standard _

_Hypothesised High Energy Manipulation (Pure Energy, not Ectoplasmic Energy) – Particular_

_Hypothesised Signature Concealment – Particular_

_Hypothesised High Intelligence (Comparable to Human IQ 145) – Particular_

_Hypothesised Precognition – Particular_

_Obsession (Unconfirmed)_

_Hypothesised Violence, Destruction, Power or Territorial Domination; Likely_

_Hypothesised Human Life, Living Relatives or Protection; Unlikely _

_Notes_

_Phantom is a dangerous entity; it causes great destruction with its obsession. Known to eliminate other ectoplasmic threats, it is unsafe to be near. Has been known to endanger civilians; reported to have released entities to endanger human life and property (see Axion Labs public data file 3976). Approach with caution; ectoplasmic being cannot easily be contained and there are no known captures. _

_Sources_

_Spectators/Civilians_

_Hunters Alliance Members: ID B15, F01, F02, G67, L08, Q12, R14, (J92)_

Chloe frowned as she scanned over the information. It didn't paint Phantom in particularly good light, but it had the most information on his powers. It _was_ written by ghost Hunters, so that obviously coloured how Phantom was received. She didn't want to believe Phantom was dangerous. She had spent all Christmas Eve with him and he'd been quite friendly. Although she was intrigued into the idea of his obsession; none of those listed fit with what she knew of the ghost, although the ones the hunters deemed unlikely actually seemed closer to the truth. Chloe printed off the page, maybe Danny Fenton could help; after all he had known Phantom in Amity Park and had Ghost Hunting Parents.

Chloe was walking back from the printer when she saw Mrs Kent cautiously walking through the _Planet_. "Mrs Kent, what are you doing here?" she asked curiously. Mrs Kent spun around quickly; it was obvious that her ordeal earlier this evening still had her on edge.

"Looking for Clark and Danny. Have you seen them?" Martha inquired, worry obvious in her voice.

"I haven't seen Danny, but Clark I saw an hour ago. He left me holding the bag, literally." Martha looked momentarily puzzled, but that melted into a deeper type of concern. Chloe paused for a moment before saying "Hey, I heard what happened to you, it's good to see you're okay. Don't worry about Clark, I'm sure he'll pop up soon, or blur in. Whatever it is he does. And I'm sure Danny's fine. He's probably back at home as we speak."

Martha looked sadly at Chloe "It's just, they've been gone all night. Clark's not answering his cell phone. It's not like him." Chloe frowned.

"There's a lot that's not like him lately." Chloe commented. Truth was she'd never seen Clark so volatile, and sometimes his anger scared her. But he always managed to rein it in.

Martha interrupted her train of thoughts, demanding "He's trying to find those guys, isn't he." She took a calming breath before continuing "Chloe, I know you have a lot of secrets to keep, but this isn't one of them." Chloe frowned, looking down guiltily. She didn't want to report on Clark to his mom, but she needed to know.

"He feels really guilty, about the watch" she explained sadly.

"And me" Martha added on dejectedly, looking down to the floor.

Chloe shrugged sadly, elaborating "Well, obviously he's willing to feel anything except the pain of saying goodbye." Martha sighed.

"But that doesn't keep it from being real. The more he refuses to go through this, the worse its gonna get." Martha voiced.

"I know. But, I think part of the problem is that he thinks he can't feel it, that he has to be strong. He never saw Danny in mourning, and thinks that means he can't either. I'm trying to do everything I can, but I don't think denial is that unusual." Chloe said. This was the first time she'd been able to voice her concerns. The truth was none of them had seen Danny in mourning; he seemed to move on remarkably quickly. For Clark that set a precedent, and so he was combining his own denial with a need to not show his loss like his cousin.

"But Clark is." Martha interrupted looking fearfully into Chloe's eyes. "He's gotta take those emotions out somewhere." _Or on someone_ Chloe mentally added. "And when he does, I'm afraid of what he's gonna do. We both know what he's capable of." Martha finished with desperate worry in her eyes.

"Yeah, but Clark's always managed to keep things in perspective." Chloe said, trying to quell her own concerns.

Martha looked away, her eyes on a distant point "It's just that Jonathan was always there. He always knew what to say." She sighed deeply, her eyes glittering in the low lighting.

"Mrs Kent, I don't think that he was the only one." Chloe assured her, smiling softly at the elder woman.

"When he died" Martha said, meeting her eyes "I didn't know if I could keep the secrets by myself. I'm glad to know you're here Chloe. Thank you" Chloe found it strange that she hadn't mentioned Danny, but passed it off since he had a secret of his own. Sure meteor powers were more common than being from another planet, but it could still land Danny in a world of trouble if anyone found out. Chloe felt glad that Martha trusted her enough to confide in her.

"He's gonna be okay." Chloe consoled, thinking of Clark. At the moment he was the deepest concern. "We won't let anything happen to him." Chloe lent forward to give Martha Kent a hug. Martha seemed soothed by the physical contact. They broke off only when there was a slight cough from behind them.

"Phantom?" Chloe questioned, seeing the white glow of the ghost in the doorway. "What are you doing here?" Phantom looked briefly at Mrs Kent before replying.

"We're on the way back, I was sent to make sure the cleaners aren't here." He said with a slight shrug. Chloe didn't miss the confusion of the pronouns.

"You're helping him?" Martha demanded looking at him almost disappointedly.

"To a point. Clark isn't himself. He needs a buffer to help him take a step back. Chloe's helping, but..." Phantom paused for a moment and uncomfortably rubbed his hand through his white hair. "He can't lash out, and he's so close to it. Clark just needs to remind himself why he does what he does."

Martha nodded acceptance and left when Chloe suggested that Clark probably wouldn't want his mom to know. It was barely a minute after she left that a second Phantom floated in. There was a flash of blue as the two merged together, and that was enough time for Clark to blur in and for Andrea to swoop in, still decked out in her awesome costume. Chloe looked at the three heroes in front of her. Clark never went much bigger than Smallville, always staying the farm boy. Phantom was a ghost, always patrolling to prevent the invasion of ectoplasmic entities. Andrea though... she lived a double life, moonlighting as a vigilante protector of the people.

Andrea excused herself to get changed, Chloe watched as Clark stared at Phantom almost angrily for a moment. "Okay, what did I miss?" Chloe demanded.

"Andrea and I went to track down the mugger. Snake. But he wasn't there, he's gone underground." Clark began.

"And instead of cautiously inquiring, Clark tried to bully them into an answer." Phantom added, not even looking at the Kryptonian.

"Then all the gang went to pull out their guns and I backed down, but I was able to grab his phone." Clark finished, pulling out a silver flip-phone. Phantom stared incredulously at him for a moment.

"They only shot once at you." Clark retorted to Phantom's stare. "You phased through it. No harm done." There was a strange note of venom in Clark's voice. Phantom dropped out of the air, but didn't stop as his ankles fell through the floor. Chloe looked concernedly at Phantom. She'd never seen that happen before.

"Anyway" Clark said, as if he'd never spoken to Phantom "I was wondering if you can check the last number he dialled." And he handed the phone over to Chloe. Chloe shrugged his attitude off as a part of Clark's denial.

"Well, I guess my go-to status has been reinstated." Chloe joked, trying to lighten the mood. "For a while there I thought I'd been replaced by the leather clad version." Chloe heard as the Phone booth door snapped open. Andrea walked out in her civilian outfit. She looked so tame, like a sweet, innocent librarian. It was an enormous difference compared to the powerful persona that she presented as the Angel of Vengeance.

"Do you always change in a phone booth?" Clark asked sarcastically.

Andrea looked at him for a moment before shrugging "The Janitor was in the bathroom." She pulled out a box of contacts as she put her glasses on. Chloe was intrigued having originally believed that the glasses were fake; turned out that Andrea genuinely needed them. That said, the glasses were a simple but effective disguise. It was amazing how a slight change around the eyes completely concealed an identity.

"Those were some impressive moves you used to jack that phone." Andrea commented to Clark as she led the way back into the bull-pen. "I could use a sidekick more often"

"I'm not a sidekick." Clark hastily replied.

"What about you ghostie? That bullet sailed right through you." Andrea asked, and Chloe found it quite ironic that she was asking an established 'hero' to be her sidekick. Phantom scoffed.

"I'm not looking for a sidekick either."

"Hey!" she laughed at him, and Chloe smiled at his cheek.

"We should find a reverse call list." Clark suggested as the four of them made their way over to Andrea's desk.

"Yeah, and maybe we can just bypass the log on page." Chloe added, knowing that she could do it. She had in the past. From the corner of her eye she saw Phantom observing them, a rueful look on his face.

"Got it covered" Andrea interrupted, and Chloe watched as she quickly flicked through the motions of acquiring that call list.

"That's why you work here, isn't it. 'Cos nothing happens in Metropolis without coming through the _Daily Planet_." Chloe realised.

"Way to put the pieces together, Brenda Starr." Andrea commented with a smile in Chloe's direction. It was only a few seconds later that they found the phone's ownership details. "Unless Snake's name is Beatrice Krauss, I think he's using a stolen phone." Chloe mentally scoffed. Of course this wasn't going to be easy.

"Can you pull out the outgoing calls?" Clark suggested. A second later the record was pulled up. Of course one of the listings was for 'Fantasy Fone'. Chloe rolled her eyes at the misogynistic viewpoint.

"Looks like he's a fan of deep-dish Pizza" Clark commented darkly, pulling out the phone and calling the pizza place on the list. "Hello' I'd like to place an order for delivery. My number's 555 0138" Clark said into the phone. "1436 Stanton St. Yes, that's my address. Thank you." Clark said quickly shutting off the phone.

"Looks like it's time to call the police." Chloe said, skipping over to her own desk for the phone. She was silenced by two identical "No's" coming from Clark and Andrea.

"Clark, don't you think you're a little too close to this?" Phantom inquired carefully. Chloe silently agreed. Clark needed to take a step back from this.

"If I don't use my abilities to stop lowlifes like this, then what's the point of having them in the first place?" Clark demanded, snapping to face Phantom.

"You already have. You're letting emotion cloud your judgement; you _need_ to leave this to the police." Phantom calmly replied. There was an authority in his voice that Chloe felt she would follow to the end. Unfortunately Clark was too stubborn.

"Leave it to the people who are supposed to do it? Do you have any idea how bad that sounds coming from _you_? My mom got mugged tonight Phantom. Mugged. And you didn't do a thing about it. She got hurt and you didn't protect her. She got hurt and you did nothing!" Clark spat venomously. Chloe was surprised at the anger in his voice. She watched Phantom, noticing that the white glow around him was fading with every sentence Clark said.

"Guess what Phantom, I'm not gonna risk losing my mom. I'm not gonna let those guys think they can just mug someone and get away with it." Clark continued his rant.

"Clark, you need to take a step back. You're letting your emotions get the better of you..." Phantom began, only to be cut off by Clark.

"At least I have emotions. You say you're different from all the other ghosts, but you don't care." Clark seethed "I bet you don't even have emotions. All you have is your stupid obsession and some useless powers." For a second Chloe blinked; did that mean Clark knew what Phantom's obsession was? But then the reality of what he'd said set in. Nobody wanted to be told they were emotionless, at least no human did.

Chloe gulped as she watched Phantom, a strange and threatening spark flickered in his emerald eyes. Both Chloe and Andrea jumped as the light above them exploded and a shower of glass fell down toward them, only to be encased in a faint green aura and joining every other loose item that was currently flying around the bull-pen. This was the first time that she had felt genuinely scared of Phantom, and Clark had set him off. Yet even under that dangerous green stare Clark didn't falter.

"Know what, I think the ghost hunters are right about you. You're nothing more than a sub-human manifestation of ectoplasm. You're nothing more than a ghost!" Clark spat. That was it; Chloe watched as the white aura that always surrounded Phantom vanished completely, everything in the room fell to the floor with a loud thump. That was horrible, it sounded like what the ghost hunters had written about ghosts, and here Clark was telling Phantom that he was sub-human. Chloe was disbelievingly disappointed in her friend. It horrified her to think he'd lash out like that.

"You know what else." Clark threatened "I'm gonna go and do what your stupid obsession couldn't. I'm actually going to help people." Clark finished. He blurred off, roughly shoving Phantom out of the way as he went.

Phantom looked confusedly after him for a moment, a strange strangulated noise escaping his throat before Phantom vanished in a swirl of green mist. Chloe stared bewildered at the scene in front of her. Somehow Andrea managed to pull herself out of it first.

"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on Clark" Andrea said, her voice darkly authoritative as she walked out the door.

Chloe was left alone in the _Daily Planet_ with only a dishevelled bull pen and her worries for the two male heroes for company. She couldn't believe what Clark had said to Phantom. Even if he was a ghost he always seemed so human whenever Chloe had seen him. Clark had lashed out badly on Phantom who was only there to help. Chloe was seriously worried about the man who had actually hurt Martha Kent. Clark had been spiralling out of control all week, but this was the first time he'd really taken his anger out on anything. Chloe was surprised and horrified by the sheer amount of anger he had pooling inside. Chloe feared what would happen when he slowed down enough too take a step back and see what he'd done.

More than that, what would Phantom do? He'd been hurt badly by each of Clark's lashes. There had been so much pain in his eyes as Chloe watched him just take Clark's cruel words. He didn't even seem to realise that he was destroying the bull pen in his emotional outburst; everything had just leapt into the air violently as his emotions spiralled downwards. Where would he go? Where did ghosts go when they had been hurt like that? If he was a ghost was his family still alive, could he visit them? Had he watched them die of old age as he stayed forever young? Chloe's heart went out to the young ghost.

She took a sip of her coffee and sat back down at the computer looking over the destruction. One thing was for certain, it was going to be a long night.

* * *

><p>AN: Another Cliffy...<p>

This was one episode in the show, but again I had to split it to get the emotional interplay right. It corresponds with the episode Vengeance.

Hope the fight between Phantom and Clark worked. I wanted to do it from Chloe's perspective so you can see what she thinks of the hurtful things Clark says to Phantom. Especially since she believes Phantom is a full ghost.

Farewell 'till next time

Bluerose


	15. Consequences

Chapter 14

Consequences 

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

A chill wind blew across the bare landscape, slicing its way through the skeletal trees up the hill to the cemetery. The breeze cut through the grey tombstones, the markers of people lost, and fading memories. It buffeted against them, rolling across in icy breaths. It whistled eerily, almost resounding with the whisperings of fading souls, echoes of bygone happiness. The moonlight lit the cemetery, its bright light emphasising the cold emptiness of the winter's night.

The cemetery was silent, but for the wind. Long shadows flickered across the ground making the whole place seem haunted. The longest shadow extended beneath the entryway, cast iron gates blocking the cemetery from unwanted visitors. In thick black lettering it identified the cemetery as the resting grounds of Amity Park, a cold silent counterpart to the otherwise busy township. There was a slight groan of metal on metal as the chains holding the gate closed shifted in the icy wind. The moonlight shifted as a thin cloud passed in front, the long shadows fading further into grey. The wind fluttered through the stones, twirling its cool fingers around all of the headstones until it came upon a single marble memorial.

It was carved with a likeness of each of five people. Two of whom; a man and a woman, had dedicated their lives to the protection of the town. The third was a younger woman, her youthful face keen and intellectual, the daughter of the two. The fourth and fifth carvings were two children, younger still. They had been adopted into the family by the only surviving member, but were no less important. Their angelic faces eternally gazed to the heavens from the centre of the cemetery, as if protecting the town still, even in death.

The grey inscription beneath identified them in artistic calligraphy denoting;

_To the loving memory of_

_Jack and Madeline Fenton, Jasmine Fenton, Tucker Foley and Samantha Manson_

_Tempore Immortalium_

_Gone But Not Forgotten_

In the coolness of the night it was almost impossible to miss the slight change, but change it did. There was a swirl of green mist, barely noticeable in the darkness, yet simultaneously thrilling with other-worldly light. From the mist appeared a boy. His dark raven hair seemed to ignore the wind, the only thing undisturbed by its presence. His pale blue eyes set on the large memorial in the centre of the cemetery and he fell to his knees before it. Blue orbs half-closed and brimming with glittering tears. His knees half sunk through the ground, as if he was immune to the solidity of the earth beneath him as he knelt in front of the stone memorial.

"I'm sorry" The boy sobbed. "I'm sorry I never came back, that I missed the funeral. I'm sorry I never got to say goodbye." He let out a painful sob before looking down to the ground. "I'm sorry" he whispered.

He was silent for several long minutes, blankly staring at the ground as tears spilled silently from his eyes. "I'm still human, aren't I?" he croaked, but there was no answer. "I feel... I care. I'm still human. I'm... I'm not..." He trailed off as harsher sobs wracked his body.

"Ghosts feel too, I know they do. We do... we do." He finished in a whisper. "I tried so hard, to be strong. To move on and..." he paused for a moment "but I was never good with change. Never good enough. Even before all this." He broke off, his eyes flicking to the elegantly carved names on the memorial.

"Mom, I need you." He croaked, soft tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. "I need you to tell me it's all gonna be okay. That I'm still your little boy. I need you. I need you mom." The boy broke off for a moment as another deep sob escaped him. "And dad, I need you too. I need you to blather on about ghosts and wrap me up in a big hug. I need you."

"Jazz, why aren't you here? You were always there. I need you to help me. I need you to tell me, to remind me... I need you back Jazz." There was a long silence, broken occasionally by the soft sniffles as the boy tried to calm himself.

"Tuck, I need my brother, my geeky techie, always got my back brother. I need you so badly Tuck. Why'd you have to go? Why couldn't I save you?" the raven head bowed low, the long fringe falling in front of his azure eyes. The cemetery stilled for several long minutes before the boy reached forward, trying to touch the final name even as his fingers passed through the grey marble. The boy pulled his hand back, wrapping his arms around himself.

"Sam" he croaked "Sam, I need you every day. I need you to remind me that it's okay. That it doesn't matter, 'cos right now... I'm not human, but I'm not a ghost. I need you to tell me that it's gonna be fine. That... I need you Sam. I need _you_. I need you." He whispered, his body wracking with silent sobs, shoulders heaving under the moonlight. "I need you."

The boy knelt there for several hours in silence. The sun was beginning to rise over the horizon before he made to move, shaking the last sniffles away as he wiped his eyes. Slowly he stood up, hesitating as he drifted away from the memorial. A soft blue wisp of mist escaped his lips, but he didn't move to react. A pale blue hand came to rest on his shoulder.

The boy turned to look, the girl who stood before him had pale blue skin. Her bright blue ponytail flickered like fire, but was temporarily subdued. Green eyes crinkled in sympathy as she looked down at the young boy. A pink guitar was slung over her back, and her gothic attire and heavy makeup would scare most away, leaving aside the blue white glow that surrounded her or the fact that she was floating. But the boy didn't seem to care.

"Hey Babypop" the ghost said, her voice sympathetic as she tried to meet the boys eyes.

"What do you want Ember?" The boy asked, his emotionless voice made her flinch. Ember pulled her hand back as if stung. The boy was usually so strong, so fierce. To see him now... he seemed...

"Broken" she whispered so softly that only the wind heard her. "Babypop, you... you shouldn't be here. You shouldn't be alone in a graveyard at night. You know that." It was an excuse, and Ember knew it. But the boy before her was different than usual. He seemed empty, as if there was something desperately wrong.

Usually she'd never think to do this. The boy had caused her too much trouble. But seeing him so broken in front of her, so lost... she felt compelled to help him. He didn't even struggle as she guided him through the natural portal she had come through. He didn't notice as they left the human world and she led him to her own lair. Ember frowned as the portal closed behind them. There was something desperately wrong with the boy, and she was going to find out what.

_Line Break_

"How is it that trash like you is still alive and my dad's dead?" Clark demanded as he grabbed Snake by the collar, forcing him off the ground. This man had mugged his mom, and left her to die. He didn't deserve to be alive, not when good people were being ripped from the world. Clark threw the man backwards, sending him crashing through a large crate.

Clark had found the address fairly quickly. It was a large abandoned warehouse, dimly lit with large puddles on the floor. There was some justice in the fact that pathetic excuses for humans like Snake and his gang only had this place to call home. But it wasn't justice enough. It was dark and damp, rusted panels adorning the thin walls. A gutted campervan sat against one of the far walls, the light flickering inside. There was a metal fence in the middle of the room, a lock on the gate guarding whatever these monsters considered precious. Clark watched as the man picked himself up, but couldn't stand to see that he was still okay.

Snake pulled out a knife, pointing it at Clark. "You better leave now, or you'll be dead too." He demanded, nostrils flaring a warning and the green serpent tattoo on his face stretched threateningly. Clark scoffed, walking up to the man, his voice deep and intimidating. He couldn't help but enjoy the thrill as the man backed away from him.

"You stole my dad's watch. I want it back." Clark ordered and the man flinched.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Snake spat desperately.

Clark shoved the man roughly into the fence, the metal wire jarring as he lifted Snake up with one hand fastened tightly around his throat. Blood was pumping through Clark's head as he watched the man struggle for freedom in his hand. The man's knife clattered noisily to the ground.

"I don't have it anymore. I sold it" Snake cried in genuine fear, thrashing wildly for freedom.

Clark blinked, but didn't let go. "That was my dad's." Clark said, his hand tightening around the man's throat. It would be so easy to keep squeezing. So easy to watch the man die in his hands, snapping like a twig. It would be so easy to provide justice for his crimes. Suddenly s female voice cut the air.

"What are you waiting for? He deserves to die!" Andrea screeched as she swooped onto the scene, her leather coat flaring behind her. The sheer anger in her voice made Clark pause. A memory jumped to his mind unbidden.

_Flashback – Three years ago_

_Clark's dad had found him, where he'd been hiding in Metropolis. Clark had run away because he couldn't deal with the pressures of living in Smallville. He didn't want the destiny that his birth father had laid out for him. He didn't want any of it. He'd slipped on a red kryptonite ring, knowing it would help him forget, to desert his inhibitions and be free._

_But his dad had found him. He'd spoken to Jor-El who had temporarily given him the powers of a Kryptonian. His dad wanted to bring Clark back and they had physically fought over it, nearly destroying the basement of the apartment building Clark had been living in. Clark had finally beaten Jonathan down. He held the man in his hand, feet dangling over the ground. Yet somehow his dad had been able to talk to him._

"_Do it." He said "If I could raise a son that could kill, then kill." And Clark stopped. He looked at the man who had raised him and let go, fumbling back. He couldn't do it. He wouldn't do it. Clark tore the ring off, throwing it away and rejecting all that it symbolised. He looked at his dad, expecting hatred, anger. Not pride. His dad had looked at him, proud that he had come to his senses. It was then Clark knew who he was and what made a man._

_End Flashback_

Clark looked at the man, Snake. He was so close to repeating the same mistake he had made all those years ago. But he wouldn't. He was better than that. Clark wanted to be a man his dad could be proud of, to believe that he could earn that look of pride in his dad's eyes. He would do the right thing. Clark lowered Snake to the ground, stepping back. He could almost hear his dad say _"you made the right choice, son"_.

Andrea surged forward "If you won't kill him I will." She spat.

"No." Clark said, raising an arm to block her off. Then he started to feel sick. His eyes widened as she pulled out her kryptonite necklace, forcing him down and laying it on his chest. He was helpless but to watch, his strength fading from him as the glowing kryptonite stole his energy from him.

"I'm sorry, but I have to do this" Andrea whispered as she picked up the fallen knife. She walked over to the man as he struggled to his feet, leaning heavily on the fence for support. His eyes widened in recognition.

"You" Snake murmured, a slight tremble in his harsh voice.

Andrea slammed him back into the fence, the knife resting against his throat menacingly. "Is this the knife you used to kill my mother?" She hissed.

"No!" Clark managed to croak "He's not worth it." He had to stop her from making a big mistake. Chloe was right, both of them were letting their emotions cloud their judgement, and Clark could never forgive himself if someone died because of him. But Andrea ignored him.

"You didn't have to kill her. She gave you all the money she had!" She ended in a pained shout; her fist pounding against the fence in her rage. Snake whimpered before stammering an answer.

"It wasn't about the money. I was told to make it look like a mugging."

"It was a hit?" Andrea demanded

Snake quickly replied "She was in their way."

Andrea shook him, the fence rattling in her misery and anger. "Who?" She ordered. "Who hired you?"

"The Suits!" Snake exclaimed, his voice rising in fear. "The Apex Suits, the ones that are tearing down the slums."

"I want a name" Andrea hissed. Clark tried to call out to her to stop her, but could do nothing. He wasn't sure if she ignored him or if his voice was too weak to carry across.

Eyes wide in fear Snake replied "All I know is the guy who hired me got a call from Lionel Luthor."

"Don't" Clark struggled out. Andrea took a step back, her face seeming to calm. She met him in the eyes, the rage still there, but fading. It looked like she was going to do the right thing, to let this go. Then Snake laughed.

In an instant she was on him, the knife sunk into his heart and he fell with a loud thump. She marched off, leaving Clark to struggle against the debilitating effects of the meteor rock. In his pain he half wondered if Danny would come to save him. But the fact that he wasn't here now said he probably wasn't coming. Clark struggled; time losing meaning as he felt his strength leaving. His breathing became laboured as his lungs began to shut down. He danced on the edge of consciousness as he reflected all that he had done that evening. All that he had done in the past week.

He had pushed everyone away from him, trying to keep himself from being hurt again, but it had only made things worse. He had brought himself so close to the edge that he had nearly taken a life out of his own misery. His quest for justice had almost ended in bloodshed and he could never live with himself if he had done that. If he got out of this mess Clark owed so many people an apology. He hoped Lana could forgive him, he had pushed her farthest lately. His mom would always support him, and he was sorry for having hurt her when she was suffering too. Chloe would forgive him; she always seemed to; even when he was sure he didn't deserve it.

There was another wave of pain as the meteor continued to leech his strength from him. Clark was sure there was something he was forgetting, but the agony from the meteor rock dulled his senses. He tried to fight it. He had to stop Andrea before she did something worse. She had gone after Lionel Luthor, of that Clark was sure. While Clark didn't trust the man, no one deserved the fate Andrea would deliver him.

"Snake?" The man from earlier, one of Snakes gang echoed through the room. He called again, but Clark was in too much pain to make much sense of what was going on. Dimly he heard "you're a dead man" and couldn't help but feel that little could feel worse than the pain of the meteor rocks. Suddenly he was lifted away, the effects of the green rock instantly vanishing. He pushed the man away, knocking him unconscious. Now he would be a matter for the police. But he had to get to Andrea.

A quick run later and he was in Lionel Luthor's office at LuthorCorp, knowing that he would find both Andrea and Lionel there if he wasn't too late.

"You kicked people out of their homes so you could develop Suicide Slums for Profit!" Andrea exclaimed as Clark burst into the room. She held Lionel by the lapel of his shirt, forcing him back over the shattered glass from the large broken window that gaped into the night sky. Something told Clark that Andrea had made a very dramatic entrance and was trying to put the fear of her into Lionel Luthor.

"My mother stood up to you, so you had her murdered. No one escapes justice Luthor, not even you!" Andrea cried.

His voice strangulated Lionel choked "Listen to me, we're not as different as you might think." Clark cringed, knowing that the situation had just got a whole lot worse. Andrea would want nothing to associate herself with the man who murdered her mother.

"Like you know anything about me." Andrea retorted, pain evident in her strained voice. Gradually she forced Lionel backwards, his back perilously close to the open window. At the moment the only thing holding him back from losing balance and falling to his demise was Andreas closed fist. To Clark she looked dangerous, almost inhumane in her rage.

"I do" Lionel fearfully assured "I grew up on the same treacherous streets as you did. I lost my parents like you did to a senseless crime."

"It wasn't senseless, it was calculated" She angrily spat, lowering Luthor out the window. Clark saw his gaze drop terrified to the streets below. Clark had left it too long; he needed to pull Andrea back now before it was too late.

"Andrea stop!" Clark finally interjected, trying to defuse the situation. "Let the police handle this. If he's guilty, he'll pay." Andrea turned to Clark, his fist never loosening from around Lionel's throat.

"If your father was murdered, and you were face to face with the man who killed him what would you do?" Andrea demanded. Clark flinched, knowing he was in no small way responsible for his Dad's death, first he had all but given him his heart condition and then he had made the deal with Jor-El. But that didn't mean he had to go out and kill people for justice. It wasn't his place to do so, even if Lionel was responsible.

"What if you're wrong?" Clark asked, cautiously and slowly making his way over to her. "What if he had nothing to do with it?"

"Andrea" Lionel interjected, all but confirming that he was responsible if he had made the connection between the mother he murdered and the daughter left behind. "Listen to him, listen."

"I know what's in your heart." Clark said "It's anger. I feel it too. But killing him, making him suffer, it isn't gonna change anything."

"Yes it will" Andrea screeched, her fist tightening around Lionel's throat.

Clark's eyes widened, seeing everything spiral out of control. "Andrea stop!" he yelled "Think about your mother. Is this really what she would have wanted you to do?" Andrea paused and looked at him, deep regret evident even through her mask. "Let him go." Clark said "Let him go and everything will be okay."

Andrea's eyes filled with unrefined agony "I killed a man" she cried. "And I know you Clark. You could never let me walk out of here. It's time for you to be the real hero." She said, letting Lionel go. There was a moment pause as the world slowed around Clark. He saw Lionel falling, his whole body beginning the plunge towards the pavement below. Clark raced forward, grabbing the man by the shirt and dragging him back to safety.

He didn't care about his secret, Lionel was a vessel for Jor-El; after all it was Lionel Luthor who had brought Clark's dead corpse to the Fortress so Jor-El could revive him, so some part of Lionel already knew. But he hoped that he would not notice Clark using his abilities to save him all the same. The most important thing at the moment was saving him, and that's just what he would do. In those few seconds Andrea escaped, disappearing into the night.

"Exceptional woman" Lionel commented, rubbing his neck. Clark was surprised at how quickly Lionel could switch from pure terror to controlled businessman. "Grossly misguided." Lionel concluded.

Looking out at the night below and thinking of his own problems, he couldn't help but see how badly he'd been handling everything. "She's been through a lot." Clark replied softly, shaking his head ever so slightly as he tried to do away with his own guilt.

"Why do I get the feeling you saved my life for her sake, not for mine?" Lionel asked with a hint of sarcastic anger in his usually controlled tone. But it vanished in an instant as he finished "Whatever the reason, thank you, son." Clark felt a hand on his shoulder as he continued to stare out the window. The cool night air blew on his face as he looked over Metropolis city. Clark was starting to feel himself again.

_Line Break_

It was close to 6am and Martha Kent couldn't sleep. She was still anxious from the mugging earlier this evening. Her fingers reached to the angry red bruise on her cheek once more. But that was not her only concern. Clark's anger was making him unpredictable; Martha could only hope that he would come to his senses before he did anything too drastic. As a mother she felt scared to see her little boy destroying himself the way he was. If Clark did anything she knew he would never forgive himself and that tore at her heart.

But her concern lay also in her nephew. Danny hadn't really voiced it, but she suspected there was something desperately wrong with the young half ghost. Yesterday morning – although it still felt like today – he hadn't been able to become tangible, having to resort to telekinetically interacting with the world. While that alone wasn't too bad there were other signs they'd passed over. Accidentally phasing through chairs, the occasional slip from vision, there was the day that his eyes had been green for eight hours straight, not to mention when he had been stuck writing in the ghostly language. When it was all put together there was definitely something wrong. The only question was what.

Martha sighed. She wished Jonathan was here; somehow her husband had always managed to hold things together. She didn't know what to do or what to say. Martha headed out to the barn, it was Jonathan's place. He had always been in there, chipping away at some project without a care in the world. She blinked tears from her eyes, it was still the same. She half expected him to come out from behind the workbench with his loving smile and a friendly greeting.

She drifted through the barn, finding his work jacket still hanging from its hook. He had left it there before the election party, having worked an hour before they all had to get ready. Martha picked the worn jacket up, pulling it towards her nose and drawing in the scent. She missed him, terribly; she wished he hadn't been taken from them. But the truth was that Jon had lived a happy live, raised a son he was proud of and lived every day with love. It was a life that Jonathan had enjoyed and she was glad to have been blessed enough to spend her life with him.

"Martha" A deep voice said, breaking the silence and she jumped slightly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Martha turned to face Lionel Luthor. She was surprised by the late – or rather early – visitation, but was in a way strangely glad for the company.

"Sorry," Martha murmured "I was... somewhere else."

"Yes" Lionel sympathised "These days must be difficult to get through, I understand. When my wife... when Lillian died, I... I thought I'd never be whole again. It takes a long time to heal." Martha blinked, unsure of what Lionel wanted at this hour.

"Well I'm doing the best I can." She replied, turning to move away, but she was interrupted.

"I hear the Governor has asked you to take Jonathan's seat in the Senate." Lionel said. Martha turned around sharply.

"I haven't even told Clark yet, let alone Danny. How do you know?" While she was trying to remain calm she was struggling. In all the turmoil of the day she had forgotten about this, but she wanted to talk it over with the two boys before she accepted the offer. She certainly had not wanted the input of the elder billionaire, even if he had provided moral support at the funeral.

"I make it a point to know things" Lionel shrugged "I... I wanted to know how you were."

Martha raised an eyebrow sceptically. If that were really the case he could have come to talk to her at a more civilised hour. "I'm not sure I'm going to accept the offer. If you came by to sway me one way or the other." It may have sounded cold, but she didn't want to hear political advice from Lionel at the moment.

"No, no." He assured "You are perfectly capable of making that decision on your own. I'm only sorry that you're burdened with this." Lionel empathised softly, stepping closer to her. "You've got so much to deal with right now, Martha. I know that Jonathan leveraged a good part of the farm."

"That was his decision." Martha interrupted coolly.

"That was his pride" Lionel returned, perhaps a little too quickly. "So he could pay back the campaign contribution I made. I can't accept it." Martha creased her eyebrows in confusion. Jonathan had always believed in fair play, in always earning your way through life. While he was prideful, he was always honest. He wanted to repay the debt and Martha had intended on seeing it through in his memory. "Jonathan and I" Lionel continued "Let politics and money come between us. I don't want that to happen to us, Martha."

Martha's eyes widened. Lionel was being honest. Jonathan had always believed in second chances, in finding the best in people and letting them bring it out. Maybe he would have wanted her to forgive Lionel. After all, he had been there for her when she needed support the most.

"If you need anything..." Lionel said as he moved away, pausing briefly. "I'm here for you, always. As a friend." With that he was gone, and Martha was left conflicted. Tears stung in her eyes as she thought of Jonathan and what he would have wanted for her and the family. She clutched Jonathan's jacket tightly as she sat in the empty barn. Slowly the sun started to rise; it was the dawn of a new day.

_Line Break_

Clark walked into the _Daily Planet _early. He had gone home briefly to get changed, quickly explaining the night's events to his Mom before making the return trip to Metropolis. It was barely 9am, but the Paper was already bustling. Clark made his way downstairs to the bull-pen where Chloe and Andrea worked, brushing past a number of people as he opened the glass door.

He was surprised to see a vacant desk where Andrea's workstation had once been, completely cleared of everything but the office phone. He blinked, but it was still empty. "Hey" Chloe said, sidling up next to Clark. "I found her desk like this when I got here this morning. I called her home, I called her cell. Looks like she pulled an Amelia Earhart."

"She's never gonna let anyone find her now." Clark commented looking down at the blank desk.

"Well, I guess exile's the price you have to pay when you play judge, jury and executioner." Chloe replied "Phantom though..."

"What about Phantom?" Clark asked, for the first time since last night thinking of his cousin. He had almost forgotten that he'd been around last night too. Clark frowned, wondering why he hadn't jumped in to stop Andrea before he killed Snake or pull Lionel back. Danny was better with words than Clark was, and maybe could have kept Andrea from skipping town.

"Clark, you said some pretty harsh things to him." Chloe reprimanded, and Clark flinched. He had entirely forgotten that he had lashed out at Danny. He couldn't even remember what he'd said, but from Chloe's tone it was pretty bad. She paused for a moment before changing subject. "Clark, what really happened out there?"

"I should have listened to you Chloe. You tried to warn me." Clark admitted.

"And Phantom" Chloe tacked on.

"And Phantom" Clark conceded, trying to shake the guilt. As soon as he saw Danny Clark was going to apologise, but for now he owed Chloe an explanation; a confession. Clark looked away, unable to meet the eyes of his longest standing friend. "I had my hand around that guy's throat. And I thought that if I just kept squeezing the life out of him then it'd make everything feel right again."

"God Clark" Chloe whispered, obviously stunned. She came around to meet him in the eyes. "But you didn't?" She demanded.

"No." Clark replied shaking his head.

"What made you stop?" Chloe asked, and Clark smiled.

"My dad's voice" he replied. "This is gonna sound weird, but I... I could hear him. He was the one who always kept me from going over the edge when I was too close." Chloe smiled at him for a moment, and Clark was glad. He knew he could make his dad proud, and he would do just that to honour his memory. Chloe's smile suddenly dropped and she turned away.

"It's too bad Andrea didn't step back in time. I think Metropolis could really use someone like her right now; someone who will fight the human crime."

Clark thought for a moment. "We'll have to see if we can put Phantom up to it." He commented, Danny probably could do it, and maybe it would be good for him to step outside his usual role, especially if he had to be King of the ghosts someday.

"Maybe." Chloe murmured. "Do you think you could ever do what she did? Play the mild-mannered reporter by day and a crime fighter by night?" Chloe asked.

"Honestly," Clark replied, thinking of the trouble having a double life had caused his cousin. "I'm kinda hoping I can find a way to not have to hide who I really am." Chloe smiled at him encouragingly. He was in a cheery mood when he left the _Planet_, but he needed to talk with his cousin who he knew he owed an apology before it got much later. It was only 10am, but he wanted to repair the damage before it got much later. With that on his mind he raced home, hoping to find the young half-ghost.

_Line Break_

Danny felt numb. He felt the world moving around him, but couldn't find it in himself to care. There was nothing to care about. He knew what he had lost. He knew that he was alone, that everyone he had cared for was gone. He knew he hadn't saved them, that he wasn't good enough, and that he couldn't protect them. He hadn't been able to say goodbye. He felt empty, an emotionless void.

"_Babypop"_ a soft feminine voice wafted through his semiconscious haze.

He knew there was something wrong with him. He felt hollow, like something vital had been taken from him, stolen from him. But he couldn't find the hatred or resentment or even the desire to care. He felt like his essence had been stripped from him, leaving a hollow shell behind. There was nothing to tie him to the world, to bind him to action.

"_Babypop!" _The voice whispered again, brushing against the emptiness.

He half recognised the voice, but everything was too distant, too far away to be worthwhile. He was apart from the world, from himself, from everything and it didn't matter. Nothing mattered, because there was nothing.

"_Phantom! Snap out of it!" _The voice came again, slightly more urgent this time.

But there was nothing to snap out of. For Danny there was nothing. He was nothing. If there was nothing and he was nothing then it didn't matter if he snapped out of it because there was nothing to snap in to. It wouldn't matter if he remained in his numb state surrounded by endless nothingness. There was nothing and he was empty. The shallow consciousness left to him only emphasised his insignificance.

"_I really didn't want to do this, Phantom" _The voice said. There was a sharp pain as something slammed into him, Danny felt himself fly backwards and come crashing into something hard. A sharp crack ripped through his spine, but he didn't move. He was in a void of nothingness and there was no reason to move.

Suddenly it changed, a soft tingle swept through him, becoming more intense even as he tried to ignore it. Something at the back of his mind whispered _Protect _but it was easy to push back. It got louder, more forceful _Protect! _Danny was still too lost in the void to move, but it screamed louder _PROTECT! _Danny felt himself move towards the feminine voice, shoving its owner out of the way as a heavy something came crashing down on him. He caught it, blinking and he felt that missing part of him coming back.

It was dim, but it was there; his purpose, his raison d'être. Danny felt himself coming back to reality. The world came into sharper focus as he snapped back to lucidity. He gently lowered the large – amplifier? – that had fallen on him to the ground as he finally took notice of his surroundings. He was standing on the stage of a large amphitheatre, surrounded by the gothic instruments of an absent band. Around him were large speakers and amplifiers, leading right up towards the ceiling where an elaborate display of stage lights hung.

"Babypop?" The soft voice asked "Are you back?"

Danny turned his attention to the speaker, and was stunned to see Ember. Her blue flamed hair was short and remarkably subdued, making Danny suspect she intended him no harm. Danny nodded slowly. He was more "back" than he had been, but there was still something off.

"Yeah" he choked out, surprised at how weak his voice sounded.

"Clockwork, Babypop. You scared me." The punk diva declared. "What happened?" Danny was surprised. Ember always seemed to hate him, and the two of them had never been on better than adversarial terms. To see her acting so... caring was strange and surreal. But the truth was that he needed someone to be there from him; a last bastion of his old life that he could cling to. A small remnant from his life – half-life – as the Protector of Amity Park. If Ember was willing to extend an olive branch, then Danny was not going to push it away.

And yet... he had no idea what to say. He didn't know what had happened, why his mind had shut down like it had. He remembered the fight with Clark, and the subsequent visit to his family's memorial. He remembered reflecting how much he needed them, and how he had failed them. But it blurred into blackness; into the nothingness that he had been consumed by. He had no idea where to start explaining.

"I..." he began, but came to an abrupt halt. He looked down at himself, his human hands. He was still in the clothes he had slept in two nights ago, and he was slightly grateful that he'd gotten home so late he'd crashed in his street clothes. He tried to shift into his ghost form, but couldn't find the energy to even summon the rings that allowed him to transform. He felt weak and lethargic, but was glad to be out of that blank nothingness. He looked at Ember's staring green eyes. He owed her some sort of explanation.

"I..." He began once more but changed direction halfway "You know they're dead... Sam, Tuck... everyone."

Ember cringed "Skulker mentioned they weren't around the last time he met you, but I had no idea they were gone. Are they really...?"

Danny's core clenched. He hadn't really talked about any of it since he came to Smallville, not wanting to burden the living humans with his problems. But now more than ever he needed someone to talk to.

"Yeah, about seven months ago" Danny stated, pausing for a moment, "We were all at home. Mom, Dad, Jazz, Tuck, Sam and I. I heard a loud roaring noise. Next thing I know I'm waking up in hospital with the Doctors telling me that I was the only one left. The house was destroyed by a stray meteor. I still have no idea how I survived."

Danny was shocked as the punk diva came up and gave him a tight hug. "Phantom" she whispered sadly, her arms tightening around him. If he were human he would have been crushed by the force. "I'm so sorry" she consoled.

Danny was confused. Ember had never displayed any signs of sympathy towards him. Ever. She always employed an attack first mentality, so this show of affection caught Danny off balance. Although in a way it did make sense, Ember only ever wanted to be wanted. Danny found himself clinging to the female ghost, desperate for some way to release the pain he had been bottling up for months.

The ghost hunters didn't understand ghosts. They felt emotion just as much as, if not more than humans. The necessity, however was to learn to control them and harness them, otherwise their powers became impossible to control. For the ghosts great emotional control was a necessary and desirable quality. Danny was never able to do that, there was too much human in him. But he did need to control his emotions, otherwise his powers became dangerous.

Danny had been suppressing his own mourning since the day he woke up in Vlad's hospital and now it was catching up to him. He needed someone to talk to, and he couldn't turn to Aunt Martha or Clark. The loss of Uncle Jon had only worsened Danny's emotional state. Aunt Martha needed to mourn herself and Clark... well; Clark didn't even see Danny as human. The other humans, living people couldn't understand, and Danny had no one left to turn to.

Awkwardly Danny broke away from Ember's tight hug, searching her emerald eyes. There was no malice in them, only honest concern. She guided him over towards the edge of the stage; motioning him to sit. He complied, feet dangling over the two metre long gap above the hard floor below. He felt Ember take a seat beside him.

"What happened Babypop?" she softly asked. Danny looked out over the empty amphitheatre stands, eyes searching for answers that weren't there.

"When they died" Danny explained; his voice barely above a whisper "I was taken in by my Aunt and Uncle, and their adopted son Clark. He's... special, almost unique" Danny shook his head, trailing off. He wouldn't tell anyone that Clark was Kryptonian, besides the fact that it wasn't his secret to tell there was the fact that all Kryptonian's were meant to be dead.

"They live in Kansas, a town called Smallville. I... I never planned on telling them about me. With the portal closed I knew the links to the real world would diminish, so I could handle it on my own without anyone the wiser. Then Phantom could fade from the public eye."

Danny smiled ruefully before continuing. "Skulker kinda ruined that for me. Clark caught me, he saw me using some of my powers as a human. But it was alright, because he accepted me. They all did. And I thought it'd be okay. That I could manage."

He paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "Uncle Jon decided to run for State Senate. For the humans that's kinda like the Leaders of the Realms. They still answer to a higher power; the Federal Government and the President, like the Observants Council for us. But they help govern the smaller regions. It would attract public attention, but it was fine 'cos I know how to hide." _And Clark never did anything too public._ Danny added mentally.

"But on Election Day Uncle Jon had a heart attack and..." Danny paused, struggling to reconcile himself with this recent trauma. He gulped once before continuing. "He had a heart attack and it killed him."

"Ok Babypop" Ember sighed, laying her gloved hand on his shoulder. Danny hardly noticed, too lost in his memories.

"Clark took it the hardest. He lashed out at everyone." Danny continued, but felt Ember's aura surge. This was the first he'd felt it since he arrived here. But it was hardly surprising; for ghosts, lashing out at anything other than a threat to your obsession was disgraceful. Humiliating. Danny though, could understand Clark's position, somewhat. While Danny's mind no longer worked quite the same as a regular human's he could empathise with them in a way that other ghosts couldn't.

"It wasn't his fault. Clark was really close to his dad. I think he blames himself for it, he takes a lot of responsibility for things that aren't his fault... but that doesn't change the fact that he was lashing out." Danny broke off once more, his gaze falling to his hands as he wrung his wrists in his lap. He recalled in perfect detail everything Clark had said to him. Clark had pointed out every one of his fears, his flaws and failings and spat them back at him. The only thing that could have made it worse is if Clark had said that Danny was like his evil alternate future self. Part of Danny was glad that he'd elected not to tell Clark about that aspect of his past.

"Ember..." Danny murmured, reflecting on the one thing that had stung the most. "What am I to you? To the ghosts?"

Ember half laughed, obviously trying to dissipate the heavy tension that had built between them. "You're a nuisance. You always stop us and throw us back in the Zone. You're arrogant, you're annoying, you're overly emotional. Some days you have more mood swings than the Lunch Lady. You've grown up a lot since I first met you, but you're still the same dipstick that makes afterlife in the Real World difficult for us."

Danny half laughed at her rant, a small smile dancing on his lips. "Thanks, I think." Danny murmured, but the smile faded quickly. "One of the things Clark said... He said I was a ghost, in the human view of the word. It shouldn't mean anything anymore. My parents always said it. But coming from him... It hurt because he knows. He knows what I am, but sometimes I wonder..."

"Babypop... Phantom" Ember said firmly, and Danny raised his eyes to meet hers. "You're a ghost in every way that counts. You gotta deal with the heightened emotions and the need to control them. You've got powers that make most of us green – or greener – with envy. I know that some of the way you think is ghost. So you're one of us." She paused briefly before continuing.

"But you're also human where it counts. You can accept change where we can't; you can enjoy more freedom with your emotions. You've got a heart that beats and lungs that breathe. You're alive in a way that we aren't. What are you? Only you can say. You're a halfa, the only Halfa. But above all that you're _you_. The same annoying dipstick that I love to beat up once in a while. The same dipstick that shoves us in a tiny container before chucking us back home. The same kid that messed up my world tour two years ago." There was no venom in her voice, only light-hearted teasing. She gently punched him on the arm and Danny smiled.

"Thanks, Ember." Danny replied, genuinely. Maybe she was right, maybe him just being him was enough. He was human and he was ghost. He was a Halfa, a species all to his own. And for now... he was okay with that.

"No problem Babypop." Ember said and pulled herself to her feet. "Now, let's get some food into you and you can tell me what in Clockwork's name you were doing alone in a cemetery by yourself at dawn" Danny smiled and followed her, still unable to transform into Phantom. He lost himself in silent musings.

It was always strange hearing the ghosts swear by Clockwork, considering Danny knew him personally. 'God' as an omnipotent being, or concept was for the living, which Danny was no longer. The ghosts looked to Clockwork as a more mythical sense, almost like God to the Christians. Danny however felt better not swearing by his friend and guardian. So he had started calling to Hecate, the Greek Goddess of spirits and magic. Sam had dragged him through Greek Mythology, and the Goddess Hecate seemed the closest god to what he now was. So he had adopted her as his patron goddess. Danny shook his head and trailed behind Ember as she led him through her lair.

_Line Break_

It was early afternoon by the time that Clark got back to the farmhouse. He wanted to talk to Danny and knew that the best place to find him was usually up in the barn loft. He walked up the stairs somewhat nervous, but was surprised to find he wasn't there. He walked over to the desk, noticing a change there.

On the desk sat an old leather bound watch, sitting on a blue velvet drawstring bag. He was shocked, Snake said he had sold it and yet somehow his Dad's watch was here. "I searched every pawnshop in Metropolis for it." He heard Lana's dulcet tones coming from behind him. He turned around, not hiding his surprise.

"I can't believe you found this" Clark replied, his heart melting at the lengths Lana had gone to just to be there for him. He vowed never to let himself sink as low as he had again. "Lana" he said "I'm sorry for the way I've been acting. I know I should be able to move on, but life without him... it doesn't feel real." He confessed.

"It's like you're frozen, and the whole world's going on around you." Lana empathised. "No matter how many people wanna be there for you, you end up going through it alone."

"It's not like he ever let me take the easy way out either, huh?" Clark asked with a faint smile playing on his lips. Lana smiled back at him, seeing that he was on the way to normality.

"Put it on" she suggested and Clark acquiesced, quickly replacing his old watch with that of his dad's. "It looks great. Your father would be really happy." Lana commented, smiling at him. She gave him a gentle hug before she left, saying that she needed to head back to the Uni before it got too late, and Clark was able to watch her off.

He walked back into his home, and heard old family movies playing on the television. It was the day his dad had taken him on the tractor out to see the back 40. Clark smiled at the memory, but he wasn't over his grieving. His mom heard him come in, and turned to face him. She smiled faintly when she saw him wearing his dad's watch and she opened her arms, embracing him in a tight hug.

"_Goodbye" _He heard his dad in the video say as he pulled the tractor away from the camera, and Clark allowed himself to feel the one emotion he'd pushed away for days. He cried, sobbing mournful tears into his mother's shoulder as she comforted him. They stayed like that until Clark could cry no more and he stepped back still red-eyed.

"I miss him." Clark said simply

"I know, Clark" His mom said sadly, but sent him a small smile "But he'll always be with us, so long as you let him be." Clark smiled at his mom, pulling her back into a hug. For now it was enough to be here, with his mom still to back him. He would make his dad proud, he would keep his dad in his heart always, and be the man that his dad always wanted him to be.

_Line Break_

Embers Lair wasn't just the amphitheatre. It seemed to be a whole concert hall, complete with backstage dressing rooms, and a lounge with a kitchenette attached. Ember rummaged through the refrigerator and pulled out a bucket of yoghurt and some strawberries. Next thing Danny knew he was faced with a large bowl of strawberry topped yoghurt and being ordered to eat. It wasn't as fulfilling as human food on his human stomach, but the pure energy from the ghost food was doing wonders for his ghost half.

"So, Babypop, why were you in that cemetery all alone?" Ember asked as she finished her own bowl. She chucked the dish in the sink, along with a whole other pile of dishes. Danny finished his own and wandered over to the sink, looking for something to distract him he started the washing up.

"I went to visit my family. I didn't get to go to the funeral, and after that I got carted off to Smallville. I never got to visit them, but I just... I needed to see them." Danny explained. "I spent the whole day intangible, no matter what I couldn't shift back. And then Clark said I was the same as a full ghost... I just needed to feel like I still had them." Danny shrugged. It was hard to explain just how much he needed his family at times.

"You couldn't turn tangible?" Ember asked, clearly confused.

"No," Danny said "It probably was nothing, lately my powers have been a bit off."

There was a brief pause before ember asked "How long have you been a ghost Phantom?"

Danny shrugged again, finishing off the dishes and turning around "About two and a half years, why?"

"Two and a half..." Ember whispered before looking up to meet his eyes before breaking into a wide smile. "Aww, little Babypop is finally growing up." She wiped a fake tear from her eyes. Danny blinked.

"Sorry, what?" Danny asked, shaking his head in confusion. Danny felt his energy spike, and didn't even notice as he shifted into his ghost form, floating an inch off the floor as his legs became a misty tail. Ember's eyes widened.

"Nice costume" She commented. Phantom looked down, noticing that he was indeed in his ghost half. This was the first time Ember had seen him since his outfit had changed. "You're in your third year." Ember explained, shaking her head to get back on track. "This is one of the things we don't want the humans to know about. You're the first ghost to go through it in the Real World, so I don't know what that will mean for you. But I can tell you what it was like for me."

Ember guided Phantom over to the lounge area and flopped into the red sofa, gesturing for Phantom to do the same. "See" Ember began "when I first became a ghost, I was in the Zone. I didn't have a lair so I was just sorta floating; all I had was my name and my guitar. It's the same for all of us. No one gets a lair until their third deathday. For most of us we float around for the first two years mastering the basic powers. Then after the second deathday your core starts to stabilise and specialise. It doesn't fully manifest until your third deathday, but that's when most of us start learning our particular powers."

Phantom was intrigued, from the sounds of it; his development was slightly different to most ghosts. He'd started developing particular powers after only a few months, and he already knew his core type. Although it could explain why he'd picked up two new powers within the space of three months and mastered them ridiculously easily, and that was leaving aside mastering his ice powers.

"The third year" Ember ploughed on "is when a ghost fully comes into themself. There are weird power surges and shortages. Most of us go through a physical change; my hair turned into the beautiful blue flame you see today. By the end of it we're a whole lot stronger and ready to face eternity as a ghost, but it's a pretty painful ride."

Some of what Ember described explained the weird things happening with his powers. The weird power spikes, the day he'd spent unable to read English, green eyes that wouldn't change back. It all related back to this third year thing. "So it's sorta like ghost puberty?" Phantom queried and Ember laughed.

"I guess you could say that. Hey, maybe that's why you haven't grown up. You were just waiting for your third year." She lightly shoved his shoulder and Phantom glowered. He wasn't particularly happy with the fact that he barely passed as fifteen. Something which the Seniors at school had so kindly pointed out. Multiple times.

"Why haven't I been told about this before? I mean, I've spent time with Frostbite and Dora, neither of them told me." Phantom asked, surely one of his ghostly friends would have told him about this before, it was strange to be hearing it first from _Ember_, one of his longest standing enemies. Even if she wasn't being adversarial now, that didn't erase their history. Then again, Phantom had long since figured out that her obsession was to be wanted. Maybe she didn't mind creating a friendship with him after all. It was probably worth a try.

"Don't know" she answered, getting back to the topic at hand "It could be that they'd forgotten about it. But I think it's more likely they assumed you were past it. Phantom, you're one of the strongest ghosts here _already_, and you haven't had your third deathday yet. Most of us only master the basic powers in the first three years and you already have a whole arsenal of specialised ones. You have so many unique powers already that it's scary. You might as well be fully developed for all that you've done."

Phantom frowned at that news; he never wanted to be scary. All he wanted was to help people, to keep them safe. Then another thought hit him. "What about Vlad, Plasmius." Phantom asked. Ember frowned.

"He isn't a proper ghost. You know that. He has a ghost half, sure, but I don't think he ever had a third year, at least not in the same way. He definitely wasn't in the Zone for it. He has a lot of powers, and he is really dangerous. But he doesn't belong to us in the same way you do. You're as much a ghost as you are human, Phantom. And he..."

"He's only ever been human with ghost powers." Phantom finished off for her. Phantom was silent for a few minutes, reflecting on what he was learning. Eventually the silence became too much for Ember and she interrupted his musings.

"Now I know your cousin said some bad stuff, but you gotta give me a bit more. Something tells me there's more behind the story than just you having an identity crisis."

Phantom sighed. "He said I wasn't good enough, that I should have tried harder to save everyone." He felt a painful twinge in his core and he felt physically heavier. Ember's eyes widened in sudden realisation.

"He insulted your obsession, didn't he?" Ember whispered. Suddenly her eyes flared with concern and her voice picked up much more strength. "Phantom, he could have ended you." Phantom cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"How?" He asked, genuinely confused. Phantom had been insulted before, in almost every other way and nothing had happened.

"When I found you in the cemetery... you weren't you. You were... empty. It was scary. You would have been better off as a comatose human. Just now, your aura flickered, you're barely glowing. I'd bet that he said some pretty bad stuff about your obsession."

Phantom just nodded grimly, his eyes turned to the floor. Ember was mumbling, connecting the dots about his obsession. He wasn't going to stop her; he was surprised she hadn't figured it out before now. Actually he was surprised none of the other ghosts he fought had figured it out. If someone was in danger he always came running to save them.

"You need to protect people, don't you?" She whispered. Phantom stiffly nodded. She was the first ghost other than Clockwork to know his obsession. It was a strange feeling. She turned to face him, kneeling on the couch. She gently picked up his chin with her un-gloved hand and pulled his face around so their eyes met.

"Look, Phantom." Ember insisted "I know we don't get on usually, but that doesn't mean I want you ended. At the moment, your obsession is gonna be a saw point. There'll be some days when you can ignore it, others when it's all you can think about. That Clark guy insulting your obsession caused a hell-of-a-lot of damage. If you'd stayed in the Real World much longer..." Ember shivered. "Just, you need to be more careful with yourself."

Phantom nodded solemnly, fully appreciating what she was saying. He had felt it, and he never wanted to feel that again. Never before had his obsession meant such a big deal, but he guessed it was all a natural part of being ghostly.

"Now" Ember commented, her tone lightening dramatically as Phantom accepted her warning. "I have a problem. I know you'll be wanting to go back to the Real World, and you are well enough that I could let you go. Something tells me your human half needs food too. But I can't get you back there. I only found the last portal by chance, but it closed hours ago."

Phantom just smiled at her and stood up from the sofa, his legs finally reforming. "Thanks Ember. I have my own ways of getting home." Without further ado he opened a portal to the human world. He smiled slightly at the shocked look on Ember's face.

"Is that...?" Ember stammered, and Phantom nodded. "Clockwork, Babypop. Just how powerful are you?" Phantom rubbed the back of his neck shrugging. By now this was second nature to him, he hardly wasted any energy opening the portal and so he hadn't really thought of what it meant. That was something to think more about later. However, he was in a fairly chivalrous mood seeing as how Ember had not hesitated t welcome him into her home to help him recover.

"Would the fair lady like to accompany me into the Real World?" he offered, extending a hand to Ember. She nodded and took it, still shocked as Phantom helped ease her off the couch. The two of them walked through the portal. Phantom had opened it in the forest behind the farm, knowing there would be no one there to see the two ghosts come out. After a moment's indecision he extended the offer for Ember to explore for a bit, provided she didn't cause trouble he didn't mind her being in the Real World. He suggested they meet by Crater Lake later, knowing it was an easy landmark to find. From there he could send her home.

Brushing his hand past a few trees proved that he was still intangible, but he was going to pretend to be normal for as much as he was worth. He watched Ember's retreating form before beginning a slow walk back to the farmhouse. He wasn't sure he was ready to face anyone living, but it needed to be done.

_Line Break_

Clark sat in the kitchen with his mom; the two of them had shared a cup of tea together before either of them had asked about Danny. Clark was stunned when he found out that Danny hadn't been able to be tangible at all yesterday. It only worsened what Clark had said to him. Clark had been the last one to see him, Danny hadn't even returned home last night and both of them were worried. It wasn't like him to stay away from the farm unless he was on Patrol or fending off a ghost.

Clark heard the faint beating of a heart, and immediately picked it up as Danny's. The boy was apparently standing on the porch, although there'd been no sign of his approach. Clark walked over to the door and pulled it open. Danny stood there with one arm raised as if to knock on the door. Without even thinking Clark reached forward and hugged his cousin, giving him as much of an apology as he could as he ushered the boy inside.

Danny looked disoriented and slightly surprised. But then it settled to understanding. There was a deep forlorn look in his blue eyes, and he looked tired, fragile even. As if he was about to break in the slightest wind. Clark guided him into the kitchen and bustled about making him a hot chocolate. He poured his mom and himself another tea before taking a seat himself. His mom practically beamed as she saw Danny and moved to give him a hug, but she passed right through him.

Danny didn't seem surprised, but Clark was still confused. He didn't want to pressure his cousin though; Clark knew he owed him a serious apology he was about to speak, but Danny got there first. "I..." Danny stammered "I'm sorry for not coming home last night. I know I probably worried you, I didn't mean to, and I'm sorry." Martha smiled sadly at Danny.

"It's alright. You're here now." She consoled. She reached out for the tea that Clark had prepared for her, taking a sip and subtly nudging Clark.

"I'm sorry..." Clark began, hesitatingly as he didn't know what to apologise for first. "for what I said last night. I shouldn't have taken it out on you like that." Danny smiled sadly, a look of forgiveness in his eyes, as well as something deeper.

"It's... it's okay." Danny replied slowly "I know you didn't mean it. You didn't know." He shook his head and his hand reached absently to his heart. Clark frowned. Something told Clark there was something deeper going on.

"Where were you last night?" Clark heard his mom ask.

"I was..." Danny paused for a moment, sadness washing through his eyes. "I went to Amity Park Cemetery. I never got to say goodbye properly. I was there until dawn but then..." Danny trailed off. Clark felt a stab in his heart. In his anger he had accused Danny of not caring about his family, seeing the boy in front of him he knew how deeply that accusation had wounded him. "Then a friend came by and helped pick me up. I was with her 'till just recently." He finished

"You spent the whole night in a cemetery?" Clark's mom demanded and Danny shrunk in on himself. Clark felt terrible; it was his fault that Danny had been driven to that. His epiphany had come at an expensive price.

"Yeah," Danny admitted quietly "But I didn't really notice it. I just..." Clark went to rest his hand on Danny's shoulder, feeling the need to make it up to him. His mom frowned seeing this, but Danny had already guessed her question.

"I'm intangible to the human world, but I always have to focus to be intangible to Clark." Danny explained and Clark felt another weight on his chest. All day yesterday Danny had been a literal ghost to the world, and the one person who had touched him had just yelled at him before shoving him out of the way.

"I'm sorry" Clark apologised, putting as much sincerity as he could muster into it.

"It's okay." Danny shrugged with a weak smile. "It's okay, I'm here." He said more quietly. In a soft whisper that Clark barely heard he concluded "I wasn't ended." Clark's eyes widened. Hadn't Danny said that being ended was a ghost's version of dying? How had that happened?

"Clark, please calm down." Danny whimpered.

"You said you were almost... ended?" Clark cringed. Danny shrunk further into himself.

"It's nothing." Danny said, but Clark wasn't going to let him off that easily. He wanted to know what was wrong. "I'm a lot more like a ghost than I sometimes like to think." Danny said by way of explanation, but Clark still didn't understand.

"Please tell me Danny" Clark beseeched.

"You... you attacked my obsession Clark. And..." Danny's voice cracked as he came to a stop. Clark's eyes widened as he realised exactly what he'd done. When Danny had explained about ghosts all those months ago he'd made it sound like the obsession was a ghost's essence, their soul.

"I'm so sorry Danny." He apologised. There was a lot about ghosts and ghost culture that he didn't know. There was a lot about his cousin that was too complicated for him to understand. But what he did know was that his cousin was hurt and he was responsible. Yet somehow Danny was already shaking it off.

"It's fine, you didn't know. And I'd prefer you lashed out at me than someone who couldn't handle it." Danny shrugged. Clark was amazed at how forgiving his cousin could be. But then again, it could be Danny's own strange way of protecting Clark. Clark frowned, he wasn't sure if he deserved forgiveness. It was something that had to be earned, and Clark wanted to earn it. But perhaps what Danny needed the most now was a friend.

"So the friend you mentioned, were they from your old school?" Clark asked curious.

"No." Danny replied with a more genuine smile. "Actually she's a ghost. She found me in the cemetery, and explained a few things. I guess I just needed someone to talk to, and she was happy enough to listen." Clark noticed the change of mood, Danny seemed much happier now. He looked to his mom who sent him a comforting smile.

"I'm glad for you." Clark's mom comforted "Where did you meet her?"

"Actually," Danny said, embarrassedly looking down into his lap. "She and I never used to get on. The first time we met she was trying to control all the teenagers in town. But she was there for me, and I sort of know why she was. I think she wants to be a friend, and if I'm being selfish I want friends who can like me for me; Halfa and all."

Clark was confused at that admission, but let it slide, not wanting to offend or further hurt the young boy in front of him. "So what did she explain?" Clark asked curious. Danny looked a bit embarrassed.

"She explained why my powers are acting up. It... It'll settle down by my next deathday." Clark blinked that was... strange to say the least. It was odd to hear the casual mention of the term 'deathday', as if it was natural to talk about death like that. And it didn't seem like Danny was going to elaborate. Instead he got a curious look in his eye. He looked at the fruit bowl in the middle of the table.

Clark watched as an apple floated over to Danny and he caught it in his outstretched hand. He blinked and looked curiously at his cousin. "You can touch it?" Clark questioned.

"No" Danny replied shaking his head "It's all telekinesis. I just wanted to try the experiment. It's more like I'm making it move how the apple would move if I were holding it." Clark didn't understand, and he must have looked confused because Danny elaborated. "I can move stuff with my mind. By thinking the right way I can make it look like I'm touching things, interacting with the Real World without really touching anything."

That made more sense to Clark, and he was glad that his cousin seemed to be in a happier mood. He knew that things were a long way from being alright for all three of them. But he was determined to make things right. His cousin seemed to be doing better now, so he allowed himself to smile indulgently. One thing he was learning about living with the halfa was that life was never boring.

"Complicated?" Clark asked smiling, continuing their old running joke.

"Complicated." Danny answered with a smile that told Clark it was all going to be fine. Although there was a deeper, darker level to Danny's blue eyes that Clark couldn't fathom. Clark rustled his hair, only for Danny to scowl and teleport away. "Catch me if you can!" Danny teased, initiating a game of catch as the two of them raced out the door. There was still a lot of damage done that Clark had to make up for. He'd hurt the halfa deeply and he needed to make up for it. It was a testament to how good a person that Danny was that he was so willing to give Clark a second chance; and Clark was determined to earn it. He smiled as he chased after his cousin, the sun gently warming his back.

Clark could have sworn he heard his mom laugh, her soft voice asking the air "Oh Jonathan, what have we gotten ourselves into now?"

* * *

><p>AN: Okay, there's another chapter, and that Smallville episode done. It was fun to write, but gosh was it emotionally heavy.<p>

Hope Ember wasn't too OOC, but when you know her motivations, it kinda makes sense. In case it wasn't clear I figured that her obsession is to be wanted/remembered. Hence gaining power off people shouting her name.

At the end, Danny was trying to cheer Clark up. He's still not fully over it, none of them are. But Danny will always try to make the people around him happy.

I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and I hope this feels like a suitable close to the story.

Jay: Thank you for the review on the last chapter, I'm glad you thought the fight felt human. That is what I was going for. The Danny I am working with is the original Danny from the series, plus about six months of _different_ experience after season 2. He has had a lot of experiences that made him grow up fast. He's had a lot of ghost fights as a human and come up against a few human 'enemies' too (How he found out he could survive bullets). Besides that Danny is a very powerful ghost, and as he grows up his power grows too (To a point). But also, because his family died he put up emotional walls to protect himself, so he is also making himself seem more powerful than he really is (sorta like scared animals raising their fur to look bigger). So yes, he is Danny still (I hope) but he's lived a slightly different life than the Danny in the canon. Hope that explains a bit more to everyone who's curious.

Adieu till next time.

Bluerose


	16. Static

Chapter 15

Static 

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Danny yawned as he woke up. Last night he'd been up later than usual, the Corn Ghost and the Box ghost were taking turns of popping out of the Zone. Around 6am Danny had just gotten sick of sending them back and had trapped them together in the Thermos, promising not to let either out until he was out of school that afternoon. He walked to the bathroom ridiculously grateful for the feeling of the wood beneath his feet.

After four days of intangibility he had finally phased back to the tangible plane just last night. It was so disorienting where the only living thing he could touch in the whole world was his cousin. Danny got up and had a shower, thoroughly enjoying every drop of water as it fell onto him, washing his concerns away. He had never been so appreciative of the ability to feel the world, to interact with things. To feel the Real World as it actually was. Danny picked up his clothes, embracing the soft feeling of the cloth against his skin. He had so missed those simple pleasures that he was savouring them as much as he could.

Two nights ago he had met up with Ember at Crater Lake so he could send her home to the Zone. She had kept her word and hadn't made any trouble in the real world, and had even extended an offer for him to visit her next time he was in the Zone. Danny smiled at the thought. The fiery-haired ghost was a strong and demanding character, but she had shown him an unexpected kindness when he needed it the most. Danny was inclined to visit her sometime, but he owed Dora a visit too and he knew Clockwork would want to see him again soon as well. Danny had never felt so popular in the Zone.

Danny walked downstairs, enjoying each step on the hardwood floor. He happily made his way to the kitchen and pulled the cupboard open, pulling out a mixing bowl and the frypan. Being intangible for four days also meant that he couldn't eat human food for four days, and he was famished. He happily cracked some eggs into the bowl, whisking them into a nice omelette base. By the time Aunt Martha came down the kitchen smelled wonderfully of cooking omelette.

Danny smiled at his Aunt "I'm back to normal" he proclaimed happily.

"Oh Danny, that's wonderful." His aunt replied giving him a big hug, and then hugging tighter when she realised she could actually touch him. Danny laughed and easily flipped the omelette, letting it finish cooking before serving out three portions. By then Clark had joined them, and was equally happy that Danny was finally tangible again, maybe even more so than his mom.

There hadn't been too much activity in the ghost department – aside from The Box and Corn Ghosts – and there's only so much anyone can do without being able to touch anything, and Danny had quickly become bored in practicing his ice sculptures on his own. He had managed to convince Clark to have a training session with him, seeing it was the weekend. It was therapeutic for both of them and Clark had shown some genuine improvement over the four hours they were out training. His punches were a little more accurate on Danny's ice sculptures and he had managed to make his heat vision more precise.

Of course Clark had once again complained about how hard it was to manipulate energy through his eyes, and Danny had surprised them both by shooting an ecto-beam at the ghostly ice target from his own eyes. Clark's pride had been wounded when Danny had quickly refined his own precision to Clark's own level of accuracy. But for Danny it was just learning to refine energy from another source. Plus Danny needed far much more control since he had such a vast arsenal of powers and he couldn't afford for any of them to act up.

But with Danny now back on the tangible plane he wouldn't need to bother Clark as much for entertainment. He was already itching to pick up his sketchbook. Unfortunately though it was Monday, and he had to go back to school. The bus was hot, crowded and overly noisy, but after four days stuck in the intangible plane he enjoyed every minute of it. It wasn't too long before he was back at the school. The hallways were crowded; it was early February and still too cold out for most. And with the bustle came short tempers.

Danny soon found himself having to dodge Jay, who had taken Danny being skipped ahead to offense. Danny found it strangely surreal. On some level he was actually enjoying himself as the other boy punched his stomach. It wasn't as if Jay was doing any damage, and the feeling of being touched – even if it was in a painful way – by something from the Human world was amazing. Danny blinked as he thought on that. How weird was his mind that on some level he could actually enjoy being beaten up by a guy who stood a foot over him and probably weighed three times as much.

And yet it didn't matter because he was tangible again. The school day passed in a blur, a bustling, claustrophobic blur, but Danny savoured every moment, just being able to physically feel the textbooks and brush against his peers was enough for him. There were only three ghosts that needed attention during the day and they soon met the Corn Ghost and Boxy in the Thermos. The final bell rang and Danny found himself slowly wandering the gradually emptying halls of Smallville High. He ran his hand against the banister as he paced down the stairs. Now he had to decide whether to stay in Smallville before he did his afternoon/evening patrol or if he was going to go back to the Kent farm and see Clark.

Danny frowned. While he had gone out of his way to make sure that Clark was happy, part of Danny wasn't over the things that Clark had said. Clark had almost – albeit unintentionally – ended Danny's existence. Clark may not know the full extent of what he had done, but that did not change the fact that it had happened. Danny wasn't sure he wanted to spend too much time around his cousin at the moment. Now that he was tangible again he didn't need Clark as a touchstone to reality, and he wasn't sure he was ready to face Clark.

After fulfilling his promise to Boxy and the Corn Ghost via a direct portal to the Zone, Danny made his way out the front doors of the school, but was surprised by the car pulled up in front. It was a silver Porsche, with the hood down and a certain young billionaire sitting behind the wheel. From this distance Danny could hear the music that was still thrumming through the speakers; Lex's face lit up when he laid eyes on Danny.

"Danny" Lex said, calling Danny over. Danny cautiously walked over towards the car and ignoring the buzz of whispers that had stirred up around him. "I wondered if you'd like a lift home from school" Lex offered. Danny was confused; the young billionaire had not talked to him since the Leviathan incident in the summer. Since then Lex had thrown himself into the electoral campaign, and had pretty much ignored Danny, so this came out of the blue.

Unfortunately Danny knew that refusing Lex would not be helpful, he was too much like Vlad to let whatever it was go, and would only stir trouble until Danny came to talk to him. So five minutes later Danny was seated next to Lex, on his way to the Luthor Mansion, rather than the Kent Farm. Danny shrunk uncomfortably into the leather seat. While the car could go fast it was nothing to flying as far as transport went. And sitting with the young Luthor was uncomfortable in itself, knowing the strained relationship between Lex and Clark.

Lex pulled his car up in front of the Mansion, flicking the keys at a butler before guiding Danny into his office. Lex offered Danny a drink, getting himself a crystal glass of scotch and making a light-hearted flourish over Danny's water. Danny placed his backpack next to one of the dark leather sofas before taking a seat. The two of them sat in front of the flickering fire for a little while, Danny taking every detail of the room in. He instinctively knew that there were three security cameras that had a clear view of him; all well hidden of course. There were two that could probably see half of him and a sixth aimed directly at the piano in the far corner.

There were a few other changes since the last time Danny had been in the room; the hidden vault and panic rooms had higher securities around them. Danny had never seen either room, but could tell simply by the massive amounts of electricity surging through the walls that they were there. Something had obviously happened to make Lex want to up his security. Danny finally turned his attention back to the young billionaire who was gazing at him with curious eyes.

Danny took an uneasy sip of water, shrinking in on himself. As Fenton it was so easy to be metaphorically invisible, and to have this much attention on him was unsettling. Lex cleared his throat. "I have been wondering where it is that you learned to fight." Lex paused a moment "When I first met you, you managed to defeat that... "ghost" singlehandedly, and unarmed." Something in the way Lex said the word _ghost_ suggested he believed that they were something else.

Danny inwardly frowned. He knew that visibly using his skills was going to come back to bite him when he'd fought Skulker, but he had only thought to subdue the threat at the time. Outwardly he shrugged "Mom was a ninth degree black belt. Guess some of it rubbed off." He just hoped that Lex would let the subject drop. He didn't want it to get out that Fenton could actually defend himself.

"I must also say I was impressed with how quickly you disarmed me when you challenged me to a sword fight. I admit that I underestimated you." '_Most people do'_ Danny added mentally "But I am curious as to where you learned how to do that. How long have you studied sword fighting?" Lex concluded. Danny mentally slapped himself. How could he not think that pulling a sword fight with Lex would not arouse his attention? Vlad finding out that he was a half-ghost had earned him two years of having to watch his back and an unending trail of offers to turn to the dark side and use his powers for selfish gain.

"Not long" Danny answered slowly; still playing the shy clumsy boy that was his first defence "I went on a camp for a week and trained up a bit." Danny shrugged. That was close enough to the truth; he'd spent a week in the Zone in Aragon learning how to fight. "I just got lucky. You left an opening and I was able to take it." Danny finished with a half smile, hoping to put Lex off kilter and divert the subject. Danny was relieved when Lex just nodded, although there was a strange glimmer in his eye.

"Have you ever tried your hand at fencing?" Lex asked.

Danny shook his head "No, I mean, I've fenced, but there's a big difference between putting a wooden fence up and crossing blades." Lex raised a half amused eyebrow at that remark.

"I suppose there is, although I much prefer the latter." Lex commented lightly. "I am curious to see how you fare with a sabre." Danny frowned, but Lex ignored it. Danny didn't want to protest, knowing that to do so would only further arouse Lex's suspicions. He didn't want to be the next puzzle for Lex to figure out. So Danny acquiesced. Lex suggested they have a practice bout, "just for curiosity." There was one good thing about Lex; he was purely human. If things got too bad Danny could protect himself and Clark. Part of Danny hoped that he could bring Lex around, help him see the light again and steer him away from the same dark streak that had driven Vlad to the brink of insanity.

Lex escorted him through to a training room and Danny's jaw dropped. It was fully outfitted with a treadmill, punching bag and a complete weight set. One corner of the room was covered in white training mats, and a rack for sabres, foils and epee's sat beside it. There was a rowing machine and a bench press. Somehow Lex had managed to fit a complete gym into the Mansion, and it actually fit in with the rest of the decor. "Wow." Danny complimented. The only thing that could make the room better suited for Danny as a personal gym was if it had an obstacle course and a few targets.

Lex smiled at Danny's awe struck face before handing him a pile of white gear. Danny realised this was the full protective outfit. While it was unnecessary for Danny, he knew he had to put it on for appearances sake. Lex directed him to a room where he could get changed and Danny quickly donned the suit. By the time he was out Lex was similarly clothed in full white and had a strange smile on his lips.

"You know." Lex commented lightly as he handed Danny a mask "I had always wanted to see how your cousin took to fencing, but he always shied away from the idea." Danny half laughed knowing the reason, but was able to brush it off.

"Clark is happy throwing around hay bales and footballs, but I'm glad he never took you up on the offer." The mental image of Clark fumbling around with a sword was slightly too amusing for Danny and he allowed a smile to pass his lips. "He'd be a hazard for everyone around him; he's too much of a klutz for it." Lex looked slightly surprised at that comment, which is exactly what Danny wanted. It wouldn't hurt to get Lex off of Clark's back a bit. But Danny would never put a blade in Clark's hands anyway. Clark's strength was brute force; putting a sword in his hand would only cause more damage.

"I'm surprised you say that" Lex replied, guiding Danny over to the mats "He's always seemed fairly extraordinary to me, he always manages to surprise me."

Danny shrugged "He always manages to pull through for you, but he's not really extraordinary. I've never seen him do anything more than you could expect him to." Danny commented. It was true though, Danny knew he was Kryptonian, so nothing Clark did surprised him really. "I mean, with all these meteor infected people running around even the ordinarily talented people look suspicious." Lex frowned slightly, but didn't answer. Instead he picked up a sabre and handed it to Danny and took up his own. He frowned thoughtfully, leading Danny to the centre of the mat. Danny seemed to have successfully thrown Lex for a loop.

Lex bowed respectfully towards Danny, who bowed back, feigning unfamiliarity with the action. The two raised their blades.

"En Garde" Lex decreed as he took the first strike, and with that the fight began. Neither noticed the slight flicker in the gym lights.

_Line Break_

Clark frowned as he raced into Metropolis. He hadn't been able to get into contact with Danny, and had half hoped that the halfa could give him a hand with one of his jobs on the Farm. But Danny hadn't come home after school, he hadn't even called. It was possible that he'd gotten caught up with a ghost, but a quick scout around Smallville disproved that theory. So Clark had decided to head into Metropolis to see if Danny was around there. When it became clear that the halfa was definitely not there he elected to go visit Chloe at the _Planet_.

Chloe was fairly busy; apparently the abrupt departure of Andrea had left a lot of work to be done in the basement bull-pen, although Chloe had been working the hardest. She was trying to earn herself a promotion while sitting on Clark's secret as well as balancing her Uni schedule seeing how she was now back from break. Clark was lucky enough to catch her when she was taking a coffee break and she invited him down to her desk before she herself got back to work.

By now it was past five and many of the other employees were heading home for the night. Soon enough it was only Chloe and Clark left. Chloe was absently tapping away on her computer, still involved with the story that she was writing. Clark sat in Andrea's still empty desk as he waited for Chloe to take a break. Eventually she stopped typing, looking up from her work and over to Clark.

"Sorry" She apologised "I just wanted to get that started before it got too much later. I'm pushing a deadline as it is. What's up?"

Clark smiled over at her. "Can't I come visit you at work without something being wrong?"

"You _can_, Lana does. But you don't. So come on, spill." Chloe knew Clark all too well. If he just wanted to hang out he usually invited her over to his house or the Talon.

"I've been thinking, about Danny." Clark replied. "And Phantom" Clark added, since they were the same person even if Chloe didn't know it.

"Yeah" Chloe murmured with a frown in her voice. "You really chewed Phantom out. Some of what you said, no one likes to be called sub-human Clark." She finished, disappointment obvious in her tone, and Clark shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.

"I know. I shouldn't have said it. My Dad would've hated to think that I had. I realise I shouldn't have lashed out, I guess it was just easier than trying to deal with things." Clark looked over at Chloe to see her smiling understandingly

"I know Clark." She consoled "There's some days where I think I'd do anything to have my mom back in my life, but I know she'd have wanted me to be happy, and that's what matters." Clark frowned. Chloe's mom had been in a mental institution for many years. Clark didn't even know if Chloe knew where her mom was. Chloe's mom may as well be dead, and Clark knew how taxing it was on his blonde friend. He smiled sadly at her, glad that she in some way understood what he was getting at.

"You said you were worried about Danny?" Chloe asked

"Yeah, I haven't heard from him since school let out, and I can't find him anywhere." Clark answered.

"Well he can teleport anywhere Clark. He could be in Miami if he wanted to be." Chloe said with laughter in her voice.

"Danny's teleporting doesn't work like that I don't think." Clark frowned. "But that's not the point, he's been hiding it pretty well, but he's still upset about some of the things I said to him."

"What did you say to Danny?" Chloe asked

"It wasn't nice; can we leave it at that?" Clark requested, his gut twisting as he recalled how he accused Danny of not caring that he'd lost his family. Over the past two days it had been painfully obvious how deeply Danny had been affected by his loss. Danny was just very good at hiding his pain, but being intangible had left Danny more emotionally vulnerable than he usually was, so the mask had faded. At least that's what it felt like to Clark.

"Okay." Chloe replied, interrupting Clark's string of thoughts. "Have you actually tried talking to him?"

"That's the thing. He won't talk, he was happy to help out and do a bit of training with me, but he won't let me help him."

"Training?" Chloe inquired.

"He helps with target practice" Clark answered without thinking.

"How? You're not attacking your cousin are you Clark?" Chloe demanded aghast and Clark froze for a minute. Chloe didn't know about all of Danny's powers. All she knew was he could heal fast and he could teleport. It wasn't Clark's place to tell her about the rest of them, and for some reason Danny thought it was safer if nobody knew he was Phantom.

"No" Clark replied "he sets up targets and sorta encourages me to "refine my talents" or so he says."

"So the Kryptonian is taking hints from a sixteen year old kid. Never expected to see that coming." She commented with a cheeky smile.

Clark shrugged "He lived in a ghost town, he knows how to aim."

"Think I could tag along some day? I'd love to see it." Chloe commented, a thoughtful look on her face.

Clark realised that he'd gotten off track again. The problem was that Danny still hadn't checked in, and it was getting to the point where Clark was worried. Chloe saw his agitation and suggested that instead of sitting around like an old mother hen he actually call his cousin.

The phone answered after the third ring _"Hey Clark" _Danny's voice came across as slightly out of breath.

"What's wrong, what's got you out of breath?" Clark questioned, now worried that Danny had been off fighting some ghost and was in trouble.

"_Nothing, just... working out. There's someone else here, so..." _Danny trailed off, but Clark was able to read between the lines. For the sake of appearing normal to whomever it was Danny needed to act like he was being tired out by exerting himself.

Clark was mollified, but still curious "Okay then, who have you been working out with? Actually, where are you? I couldn't find you anywhere in Smallville."

"_Um," _Danny paused awkwardly on the other side of the phone. _"I'm at Lex's. He wanted to see how I handled fencing. Then we went hands on, he's really good with Judo. We've been at it for about an hour now. Lex wanted a break, but it was... actually kinda fun" _Clark frowned. He didn't want Danny anywhere near Lex, Danny didn't know what Lex was capable of, and Clark couldn't pull Danny out of danger if Lex got too curious.

"You're at Lex's?" Clark demanded. From the other side of the desk Chloe's jaw dropped as she mouthed _"Lex's?"_

"_Yeah, Clark" _Danny replied. The strange thing was that he didn't sound worried or scared, he sounded happy. _"I've actually been having fun. Lex is really good with a sabre, and I enjoyed the practice. It's not like I get to play with swords that often." _Danny sounded genuinely excited, and Clark reflected that this was probably the first chance Danny had had to practice sword fighting since he was in the Far Frozen. Still, it didn't sit well with Clark that Danny was voluntarily spending time with Lex.

"You need to be careful Danny. Lex will use you if you let him."

"_Geez Clark, I'm fine."_ Clark got the distinct impression of Danny rolling his eyes. _"I can handle it myself, you don't need to worry. It's just a swordfight."_

"You know what I mean. Lex is dangerous"

"_Clark, I know. But I can take care of myself you know. I don't need you to babysit me all the time."_ Clark didn't know what to say to that. There was a long pause on the other side of the phone before Danny's voice came back _"Um, Clark, I gotta go. I'll see you later, okay. Bye." _Clark frowned at the abrupt dismissal, looking at the "call ended" message on his phone. Chloe was looking at him curiously, so Clark explained that Danny had gone to Lex's for a swordfight.

Chloe seemed disturbed at that news, but suggested that Clark wait and see how things played out. She reminded him that he needed to trust Danny to make his own decisions, even if they were the wrong ones. Clark sighed in frustration. It wasn't that he didn't trust Danny _per se _it was just that Danny had no experience dealing with human enemies that he knew of. He could handle ghosts just fine, but Danny himself had admitted that a ghost's mind worked differently to a humans, and Clark worried that Danny wouldn't be able to handle Lex.

Chloe stood up from her desk, claiming that she needed to get something from the filing room. Clark followed her, still involved in the debate over Danny's safety. Clark knew deep down that Lex was beyond saving, and Danny was just going to risk his own exposure by meddling in Lex's life. Clark had had enough of the billionaire, four and a half years of being the subject of obsessive investigation was more than enough to prove Lex's lack of loyalty to him. Clark walked a step behind Chloe as she strode towards the filing room door; she pulled the dark mahogany open and froze. Clark nearly ran into her, but stopped just in time. He looked over her blonde hair and saw the trouble.

The whole filing office was in complete disarray, the files were strewn everywhere all over the floor. The archive boxes were floating, surrounded by a wavering blue energy field. At the very back of the room was a dumpy floating man in blue overalls. Clark half recognised him from one of the sketches Danny had left lying around in his room. He was about to identify him to Chloe, when the ghost interrupted him.

"BEWARE for I am the BOX GHOST! Who dares to interrupt my CARDBOARD based DOMINATION?" The blue ghost demanded.

"Chloe Sullivan of the _Daily Planet_. You realise you just messed up about five years of back files." Chloe commented.

"I care not for your petty files; I am merely here to begin my conquest with the CORREGATED ARCHIVE BOXES OF DOOM!" The box ghost screeched, launching a barrage of boxes at them. Clark blocked them from flying into Chloe, but they packed quite a punch as far as flying boxes go. Chloe took the opportunity to run out of the room to fetch the ecto-gun that Danny had made for her all those months ago.

Clark stared at the blue ghost as he cried "BEWARE, foolish human, for nothing can escape the mighty power of the BOX GHOST!" Clark sighed and approached the floating specter, intending to attack him. However Chloe got there first, firing three quick shots from the ecto-gun before her eyes widened.

"It's out of charge!" She exclaimed and ducked underneath another box as it flew towards her. The Box Ghost seemed more infuriated for the attack, the boxes flying with higher velocity as the blue energy around them brightened. Clark grunted as one slammed into his chest, he wasn't used to having to duck, but was starting to think he'd better learn. Clark punched the specter, managing to slam it against the wall, but he phased through to continue his assault on Chloe.

"Clark, do something!" Chloe demanded as she avoided another box.

"I don't know how!" Clark shot back, send a right hook at the ghost who dodged, screeching at Clark that he'd never win. Danny had never told him how to take down ghosts, and Clark had always assumed he'd be there.

"Well what about Phantom? He's usually floating around whenever he's needed. Phantom, if you can hear us, please help." Chloe called into the air before shaking her head "Okay, now I feel like Don Quixote." Clark rolled his eyes and threw a box back at the ghost, sending him flying into the back wall, but he quickly recovered.

"I don't think that Phantom works like that. He's not psychic." Clark commented, catching a box and returning it forcefully to the blue specter.

"Danny Phantom is not here, you cannot stop me from taking over the world with my CORRUGATED BOXES OF CARDBOARD FURY!" Another barrage of boxes was sent flying at Clark and Chloe. Chloe was looking furiously for anything that could help, but anything they threw at the ghost sailed right through him. Clark had no idea what to do, give him a meteor freak and he could bring them down, but he had no idea what to do with ghosts.

"Well how was I supposed to know? The websites say he is." Chloe spat back irritated. She took another look at the ghost. "Call Danny. He's got that thermos thing!" Chloe retorted, and Clark pulled out his phone, trying to get in contact with the halfa. The Box Ghost became more violent at the mention of a Thermos; it was all Clark could do to dodge the flying boxes that were spinning ferociously in a vicious whirlwind of cardboard. The phone rang twice before Danny answered.

"_Not a good time Clark"_

_Line Break_

Lex and Danny had been fighting for an hour, Danny slowing down at the same pace as Lex, since he had only ever trained with ghosts. His instructor Garth had kept him going for six hours straight when he was learning how to use his sword, so it was easier to just pretend to be human now. Eventually Lex called for a break, panting ever so slightly. Danny subconsciously matched his breathing to the elder man as he pulled the mask off his face.

"You're full of surprises." Lex commented lightly as he pulled off his own mask. "You almost had me a couple of times there." Truth was Danny could have won the bout ten times over, Lex left too many openings that Danny forced himself to ignore, even with the unfamiliar blade. But that didn't stop him from shyly smiling and giving an awkward shrug.

"I'm glad you had fun Mr Luthor, although I don't think I can count on beginners luck all the time." Danny replied. Lex tugged off the outer layer of his protective gear, indicating for Danny to follow suit. Danny tugged his t-shirt back over his head, messing his hair up a bit as he did. Lex disappeared for a minute, giving Danny the opportunity to switch back to his street clothes. When Lex reappeared he was in a neat sports outfit, wearing only a white short sleeved t-shirt and tidy grey track-pants with a white towel slung across his shoulders.

"If that was beginners luck, I'd like to see you all trained up. Have you considered taking fencing as a sport?" Lex asked and seemed genuinely curious.

"Nah," Danny replied "I don't think they even offer it at Smallville High. They certainly didn't at Casper. Besides, I'm happier not being on the sports teams." Danny shrugged.

"Why? Your cousin was the star player of the football team just last year." Lex looked curiously at him and Danny sighed. Part of his facade as Fenton was the incurable clumsiness and weakness, meaning that he couldn't try out for any sports teams. Besides that he hated attention and never had time for it. Unfortunately he had given that facade up in front of Lex months ago when he fought Skulker off, so acting weak in front of him would be useless. Instead he used the next best answer.

"I don't like the attention" Danny admitted "I'm happier fading into the background. Let the people who really want it have sporting attention, I can get on without it."

"But you could be great at it, why wouldn't you want to show off your skills?" Lex shot back.

Danny shook his head, running his fingers through his hair. "Like I said, I don't like the attention. I got enough of it from Mom and Dad being who they were, so I prefer not being in the spotlight. Sorta defeats the point if I go and jump into it on my own."

Lex didn't look convinced. He pulled Danny over to the punching bag, taking aim himself and landing a precise blow on the bag. It shifted an inch before quickly coming back to rest. "You don't need to be in the spotlight; it's about taking control and knowing that you can tackle the world for yourself. It's about proving your worth to your fellow man. Take a shot."

Danny blinked twice before he replied. "I already know my worth; I don't care if no one else sees it. It's enough for me to know my strengths without taking away from anyone else's." Danny took a shot at the bag, precise and fast, the heavy bag swung only slightly, but Danny was limiting himself to human strength. He had seen Dash training and knew human limitations with this sort of thing. Lex didn't even raise an eyebrow at Danny's display; it was almost as if he'd expected it.

"Really?" Lex challenged "So you think you can handle hand to hand as well?" Danny smiled and took a step onto the mat once more, giving Lex the universal "Bring it" gesture. Lex smiled, taking an offensive stance himself. "I should warn you, I am trained in five martial arts." Lex commented loftily. Danny just smiled, allowing Lex to take the first swing. He dodged easily, taking a step back and slipping into a defensive stance.

"Ah, but training can only get anyone so far, one must know how to use it." Danny replied with a smirk. He dodged once more, and then moved to the offensive. Danny was truly enjoying himself. It was so rare that he actually got to practice his skills without the threat of being maimed or ended. There was something exhilarating in fighting against Lex. He was definitely very skilled, but most of Danny's skills were honed out of necessity where Lex had formally trained. Lex would stick to one style of fighting for a minute and then switch to another. Danny had taken a few classes with Sam, but had mostly made up his own style.

Lex sent a quick kick towards Danny's stomach which he dodged around, grabbing the leg and holding Lex off balance for a moment. Danny smiled and let Lex go, giving him a moment to recover before going on the attack again. The two fell into a steady rhythm, one which Danny knew he could end at any moment if he wanted, but he was enjoying the exertion too much. Eventually though Lex called a halt and, panting slightly, brought Danny back to his office.

Lex opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the ringing of Danny's phone. Danny jumped over to his backpack and pulled the phone out having immediately recognised the ringtone as his cousin's. "Hey Clark" Danny said, taking a seat opposite the young billionaire as he poured each of them a glass of water.

"_What's wrong, what's got you out of breath?" _Clark replied sounding anxious. Danny was a little annoyed. He didn't want to have to explain everything with Lex right in front of him, and a full explanation was one that he couldn't give with him around. He also didn't want Clark to find out he'd gone with Lex, so he was going to have to dance around the truth a little.

"Nothing, just... working out. There's someone else here, so..."Danny trailed off, hoping that would be enough to satisfy Clark. Lex looked curiously at Danny, and Danny just hoped that Lex wouldn't read anything too much into that comment.

"_Okay then, who have you been working out with? Actually, where are you? I couldn't find you anywhere in Smallville."_ Clark shot back. _'Or Not' _Danny mused. If Clark had gone looking that meant Danny would have to tell the truth about where he was.

"Um, I'm at Lex's." Danny explained slightly shamefully "He wanted to see how I handled fencing. Then we went hands on, he's really good with Judo. We've been at it for about an hour now. Lex wanted a break, but it was... actually kinda fun"Danny couldn't help the smile that crept onto his face, and he enjoyed the way Lex's eyes lit up in happiness when Danny admitted that.

"_You're at Lex's?"_ was Clark's incredulous reply. Danny cringed, he didn't want to offend his cousin, and Clark would always come first. But surely that didn't mean that Danny couldn't try to be friends with Lex at all, did it? Danny had stayed friends with Valerie Grey despite the fact that her alias wanted Danny Phantom's ectoplasm. Besides that, Danny had actually had fun fighting against Lex. It was exhilarating to fight in a friendly way as a human. He'd never really had that before, not at school, not with Sam and Tuck.

Clark still needed a response though, so Danny happily answered "Yeah, Clark I've actually been having fun. Lex is really good with a sabre, and I enjoyed the practice. It's not like I get to play with swords that often."Okay, so that was a slight stretch, he had used his sword to fight against a ghost not too long ago, but this was a very different skill set, and one Danny very rarely got to exercise.

"_You need to be careful Danny. Lex will use you if you let him." _Clark advised. Danny could just imagine his face at the moment, but Clark was wrong. There was nothing Lex Luthor could do to Danny that Vlad hadn't already done worse. And even if he did, Danny wouldn't have to hide Lex's transgressions from his family just to keep them safe.

Danny rolled his eyes. "Geez Clark, I'm fine. I can handle it myself, you don't need to worry. It's just a swordfight." Lex smiled over his crystal glass at that. Danny smiled, but his attention was pulled to something making its way through the mansion. Danny didn't know what it was, other than the fact that it was creating subtle amounts of static that Danny felt race through the air even from this distance. The overhead lights flickered slightly, but this went unnoticed by Lex.

"_You know what I mean. Lex is dangerous" _Clark interrupted Danny's concentration, and throwing him for the briefest of moments. Whatever or whoever it was that was causing the strange energy, they were getting closer.

"Clark, I know. But I can take care of myself you know. I don't need you to babysit me all the time." Danny hardly even realised what he was saying, the energy source had just arrived outside the door of the room. It was a human, no doubt about it. The aura was strong, tingling with electrical power. They were meteor infected, that strange twang jarring against Danny's senses. The door was flung open noisily. "Um, Clark, I gotta go. I'll see you later, okay. Bye."Danny quickly shut off the phone, shoving it into his pocket.

The electricity in the room swelled, Lex looked over to the intruder, but before he could get a word in Danny dove, his instincts screaming to protect the young man. That tackle sent both of them sprawling, a powerful charge of electricity obliterated the sofa where Lex had just been seated. Roughly the two stood up and turned to face their assailant. The acrid scent of burnt leather and ozone washed through the air.

The man stood tall, but slightly hunched over as he panted. Brown eyes looked up from under light brown hair. He was wearing a black suit; the wire from his lapel identified him as one of Lex's security detail. Electrical sparks flickered across his fingers as he gazed upon the two of them the whole room was eerily silent apart from his breathing.

"I won't let you do this." The man said, gazing fixedly at Lex.

"Clay, you need to calm down." Lex smoothly replied, holding his hand out as he would to a disobedient puppy. Danny frowned, so Lex did know the man well enough to know his name. The question was what had caused Clay to flip out like this.

"No!" Clay snarled "I won't let this happen again." His fingers sparked threateningly, Clay raised his hand and a bolt of electricity soared across the distance between Clay and Lex. Without thinking Danny shoved Lex out of the way, the electricity ripping into him instead. Danny bit down a scream; this was nearly as bad as when Skulker brought out a new taser. It tore through him, the electricity digging deep into him, all the way to his core.

Danny gasped as the electricity pierced his ghostly core, awakening something that he had long since forgotten about. All those months ago when Fine was in the Fortress trying to summon Zod Danny had absorbed the energy from the portal directly into his core. He had frozen it, iced it over to the point that he could forget about the foreign energy in his ghostly core. But now it was awakening. Danny felt another surge of electricity race through him, but wasn't sure who it belonged to. Colours danced on the edge of Danny's vision and he surrendered to the mounting blackness as the electricity consumed him.

Danny awoke to the sound of heavy breathing. His eyes were closed and his thoughts were foggy as he tried to recall what was going on. He was in a small room, judging by the sound of the echoing off the metallic walls. Danny could still feel the electricity thrumming away under his skin. He knew that his ghost powers were useless until he found a safe way to dispel all this excess energy. Danny slowly opened his eyes, cold white-blue light shone down on him.

"Where am I?" he groaned, rubbing his throbbing head as he pulled himself up into a sitting position.

"We're in the safe room next to my office. Are you alright?" Lex asked worriedly. Danny blinked and leaned his back up against the wall, taking stock of the room. The walls were mostly cement, but the lower portion of the room was lined with metal. Danny was seated on the lone bed in the room; the crisp linens cool to the touch. Green light shone down from the large monitors on the opposite wall. There seemed to be a live feed from most of the security cameras in the mansion flicking through the display.

"I'll be fine. What happened?" Danny inquired finally, still hazy from the power tingling through his core and having just awoken from unconsciousness.

"Clay Fulgur, one of my security team. Living with Clark I'm sure you're aware of the threat meteor infected individuals present." Lex explained and Danny quickly nodded. "It appears Clay has picked up the ability to generate electricity." Danny mused over the irony of the name Fulgur; Latin for lightning. Then his dazed mind wondered where he'd even picked up Latin to begin with.

"And he decided to go Zeus on us, why?" Danny asked.

"I don't know." Lex answered, not quite meeting Danny's eyes. "Are you sure you're okay, you blacked out from the blast."

"I'm fine." Danny replied standing up. For the time being he was stuck being human, he couldn't just run off to release his powers with Lex around, and he couldn't even risk using them subtly now. There was just too much energy running around beneath his skin. He'd need to be far away from anyone living when he released it. Danny walked over to the screens, observing the man as he prowled through the office.

"Luthor" Clay's voice echoed through the room. Danny surmised there must be an audio feed as well as the video feed. "Let the kid go. I won't let you do this again. He doesn't deserve to be your next project." Clay snarled the last word.

"What's he talking about?" Danny asked, looking at Lex. But he had a sinking suspicion that he already knew. Clark had been Lex's "project" for four years.

"I don't exactly know. But we're safe in here. I've pulled the silent alarm; the police should be on their way." Lex answered, but it was a dodge and Danny saw through it.

"What does he want Lex?" Danny asked; trying to sound genuinely worried. This was technically a hostage situation, and while usually he'd just send a duplicate out to resolve everything, this time he really couldn't risk using his powers. That meant he had to play the scared little human in this situation, at least if he wanted to stand any chance of coming out of this without Lex thinking of him as more than human.

On the screen Clay moved across to the desk, flicking through some loose files as he continued his monologue, as if answering Danny's question. "For years now I've been part of your team, Luthor. I've heard you ranting for hours, obsessing over the amazing Clark Kent, as if he's something special. Planning hundreds of ways to make him reveal his big secret to you, and now you go after the kid. In case you haven't noticed, I'm special too, but you don't care. You just barge into people's lives and corrupt them. And I'm sick of it."

Clay released another charge of electricity, the desk shattered into a million glass pieces, and there was a moments static on the surveillance screens. Lex walked over to the screens and picked up a microphone. "Look, Clay. I'm sorry if you feel that way, but..."

"I don't care Luthor. You've had your chance. Clark's just a farm boy, and the little kid is no different. Come out and face me like a man, rather than hide in your little safe house. Or is that the problem? You don't know how to deal when someone with an actual power comes out to play?" Clay demanded as he stalked through the room. Even through the screens the crackling electricity on his fingers was obvious.

"Lex, what are you going to do?" Danny inquired, meeting the billionaire's eyes. He didn't want to talk about the undertones about Clark. Danny was fully aware of that, and how high the stakes were in the game he was playing, it was still possible to divert attention away from Clark and to try to steer Lex away from the darkness. But a situation like this was only going to corrupt Lex more. He needed to believe in the best in people, and this was not helping.

"Wait for the police to come; it's all I can do." Lex replied coolly with a slight shrug. He went and took a seat on the bed, still gazing at the screens.

"You're not even going to talk to him?" Danny demanded.

Lex looked towards Danny, his eyes showed conviction, but Danny could feel a wave of weariness pouring off the young man. "In my experience they won't listen to reason. Or maybe they just won't listen to me. I don't see why Clay will be any different." Danny was about to respond when his phone rang again.

"Not a good time Clark." Danny said curtly.

Clark's response was rather panicked_. "There's a problem at the _Planet _and we could really use your help."_

"I'm really not in a position to help." Danny answered. Lex raised an eyebrow at him.

"_Look, can't you just run out on Lex. We really need you here." _Clark demanded. It took all of Danny's energy not to snap back at Clark.

"I can't leave just at the moment. There's a problem and I'm stuck here till it rides out."

"_Can't you send a duplicate then?"_ Clark inquired. Danny heard a loud bang in the background over the phone and sighed in his frustration.

"Not just now. Look, what's the problem, maybe I can help from here."

"_A ghost showed up at the _Planet_ and the gun you gave Chloe ran out of charge."_ Danny sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He didn't want Lex to figure out what Clark and he were talking about, and from the inquisitive eyebrow Danny knew that he needed to be thinking up a damn good explanation.

"Which one?" Danny asked, not bothering to be specific.

"_Introduced himself as the Box Ghost." _Clark explained and Danny groaned. He shouldn't have let Boxy out of the Thermos so soon. The good thing was that Boxy wasn't that hard to beat, the bad thing was Clark had no idea how to do that, nor did he have any ecto-weaponry. Now Danny had to explain how to defeat a ghost without specifically saying how to in front of Lex.

"Okay, um, turn the heat up as high as you can. Just don't burn anything." Danny hoped that Clark would get the message.

"_Heat, will that work?" _Clark asked, and Danny answered in the affirmative. Ectoplasm doesn't react too well to heat and if Clark made it hot enough Boxy would fall unconscious. Although it would have to be hotter than the temperature of an oven in the room to work.

"_I'll give it a shot, then what?"_ Danny sighed. It would be so much easier if Clark knew the first thing about ghosts. Danny knew that even if Boxy woke up he couldn't turn intangible to Clark.

"Just hold onto it. I'll be there soon to clean up." Danny said and shut off the phone. Lex's gaze was making Danny uncomfortable, and there was a bigger concern on hand than the Box Ghost.

"Clark was having trouble with an unfamiliar recipe in the kitchen." Danny said by way of explanation. It sorta worked in with what he'd said. "Now, what are the police going to do when they get here against an electricity wielding meteor infected man?" Danny asked, switching topics.

"I don't know, but we're sitting here defenceless. At least the police have weapons, and I don't want you to get hurt again. Something tells me Clark won't be happy if I let his cousin get killed." Lex replied. Danny simply rolled his eyes.

"I've got a better idea; feel free to watch if you want." Danny said and walked solidly out the door, ignoring Lex's loud protests. The electricity in his core was becoming distracting, and Danny needed a way out before he couldn't control it anymore. The door to the panic room closed behind him and he immediately attracted Clay's attention. However he strode across the room, planting himself on the opposite wall to the panic room.

Danny finally turned his attention to Clay. "Good evening Mr Fulgur." Danny said in a polite tone, as if he wasn't holding Lex and to a lesser extent him hostage. Clay was thrown off balance and blinked confusedly, which was exactly what Danny wanted.

"Good evening, Danny Fenton?" Clay almost asked. "You shouldn't have jumped in the way like that, I just wanted Lex." Clay explained.

"Just Danny. Why? Why do you want Lex?" Danny queried gently, Clay wasn't a ghost and could be rationalised with a lot more easily. At least Danny hoped so.

"Lex obsesses. First it was Clark, now it's you and Clark. He's always after the big secret, but he never notices when there are far more special people out there than you. Either of you. I've been given a gift, and he doesn't even care. He's just going to meddle in your life, he'll ruin it. He manipulates people and he doesn't even care. He spent years obsessing over your cousin, and now he's doing the same thing with you." Clay ranted.

"Clay, I don't think it's that." Danny said, fully aware that Lex was listening in. "Clark is genuine. And Lex saw a friend in him. That's what he obsesses over. I think he just wants a friend."

"You're wrong" Clay retorted, electricity crackling more wildly across his fingertips. "He looks for people with power, with gifts. He was so disappointed when Clark got burned by that laser grid. And then you came along, tackling an 'automaton' by yourself. Since the election all he's talked about is you and your cousin and how special you both are if he could just prove it. But all I see is a kid who thinks he's better than he really is."

"So you want to kill Lex because he's taken an interest in me?" Danny raised an eyebrow; he took a deep breath, rubbing his hand through his hair. "I've never liked attention, you know. But lately I'm getting more than I ever wanted. Just because you have a gift doesn't mean you should use it."

"I'm not going to listen to a responsibility speech from a little kid." Clay spat, the electricity in his hands shot out, singing the floor around Clay. Danny sighed.

"And I'm not gonna give one. But hurting Lex, killing him. What's that gonna do?" Danny was running out of time. He could feel the electricity in his core straining to get out. It was wearing his consciousness thin.

"It'll... it'll make him pay attention. I have power, I can use it. I want him to see that. I want to be the one that he cares about, not two powerless farm kids. It'll keep you safe."

Danny gestured to the destroyed sofa and the shattered desk "I dare say you've done that. But now what? You've attacked him, so now you're a threat to him. He's not gonna try to befriend you. So what happens next? If you keep going like this, the only way out is if one of you is dead. I'd rather that didn't happen. In my book nobody's safe if someone's dead." Danny said calmly. He wished he could risk using his own powers, he could calm Clay down more easily then. But for now he was stuck with using words.

"Clay, I'm fine on my own. I know what Lex has done to my cousin. Clark constantly reminds me of it. But I've always been one for second chances. If Lex is extending an olive branch to me then I'll take it." Danny knew full well that Lex could hear him. Hopefully this would also motivate Lex to tone down on the investigations if Danny was willing to show that he trusted him. "I reckon he at least deserves a friend. And if that involves a bit of risk, it's worth it. Nothing worthwhile is risk free. But it's more important to make friends who accept you for you."

"What makes you say that?" Clay asked. He seemed to be calming down at least.

"Don't know how much you know about me, or how much you overheard from Lex." Clay met Danny's eyes, the barest hint of shame in his brown eyes. The electricity on his fingertips had died down; he looked far more rational now than the incensed rage he had exuded when he first walked in.

"Growing up, my parents were ghost hunters. But nobody believed in ghosts. I was 'that special kid', the loser son of the town freaks. But I found two friends who cared about me. I didn't have to force myself on them; they liked me for me. That's all you can ask for in the world. You're special; you have a unique talent, one that nobody else can understand. You don't need to protect me, you don't need to prove yourself better than anyone, you just need find the people who make you better within yourself."

Clay was still for a minute, he seemed to be thinking over what Danny had said. It was then that the police arrived, but Clay made no move to attack them. He stood, watching Danny. "You know, maybe Lex is right about you." He said, looking curiously at Danny, who shifted awkwardly under his gaze. "You may not have some unique power, but you do have a unique view."

The police came up to Clay, handcuffing his wrists together behind his back. Clay seemed still to be thinking, and allowed himself to be escorted out of the room, still gazing curiously at Danny. Lex came out of the safe room and spent a few minutes talking to the sheriff, explaining the situation. Danny only hoped that Clay would be okay, he just needed a little push back in the right direction and he could actually use his power for the benefit of the world.

"Once again you've surprised me." Lex commented as he came to stand next to Danny. Danny himself was really struggling, while he had the presence of mind to calm Clay down it was difficult. His core was now demanding relief, and he still needed to get to Clark in the city.

"I don't know how Lex. Jazz was heavily into psychology, I just reused some of the things she said to me when I felt like an outcast." Danny shrugged. Lex invited Danny to stay for a little longer, but Danny said he really needed to head off to help Clark out. Lex kindly drove Danny back to the Farm's front gate, suggesting that they meet up again another day. Danny smiled at the idea, it had been fun up till the point that Clay came in. Danny watched Lex drive off into the distance. By now it had been forty minutes since Clark called about the Box Ghost, but there was one more thing he needed to do first.

Danny teleported high into the sky, far away from anyone or anything and released the electricity. A bright flash of white light crackled through the darkened sky, illuminating it to almost daylight. But Danny didn't care. All he knew was that the pain that had been crackling through him for over an hour and the pressure from the foreign power was finally gone. Danny took a deep calming breath to focus his mind, savouring the taste of the cold night air in his lungs. In another instant he was gone, vanished in a mist of swirling green.

_Line Break_

Clark stared blankly at the call ended icon on his phone. Danny had hung up on him twice in the same day. However the clipped tone with which he had spoken suggested that Danny was currently under a lot of pressure. For now Clark had more pressing concerns, like the ghost that was terrorising the filing room of the _Daily Planet._

"So is he coming?" Chloe asked. Clark shook his head in the negative.

"What are we gonna do then. If we don't stop that ghost then my boss will quite happily play Henry the Eighth on my career." Chloe retorted, strain obvious in her voice.

Clark looked between his friend and the now closed door of the filing room "Danny suggested something that might help."

"Well go then" Chloe demanded, gesturing towards the door. Clark swung it open, steeling himself for the task ahead. The Box Ghost was now happily flinging around the last of the archive boxes, throwing the files within haphazardly on the floor. The linoleum tiles had been covered by hundreds of data sheets and hardcopy prints of the paper. It would take hours to sort it, even after the specter was gone.

Clark gazed towards the air and took a deep calming breath. He fixed his eyes on a point two feet in front of the Box Ghost, employing a tactic that Danny had suggested. Clark released the energy from his eyes, the burning power of the sun sending the temperature of the room soaring. With the energy focused on a tiny point in the air there was nothing to ignite, he was just heating the room with the radiant heat from his eyes. Soon enough it was hotter than any human could stand, and Clark was astounded as the specter gave a yawn. Still Clark focused, the temperature surging even higher. There was a soft thud as the Box Ghost fell to the floor, looking completely unconscious.

Clark was stunned that it had worked. He walked over towards the specter, shuffling the loose papers and boxes out of the way to clear a path. He clasped his hand firmly around his wrist and lifted the unconscious specter out of the room. They would have to tidy up in there before they left for the night, but for now the important thing was to keep the ghost contained and away from boxes. Clark carried the Box Ghost into the bull-pen, knowing that there were no boxes loose in the room.

"What did you do?" Chloe demanded as soon as she laid eyes on the unconscious specter.

"Danny suggested it. Looks like ghosts don't like heat." Clark replied. The box ghost was still unconscious, flopped gracelessly on the floor where Clark had put him.

"What now?" Chloe asked and Clark frowned looking down at the specter. For now he was not a problem, so Clark stepped away. If he showed any signs of waking Clark would be onto him as soon as possible. Really all they could do was wait and hope Danny showed up soon. Clark's eyes darkened. This was unfamiliar to him. He wasn't used to having to rely on anyone else to save the day. Usually it was easy, just knock out the bad guy and let the police handle it. But in this case he needed to rely on his cousin to get rid of the problem.

Clark voiced these thoughts. "I think we'll just have to wait until Danny gets here. I don't have anything to contain the ghost, so there's not much else we can do." Chloe frowned and took a seat at her computer. She typed on the computer for a few minutes, every so often looking over to the figure of the ghost, still unconscious on the floor.

"Is it just me, or is his aura getting brighter?" Chloe prompted after half an hour of waiting. Looking closer Clark saw that indeed the bright energy around the ghost was becoming more solid. In the cooler atmosphere of the bull-pen the ghost was starting to wake up. It took a full five minutes, but eventually his eyes flickered open revealing dim blue eyes. He blinked twice, seemingly disoriented then floated up, or rather he tried to. In an instant Clark was over to the ghost, his hand clamped firmly around his wrist.

"What did you do to the BOX GHOST!" The ghost screeched as soon as he was aware of the situation. For a moment he faded, almost vanishing from the visible spectrum before staring angrily at Clark "Why can I not escape you?" He demanded. Clark opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted.

"Hey Boxy" Clark sighed relief at the sound of his cousin's voice. It was about time they dealt with this pest.

"YOU!" The Box Ghost screamed "What have you done? No human can hold on to me, the Box Ghost. Tell this foolish human to let me go."

"I'm not a foolish human." Clark snapped to the ghost "I'm..."

"Wearing a special compound specifically designed to nullify intangibility." Danny cut Clark off before he pulled out the Thermos. "Next time, stay in the Zone for longer. I really don't like playing tag with you Boxy." He coolly flipped off the cap and the Box Ghost vanished in a cone of bright blue light, an echoing "NOOO!" resonating after him.

Danny looked between Clark and Chloe; he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Sorry for being late, um, I hope he didn't cause too much trouble." Clark blinked at Danny.

"Okay, I'm a bit lost here; can you please explain what just happened?" Chloe interjected, expressing Clark's own feelings. Danny sighed before taking a seat on the desk opposite Chloe's. He didn't start talking until Chloe and Clark had taken a seat as well.

"Where do you want me to start?" Danny asked. He was quiet, shifting almost guiltily under their gaze.

"What kept you tied up at Lex's?" Clark demanding, expressing his disdain for the billionaire.

Danny sighed, staring at the ceiling for a minute. "One of his employees decided that he needed to protect me from Lex. He had a bit of an... electric personality, and wouldn't let either of us go. I couldn't just teleport out." Danny explained. Clark was tempted to try to talk some sense into Danny, after all being around Lex was not safe, but now wasn't the time. He would have to talk about that later.

"That's fair" Chloe acknowledged, saving Clark the trouble of responding. Danny half smiled, relaxing slightly. "What exactly happened to the Box Ghost?" She asked.

"I'm guessing Clark superheated the room you originally found Boxy in?" Danny prompted, and at Clark's curt nod he elaborated. "Ectoplasm, what ghosts are made of is a weird form of energy. If I use an electrical analogy, electricity is conducted better along a super-cooled metal, but if you add heat you increase the resistance. It's a bit like that for ectoplasm. For most ghosts as soon as the temperature goes above 350 degrees their ectoplasm will stop working properly, rendering them harmless, or unconscious. Of course there are some exceptions, and the higher powered ones can resist higher temperatures. But it worked for the Box Ghost." Danny finished with a shrug.

"As for why he couldn't escape... well, Clark and I found out that ghosts can't go intangible to Kryptonians. It has to do with the fact that Clark's molecules are too densely packed together for much else to pass through them." Clark just nodded, recalling the day all those months ago when Danny had first done that experiment. And more recently the fact that Clark was the only tangible thing that Danny could physically interact with.

"So you didn't give him a special compound to nullify intangibility?" Chloe queried almost sadly.

"Sorry Chloe, no. If I had access to a Ghost Hunter's lab I probably could make something, Dad used to have gloves for it." Danny broke off for it, smiling into the distance at some private memory. However he quickly shook his head and came back to the situation at hand. "Heh, Clark is just naturally immune to intangibility." Chloe pouted slightly, but Danny just laughed it off.

"Actually, that reminds me, the ecto-gun you gave me ran out of charge." Chloe said, handing the silver weapon over to Danny. He took a minute to look at it, blinking. He pulled open the metallic case to look at the mechanism within. It looked more complex than when Clark had last seen it. But Clark figured that was the components Danny had added to make it harmless to humans.

"Um, can I take it back till tomorrow, even if I charge it now I'll have to reconfigure the secondary mechanism." Danny asked awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. Chloe acquiesced, but there was something else that was bothering Clark.

"Okay, so now we've got the science down, can you please explain why you stopped me from telling the Ghost I was Kryptonian?" Clark asked sternly, but was so surprised at Danny's incredulous gaze that he shrunk back slightly.

"Clark, I know you don't know much about ghosts, but come on. I would have thought it was obvious. You keep your secret from humans; well ghosts are much bigger gossips; especially Box Ghost. You'd be safer if you published your secret in the _Planet_ than telling him."

"Why?" Chloe interjected.

Danny shrugged, leaning backwards on the desk against his palms. "Skulker, Ghost Zone's greatest hunter; collector of the rare and unique. There's a couple more I'd worry about, but he's the one who comes out of the Zone most often. It doesn't get much rarer than the lone survivor of a dying planet." Clark frowned at that thought. Even subtly Danny had protected him from the ghosts. Clark wasn't sure how to feel, he was too unused to relying on anyone else to keep him safe. But he certainly didn't want to end up the victim of ghostly attention.

"If you want I'll come back later, help clean up. But for now I'm gonna do a scout around; see if I can find a portal to send Boxy back to the Zone." Danny said quickly. It was obvious that he was getting restless, and while Clark did still need to talk to him, that could wait for another day. Clark sent Danny off, fortunately avoiding much inquiry from Chloe. It was interesting to see how well Danny danced around the truth. In a swirl of green he was gone, and Clark and Chloe set about the arduous task of cleaning the filing room so all evidence of the Box Ghost's presence was gone.

It was nearing midnight when they finally finished. Chloe smiled as she shoved the last archive box away, all the files had thankfully been unharmed, and so her job was safe. Clark was just glad that he had been some help in apprehending the Box Ghost. He'd have to ask if he could keep a thermos, or if Danny could teach him how to take care of a ghost himself. The two were about to head home when there was a loud crash from upstairs.

Two men in solid white suits came down the stairs, the silver devices in their hands whirring loudly. Both were bulky, with identical bald heads and to Clark's mind looked like bad knock offs of the Men in Black. Their suits could have belonged to body-guards if it weren't for the fact they were stark white. Each wore a black tie and dark sunglasses, even inside the darkened midnight bull-pen of the _Daily Planet_. Neither of the white clad men seemed to have noticed either Chloe or Clark's presence, they were too focused on their machines.

"Ectoplasmic trace 2.4, deteriorating." The Caucasian man said to his dark companion.

"Catalogued" The darker man replied, punching numbers into a machine "residual energy wavelength compatible with Entity 2.0013." He commented.

"Secondary trace 8.7, deteriorating." The Caucasian said again, blinking at his machine. He sounded less certain now; despite the bravado Clark caught a hint of fear in his voice. The man's companion looked up.

"Catalogued, residual energy... compatible with entity 7.0046, updating data." The man responded uncertainly. He looked to his Caucasian companion, shoulders betraying his uncertainty.

"Um, excuse me, but who are you?" Chloe demanded, finally drawing the attention of the white suited men from their machines.

"Operatives O and K of the GIW" The pale one announced proudly. Clark frowned, vaguely recalling that Danny had mentioned the GIW. "Investigators and Eliminators of the ectoplasmic threat. You have recently had two ectoplasmic beings on the premises."

"You're ghost hunters." Chloe stated plainly, meeting the two men firmly in the eyes.

"We eliminate ectoplasmic threats. Ectoplasmic beings are dangerous miss. Our objective is to eradicate the danger." Chloe shook her head and Clark felt inclined to agree with her. They would have been helpful four hours ago, but now...

"What are entity 2.0013 and entity 7.0046?" Clark asked the pair and ignoring his mounting concern that however Danny had mentioned the GIW it wasn't good.

"They are two ectoplasmic malefactors. 2.0013 identifies itself as the Box Ghost. While not powerful it does cause significant damage when left to itself. 7.0046, or 8.0046 as it will now be known labels itself as Phantom. It has caused billions of dollars of damage and must be eliminated on sight."

"So you have a ghost containment device?" Chloe asked. The two GIW agents raised their eyebrows in something akin to laughter.

"Young Lady, the Government does not care to contain an entity like Phantom." The African-American replied patronisingly.

"Correct, we are equipped with restraining devices, to move the entity to a locality where it would be safe to examine and destroy." The Caucasian emphasised superiorly. Clark blinked, and he saw Chloe's eyes widen in horror.

"You wouldn't release him back into the Ghost Zone?" Clark demanded.

"That would be a negative." The Caucasian barked "The government has no access to the Ghost Zone; the imperative is to eliminate the threat permanently. Have you seen an ectoplasmic entity here recently?"

"No, sorry" Clark replied immediately. "We've been working here all night, but neither of us have seen anything." Thankfully Chloe caught on. Trapping a ghost in a thermos was much better than permanently destroying it. And the thought of that fate for his cousin made Clark feel ill. Why had Danny never mentioned the severity of the situation to him? Even Chloe who knew them as two separate people saw Phantom as a person. These agents didn't even consider ghosts as people. Clark inwardly cringed. If anyone found out about him is that what he'd be? Just an "it"? A lesser being? How did Danny even put up with being treated like that?

"Trail's gone cold." The African American commented to his partner. "Report to HQ to catalogue new data?"

"Affirmative. Remember you two; the government is here to protect you. If you see an ectoplasmic entity, report it to us. We're here to keep you safe." The Caucasian said. It would almost be comforting if Clark hadn't heard the sadistic indifference when the agents were talking about experimenting and destroying ghosts. Clark was silent as he watched the two agents disappear into the night.

"God bless America?" Chloe whispered questioningly. "I never... how can the government even support that?" Chloe demanded, anger lacing her voice. Clark didn't know what to think. Earlier tonight he had been wishing for some human policing body for the ghosts, but having seen it he now wished there wasn't. At least Danny treated ghosts humanely; he sent them home safely, if a little worse for wear. But if the Government ever caught a ghost, if they ever caught Phantom...

"He'd never come back." Clark murmured, wide eyed at his own realisation.

"What was that?" Chloe asked. Clark gulped at the full ramifications of his epiphany.

"If those men ever caught Phantom, he'd never come back. He doesn't have rights or any kind of protection. If they caught him, they'd destroy him. No questions asked." Clark's mind was whirling. "But it's more than that. They've seen Phantom do good things. He saved a town from being lost in another dimension. If he's on the top of their hit list, what does that mean for anyone else?"

Chloe met him firmly in the eyes. A glimmer of understanding washed through her soft green eyes and she half smiled at him. "You mean, what does it mean for you?" Clark nodded; all his life one of his biggest concerns had been discovery. Now he was confronted with a government officiated path for what could happen if he ever was. "I don't think they could treat you the same. You are a full citizen, even if they did find you you'd be safe for that reason alone, but more than that, your mom, me, Danny, none of us would ever let anything happen to you. We'd keep you safe."

Clark nodded, temporarily mollified. One thing was for certain though; between his troubles with the ghosts, starting a friendship with Lex, and his new concerns with the GIW, Clark really needed to have a deep conversation with Danny. Things were getting to the point where maybe even the idea of Danny Phantom couldn't save the day, Clark wondered if he was ready to step up and step in before Danny buried himself too deeply for anyone to save him.

* * *

><p>AN: This chapter hated me. But anyway, now Clark knows about the GIW, is interested in letting Danny show him how to fight ghosts and also has found out that Lex isn't necessarily the only threat to his secret.<p>

Danny is being friendly with Lex, will he be Lex's redemption, or will Lex destroy another friendship?

Thanks to everyone who is reviewing, I love hearing from you guys and seeing what you guys think.

'Till next time

Bluerose


	17. Unstable

Chapter 16

Unstable 

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Clark grunted as an ectoblast from his cousin landed heavily on his shoulder. He shouldn't complain, after all he had asked for Danny to help him train up so he could tackle more threats than just meteor freaks. Danny had obliged, and for the last fortnight after school he'd come home to have an hour long training session with Clark. It was now halfway through February, and the weather was starting to turn. It had been raining pretty frequently of an evening, but the winter sun was still out during the day, peeking softly through the clouds.

Danny had come up with a fairly comprehensive training schedule for Clark, focusing on how to integrate all of his gifts and on tightening up his attacks. Clark felt that he was improving, but he sometimes wondered who would win a full on fight between him and his cousin. It was obvious that Danny was pulling some of his punches so to speak. Of course, the new regimen had followed a rather long conversation in the barn loft, which even Clark's mother had eventually been included in.

_Flashback – Two weeks ago_

_Clark and Danny were both in the loft although Clark was not sure Danny realised he was there. Danny was sitting by the window while Clark was standing on the stairs. Clark watched Danny for a while in silence, he had manifested a ball of glowing green light and was absently throwing it around like a ball, and it was interesting to just watch Danny play around with his powers. He seemed to draw a distinction between the house and the barn. He would rarely use his powers in the farmhouse, even if it was only Clark or him mom around. But in the barn he'd happily play around, performing small amusements with his ectoplasm or just floating as he studied._

_So Clark was content for a while to watch as Danny played with the glowing green ball. It was just before dinner, and Danny had been home for an hour now. Clark had been the house, but being Thursday, Danny had gone up to the barn to work on his homework pretty soon after arriving home. Although now he looked at ease, a faint sparkle in his eye as he tossed the ball higher into the air before catching it. After five minutes watching Clark was surprised when Danny commented "I know you're there Clark." Clark half smiled, it was actually very difficult to surprise the young halfa._

"_Yeah" Clark admitted "I wanted to talk." Danny nodded, taking a seat on the sofa and gesturing for Clark to do the same. _

"_So what's on your mind?" Danny asked. _

"_Lately, quite a lot actually; but first things first." Clark said calmly "After you left the other night we had a visit from some government agents, the GIW." The colour in Danny's face vanished and his eyes widened. _

"_They're here?" he whispered so softly that only Clark could hope to hear it. He took in a deep breath before clicking his tongue and asking "So what did they want?"_

"_They were looking for an "ectoplasmic being". Apparently they picked up the – ectoplasmic trace – for the Box Ghost. But when they arrived it said there was a trace for another one. He measured 8.7, and they identified him as 7.0046." Clark watched as Danny blinked twice. _

"_8.7?" Danny physically gulped "And you're sure it was 7.0046?" Fear flickered through his eyes for a moment, making Clark wonder why. The way he had asked made Clark sure Danny knew exactly who entity 7.0046 was, so the question became why was Danny afraid of himself?_

"_Yeah." Clark affirmed and Danny nodded. "You know who that is?"_

_Danny rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly before nodding slowly. "Yeah. Although I guess I'm 8.0046 now. That's how they work." He looked out the barn window for a long time, the sparkle in his eyes dimmed. _

"_They told us what they planned to do if they ever caught an ectoplasmic being." Clark pressed. He didn't know why it was so important to you, but he needed to know how much Danny knew. If he knew of the fate that awaited either of them if they were ever found out. _

"_It's not pleasant." Danny murmured. "Experiments, lots and lots of painful experiments and then..." He broke off, his eyes still fixed on some distant point on the horizon. He no longer seemed to be talking to Clark, he was too lost in his own thoughts "And it's not like they'd care that I'm half human. We're all the same. Not sentient enough, not alive enough... just not enough." Danny's eyes were glassy and Clark couldn't resist laying a comforting hand on the halfa's back._

"_Hey, I would never let that happen. Whatever it took I'd keep you safe." Clark promised, meaning it from the depths of his heart. Never mind his own fears, it was more important to make Danny feel safe. Nobody deserved the fate the GIW promised, and Clark would make sure Danny never saw it. _

"_And I might be able to help with that." A feminine voice announced. Clark looked up to see his mom standing at the top of the stairs. He looked questioningly over at her and she cleared her throat as soon as she saw she had Clark's attention. "The night I went to Metropolis to talk with the Governor's Office, they offered me Jon's senate seat."_

_Clark was stunned, this was an interesting development. He didn't know what to think; his mom could do a lot of good in the seat, but was it worth the risk? Then again how different could it be if his mom took the seat for his dad? And that opened still recent wounds. He wasn't sure if he was ready to deal with that now. It didn't take long for Clark and his mom to agree to discuss this more on another day. Danny was still lost in a world of his own. _

"_Danny?" Clark asked quietly, poking the halfa lightly in the side. Danny turned and blinked, shaking the cobwebs out of his head as he realised there was another person in the loft. _

"_Oh, hi Aunt Martha" He said quickly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Um, is it too late to ask what's up?" Danny's voice was light, but there was a strange undertone to it. Clark's mom just smiled, taking a seat herself. The senate seat was a discussion for another day, but there was obviously something more that Clark's mom wanted to know._

"_Danny, is there something wrong with your gifts at the moment?" She asked gently. She was obviously concerned, and to be honest so was Clark. For the past few months Danny had been having really strange glitches with his powers. Sometimes he'd even shift into his ghost half without realising it. Other times his human legs would disappear into a spectral tail. Clark had struggled not to mention that when he saw it. But when they all came together it seemed like they all added up to something bigger, and there was a missing puzzle piece that only Danny could answer for._

"_Not exactly." Danny answered carefully "But the thing is... it's a ghost thing, and in a way it's not my secret to tell. The ghosts don't want people this side of the world to know. I'm dealing with it as best I can, and I know it will sort itself out eventually."_

"_You're sure?" Clark asked and Danny nodded. Clark got the feeling that he'd find out more but gently guiding Danny into an answer on this, rather than pressuring him into one. However there was still a lot to discuss. "While we're on the subject of things sorting themselves out, what's the story with Lex?"_

_Danny looked up, firmly meeting Clark's eyes. "I'm not gonna apologise for it Clark. Lex extended the hand of friendship, I didn't ask him to, but he did. Before you say anything I know how dangerous he is, but I also know that what Lex doesn't need is someone else he trusts betraying him. He messed things up with you, I get that. But I believe that everyone deserves a second chance, and I'm gonna give it to him."_

_Danny's serious tone slipped into light hearted humour as he smiled "Besides, it was fun to get to practice fighting without risking having my head blown off."_

_Clark was not ready to let Danny go along with Lex. But perhaps it would be better to subtly guide him away from Lex's acidic touch than to outright ban it. Clark noticed that his mom didn't seem to press the issue much more than to remind Danny to be careful. However there was something in Danny's words that struck a chord for Clark._

_Danny had admitted that he liked practicing without the threat of death hanging over him. "Danny," Clark began cautiously "a couple of weeks ago you suggested setting up a training regimen." By now Clark had Danny and his mom's full attention. "I was wondering if I could take you up on that. More than that, after meeting the Box Ghost, can you teach me how to stop ghosts?" Clark spared a short glance at his mom who was smiling encouragingly at him. _

_Clark watched as Danny's bright blue eyes lit up in a broad smile. "Sure Clark" Danny replied lightly, almost laughing. He seemed delighted by this development "I'd be happy to." He smiled jovially before a cheeky grin flashed across his face "First lesson: Catch!" Danny blinked out of sight and Clark found a ball of glowing green flying at him. Clark caught the ball, examining it in his hands. It felt strange, something like putty but both more and less solid. He could almost feel the energy radiating off it. Clark lightly tossed it in the air, watching the strange way it fell. Something told him that this would be... interesting._

_End Flashback_

Two weeks had passed since that conversation, and Danny had come up with endless ways for Clark to improve his skills. That is what led to the game Danny and he were playing now. They were out in one of the fields, Clark was blindfolded, trying to hear Danny before he had the opportunity to come in and attack. So far he was met with limited success; Danny always managed to sneak up on Clark too quickly. Another blast slammed against Clark's back. It wasn't strong, Clark knew Danny was capable of doing a lot of damage but his current attacks were just enough to sting. Clark focused, recalling the first time that he had learned of his super hearing.

The air around him slowed, every blade of grass echoing as they shifted in the wind. He heard the faint patter of field mice as they scurried around beneath him. Like this he could hear everything and the beating of Danny's heart was thunderous, even if it wasn't as fast as a normal humans. Clark smiled as he threw a rock at Danny, the agreed signal that Danny had been found. Danny laughed happily before asking Clark to repeat it again. This time it was easy. After a few minutes Danny asked Clark to remove the blindfold.

"That was great. Next time we play that game I'm gonna have to give you a harder soundscape to work against." Danny looked up to the sky, gazing at the darkening clouds. "A storm's coming" He commented lightly, just as the first few raindrops started to fall. He waited for the cool relief of water against his skin, but felt nothing. He looked up to see the rain was falling on a barrier ten feet above him. Danny had had a shield up the entire time they were practicing and Clark hadn't even noticed. The two boys headed back to the house as the icy droplets intensified.

By eight at night the storm had rolled in fully, loud thunderclaps resounded over the house and bright flashes of lightning pierced the otherwise black night. Clark was in his room reading through his history textbook. While he may have forgone university for the rest of semester he was still interested in learning. The rain buffeted against the window, pounding loudly. It had been a while since the rain was this heavy, but Clark didn't mind. The house was warm and dry and the storm was separate.

Clark decided to head down to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee but noticed that Danny's room was empty. Danny had said an hour ago that he wanted to go flying to clear his thoughts. Sometimes Clark envied Danny for his ability to just let go of reality and drift up into the clouds, but part of him was scared to try. He had always been scared of heights, but nowadays he thought it was more than that. He was scared to let go of his humanity.

There was a bright flash of lightning and a thunderclap so loud the house physically shook. He saw his mom in the kitchen jump, the papers in her hands falling to the table with a soft thud. "You're really considering the senate seat, aren't you?" Clark asked as he took a seat next to her. He picked up a few of the papers and realised he couldn't really understand what they were on about. He'd never been into politics much farther than protecting justice and the American way. Or at least that was how Clark liked to look at it.

Clark's mom only nodded in response, flicking through the thick stack of budgets and policies. He shook his head and put the kettle on to boil. There was another thunderclap and the lights flickered for a moment. He sat opposite his mom, waiting for the kettle to boil. The phone rang noisily, and Clark picked himself up to go get it. He was startled to see the number, but even more so when he heard the panicked voice of Lois on the other end of the phone.

"_Clark, it's Lois. Chloe is in trouble. She's in the hospital."_

_Line Break_

Lois was scared. Not that she'd let anyone else see it but she was truly scared for her cousin. Chloe had come to her apartment for a much needed break; Lois had suggested she have a shower to relax. Then the lights had gone out. Lois had heard a panicked scream from the bathroom, and when she had burst in she found Chloe curled in a ball whimpering under the sink. She had begged for help in the feeblest of voices, but what was truly terrifying were the long red gashes stretching across her wrists.

Lois had rushed Chloe to the hospital and she had been immediately admitted. In Lois' worried state she'd reached out to the first lifeline she could think of and called Clark. It was a heart wrenching twenty minutes as Lois watched her blonde haired cousin dragged off, blood still oozing through the slits as the nurses tended to the injuries. Lois was introduced to the hospital psychiatrist as he raced to do a psych evaluation on her cousin. By the time the doctor, Dr Sydell had finished, Clark had just arrived. He looked really worried, outwardly displaying the concerns that Lois refused to.

"Lois?" Clark asked as he rounded the corner. He was bundled up in a thick blue jacket to fight the cold. "Where's Chloe, is she alright?" Lois wrapped herself up in her own thick purple woollen jacket, but was saved having to answer by Dr Sydell.

"That's what we were trying to determine." The greying man said. He was tall and lean for his profession, no older than about forty but carrying premature worry lines. "And you are?" he demanded of Clark who briefly introduced himself.

"How do you do? I'm Dr Sydell" The psychiatrist replied, however Lois saw that Clark was still confused.

"He's Chloe's psychiatrist." Lois explained. Trying to take command of the situation she explained to Clark "I found her on the bathroom floor. She slit her wrists." Clark's eyes widened and Lois couldn't help the wave of guilt that washed over her.

"I feel so guilty, I should have seen this coming. She hasn't been getting much sleep, between, you know, school and her job at the _Planet_ and..."

"Is there any history of mental illness in the family?" Dr Sydell interjected. Lois replied in the negative.

"I'm her cousin, I would know if there were any bats in the belfry." However Lois did notice the awkward way Clark shifted at this question. The Doctor summoned an orderly to move Chloe to another room, one where Clark and Lois would be able to visit her. The orderly was pale, there was a strange light in his eyes and he looked sickly. Something about him made Lois anxious and she absently wrapped her arms tighter around herself.

"Doctor, I don't understand, why would Chloe do this to herself?" Clark demanded. Lois was silently glad for how deeply concerned Clark was for her cousin. Chloe had always had something of a crush on the gentle farm boy, and even though their relationship was strictly friends only, Lois was happy that Clark always went so far to look out for her little cousin.

"It's any number of factors" The Doctor replied solemnly "Family history, stress, loss of a loved one..." Lois gulped. She knew that Chloe's mom had just vanished several years ago, it was sad to think that that could be hurting Chloe even today. But the Doctor was still talking. "Sometimes a person has a secret they feel they can't share. But whatever it is, I'll uncover it, and I will treat it aggressively."

Lois looked to Clark; he didn't look particularly comforted by the Dr Sydell's words. But they were both worried, and Lois just wanted her cousin to get better. If Sydell was going to be vigorous about it was far better than risking Chloe being so drastic again. Lois shivered. She had seen many scary things in her lifetime, but the image of her cousin's sliced wrists would haunt her in her nightmares for a very long time.

Lois followed the orderly to the room where Chloe was resting. She looked so peaceful; it was hard to believe that her strong confident cousin had gone so far as to slit her wrists. Lois would never have believed it if she hadn't seen it. Chloe may deny memory, but the truth was that seeing Chloe like that had shaken Lois to the core. She pulled her arms tight around her as she peered through the window to Chloe's room. She was going to make sure that Chloe got the help she needed.

_Line Break_

Chloe sighed as she stared at the roof of the hospital. She knew why she was here; the pain stinging on her wrists was enough to tell her. And the half hour spent with Dr Sydell made sure she knew exactly why she was here. But the problem was that she couldn't recall any of it. She remembered getting out of the shower after the lights went out, and struggling to find a candle in the dark room, but then there was a big blank until she woke up in the hospital. She closed her eyes, trying to relax.

There was a click of a turning knob as the door was opened. Chloe turned to face her friend Clark as he somewhat timidly came into the room.

"Hey," he said, and Chloe saw the underlining worry in his eyes. "How're you going?"

"Out of it" Chloe replied groggily "From the sedatives they gave me." Clark came over and took the visitors seat next to her bed. She found herself meeting a pair of worried blue eyes.

"So, what happened?" Clark asked.

"I don't know." Chloe replied honestly, even though she was very confused about it herself. After all she had been hospitalised for something she couldn't even recall.

Clark took a deep breath, looking slightly to her left so he didn't have to meet her eyes. "Chloe, if you gotta talk about something..." He began, but Chloe cut him off.

"Clark, really. I don't know. I mean, I was showering and then the lights went out and... it's just all jumbled." Chloe explained frankly. "I just woke up on the floor bleeding." Clark looked away, almost guiltily. Chloe mustered all the confidence she could into her voice "Clark, I'm a writer. If I was gonna kill myself I would leave one hell of a suicide note." That aroused a slight smile from her bumbling best friend.

"I think there was someone else in the room with me, though." Chloe tacked on, dimly recalling the face of the pale girl she had seen from the corner of her eye. She wasn't sure she had seen her, but at the same time...

"Lois didn't see anyone." Clark replied, his smile dropping into genuine concern. There was a pause and Chloe looked away. Suddenly Chloe felt Clark's comforting hand on her wrist. "You know, Chloe, the Doctor asked if you had any history of mental illness in your family. Should we tell him about your mom?" Chloe's mind reeled. Her mom had left her when she was eight; she had checked herself into a mental institution when she Chloe was in middle school. No-one had ever figured out what was wrong with her, but she wasn't there mentally. Chloe hadn't even gone to see her, she was too scared to. Chloe feared that something like that would ever happen to her. It wasn't... this was nothing like that and there was no need for anyone else to find out.

"No." She replied sternly to Clark and when he tried to protest she explained "I don't know what's happening to me. But I don't want anyone thinking that I'm like my mom. So just don't say anything, alright?" Clark didn't look happy with it, but Chloe was relieved when he agreed. He only stayed for a little longer as visiting hours were long since over. She settled herself in for a long night. The doctors said that they wanted to keep her in for observation at least overnight, and she surmised that she was a high risk patient at the moment. As she settled in for sleep Chloe just wished that she even remembered what had happened.

When she woke up Chloe was immediately taken for a brain scan and spent another hour talking with the psychiatrist. She answered his questions as best as she could, but the sedatives were still in her system and her responses weren't quite as lucid as they usually would be. She found herself craving caffeine, but the hospital would only allow her tea. The day was a long one, mostly dull. That was hardly unexpected since everyone she knew either had work or was in school. For entertainment she flicked on the news, but there wasn't much happening. Chloe found herself drifting in and out of sleep throughout the day with little to entertain her.

"_Help me" _Chloe heard a girl's voice on the edge of her consciousness. She was somewhere halfway between awake and dreaming and wasn't sure if the voice was just a by-product of her tired mind.

"_Please, Help me"_ The voice came again, while still soft it was more demanding this time. Chloe's eyes snapped open, the room was dark. Night had fallen, but the rain that had persisted all day had yet to let up. Her room was still dark, but Chloe could have sworn she saw a flicker of light in the bathroom.

Cautiously she slid herself out from between the sheets and started towards the bathroom.

"_Please" _the voice implored _"I have to find him."_ If Chloe had never met Phantom she would have sworn she was going mad, but she knew it was possible for voices to come from nowhere. She knew she was fine. Mentally at least. She slowly made her way towards the bathroom, throwing the door fully open...

To find nothing. "Hello?" She questioned the air, seeing nobody in the darkened bathroom. She was about to flick the light out when there was a bright lightning flash. Chloe jumped as the room was suddenly illuminated. There was a girl there, dressed in white. Her hair was dark, falling in scraggly rat-tails over her shoulders, and black shadows encircled her eyes. Her skin was deathly pale but for the long trails of blood trickling down her wrists. She looked so sad and so scared, and Chloe jumped in shock.

Chloe took a fearful step backwards, starting as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She spun around to face the person who had done so. "Lana" she gasped as she recognised the face. Chloe was still frantically looking for the girl, she was bleeding and she needed help, but she was no longer in the bathroom.

"I got here as fast as I could, are you okay?" Lana asked calmly, but Chloe barely recognised her as speaking.

"Where is she?" Chloe questioned, searching the room for answers.

"Who?" Lana asked

"The girl, she was just here." Chloe looked to the floor. There was a long trail of bloody footsteps leading all the way out of the room. Chloe gulped, the girl needed help. "My God, there's so much blood." Chloe whispered, slowly following the bloody trail out towards the hallway.

"Chloe, I think we should get you back to bed, alright?" Chloe heard Lana say. What was wrong with her? There was so much blood on the floor. That girl needed help; serious help.

She shrugged Lana's hand off her shoulder "No, I have to find her. I just saw her." She ran out of the room, hoping to find that poor girl. "I have to help her."

Suddenly firm hands grasped her and she saw the tired face of Dr Sydell. She was relieved; if she could get him on the case he could help that girl. "Doctor" she breathed "Oh my God. There was a woman in my room; she really needs your help."

"Relax," The doctor said, although something told her he was going to do nothing about the girl. "Orderly." Chloe became frantic, he wasn't listening to her. He wasn't seeing, he wasn't even looking.

"Listen. There's blood all over the floor." She explained in a jumbled rush. She was being tugged back into the room by the same man that had brought her in there last night, but they weren't looking. "Don't you see?" Chloe exclaimed becoming frantic. "It's going all the way down the hall."

"There is no blood" Dr Sydell said.

Chloe was scared, what about that poor girl? If no one found her she could die. "She was in my bathroom. You're not listening to me, there is blood!"

"I'm listening" the doctor stated, but he wasn't. Why couldn't he see it? It was right there, the trail of crimson leading all the way out of her room and away down the hall.

"There's a woman in my room and she needs my help!" Chloe exclaimed, barely hearing as a nurse was summoned. All she knew was that she was being forced back to her bed when the person who really needed help was getting farther away from them. She tried to struggle, but they wouldn't let her go. They wouldn't listen. Suddenly a syringe entered her vision and she screamed in protest. "No! Please. You don't understand!" she looked to the fearful face of her friend, beseeching her for help "No, Lana!" she screamed "Make them listen! Lana! Please, Lana!" But it was too late, Chloe felt a sharp sting pierce her arm and before she knew it she was fading into the blackness of oblivion.

_Line Break_

Lana slowly walked through the Luthor Mansion. Part of her hated herself for thinking of this as an option. Chloe was always so hesitant around anything Luthor. But if there was any chance that he could help her get better than she had to take it. She guiltily dug her hands in her pockets. Why was it that doing the right thing for someone had to feel so bad?

The doors to Lex's office were open, and she heard the tail end of a rather heated phone conversation "How hard can it be to find one college professor from a dirt state?" Lex's voice sounded angry. "I want Fine located, or somebody's gonna be wondering where you disappeared to." Lana frowned, but she had more pressing issues to consider than aggressive threats to some faceless person. Especially with Chloe's mental stability on the line.

Lex put the phone down as soon as she entered the room. "Lana." He said quietly, moving away from his desk "What's wrong?"

Lana shrugged half-heartedly. So much was wrong at the moment, but her biggest concern was her friend. "Chloe" She explained "She's in the hospital. She... she tried to kill herself."

"Is she alright?" Lex demanded.

"I don't know." Lana replied "I tried talking to her, but she wasn't making any sense." Lana tried not to blanch at the memory of her old friend hysterical in the hands of the orderly and her doctor. Chloe had seen bloody footprints when there were none there, and she was so panicked it had been terrifying. "They sedated her." Lana finished sadly.

"Who's her doctor?" Lex queried calmly. And Lana was glad. Lex was always able to think clearly, even when everything became really tough. He always seemed to be able to predict what she was going to ask next and he was really easy to talk to. Lana knew Lex was always there for her and that's what she needed now.

"Some psychiatrist down at the med centre. That's actually why I came to see you." Lana admitted. She hesitated a moment before continuing, hoping she didn't offend Lex "When you were in Belle Reve, the doctors helped you when you were having problems, right?"

"I'll make the call." Lex replied and Lana couldn't help but feel relieved. "She'll have the best doctors this side of Vienna helping within the hour." One of the good things about being friends with Lex was that he always made sure to look out for you.

"Lex, thank you. I didn't know who else to go to." Lana said, allowing herself her first true smile since she'd seen Chloe. It was all going to be alright. With Lex's help Chloe was sure to come to a full recovery. This whole thing was so out of character for her, and Lana was sure that whatever it was Chloe could pull through it if she only had the right help. Lana gave Lex a tight hug of appreciation before guiding herself out of the mansion. With Chloe taken care of she needed to return to Metropolis. With all the rain it was going to add an extra half hour to the trip so she really needed to get going if she wanted to make it back to her dorm in time.

_Line Break_

Danny frowned as he gazed over Chloe's unconscious form. Clark and he had gone to the hospital to visit her, only for Clark to find out that she had been moved into the psych ward. The room Chloe now slept in looked cold, and they weren't letting visitors in at all. They could only look through the small window on the door at their blonde friend. Part of Danny just wanted to phase in there and keep her company, but the tiny surveillance camera in the corner of the room prevented him from doing that. Going in invisible was also not an option, as he didn't want anyone to think Chloe was talking to herself.

The strange thing was that there was a weird energy source in the room, and from the corner of his eyes Danny could have sworn he saw an extra shadow lying beside Chloe. But he didn't know what the energy was. It wasn't ghostly, or his ghost sense would have gone off, and it wasn't electrical either. Lately he had been much more sensitive to electricity, and his ghostly stinger had been far easier to use than ever before. But that didn't tell Danny what was wrong with Chloe.

Clark and Danny stood in silent vigil, watching Chloe as she slept under the bright blue light in her shoebox of a room. Her sleep looked pained, and it took all of Danny's strength not to burst in and wake her up from her nightmares. He could feel that Clark beside him was facing the same struggles. There was the tapping of footsteps echoing down the hall behind them. Even without looking Danny recognised the man as Lex, which was confusing as Lex had never shown any real interest in Chloe.

"Lex, what are you doing here?" Clark demanded as he turned to face the young billionaire. Danny however stayed looking at Chloe, his hand brushing lightly against the all too solid locked door that prevented him from going in and finding out what was wrong. Just by feeling her aura he could instantly tell if Chloe was mentally unwell, he was much better that any psychiatrist in that way. Danny frowned, only half listening to the conversation between the two ex-friends.

"Lana came to see me." Lex explained; his voice both sad and heavy. He sighed. "She told me what happened."

"Thanks for coming by, but we have it under control." Clark replied slightly aggressively. Danny turned to face the young billionaire. There were too many things in the balance here. Clark was obviously worried about his secret, but also about keeping Chloe safe from Lex. Unfortunately, Chloe's mental state was an unknown to Danny, and he knew that, while he hated to think of using it, Lex could be a valuable resource in making sure Chloe was well again. The problem was that he was too much like Vlad and would probably use that help against them in the future. While Danny was happy to establish a friendship with Lex, he would never let himself become indebted to the young man. He couldn't afford it.

"Clark" Lex replied dryly "This is a local med centre. If Chloe sprained her knee, I'm sure she'd be in good hands. But something like this requires a more delicate touch. I'll make sure she gets the best care possible."

"You're gonna transfer her?" Clark demanded, taking an intimidating step towards Lex. Danny took the opportunity to lay a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him.

"The helicopter's en route. She'll be in Belle Reve before she even wakes up." Lex calmly replied, taking a step towards Chloe's door.

"That's a kind offer, Lex." Danny said, speaking up for the first time since Lex had arrived "But could it wait a little while? Chloe would probably be more comfortable in Smallville, and taking her away from her home and her friends would probably harm her recovery for the moment."

Lex turned to face Danny, looking questioningly at him, almost as if he was an unknown variable. "She won't be that far away. Belle Reve is only half an hour from here, so she won't be away from her friends."

"Chloe doesn't belong in Belle Reve." Clark interjected angrily.

Lex didn't look at either of them as he murmured "Lana thinks so" just barely loud enough for them to hear. So Lex had arranged this at Lana's behest? Danny hadn't been there personally, but from the description Clark had given him it didn't sound like a nice place to visit, let alone stay. If there was one thing Danny knew about Chloe it was that waking up there would send her into a mental shut down. He didn't know why, but Chloe always flinched at the mention of mental illnesses. To put her in that sort of environment was about the worst thing that could happen to her.

"I don't think Lana understands." Danny said, shaking his head sadly. "Seeing a psychiatrist may help, but locking her away, that won't. At least if she's here she can pretend that this is just for some physical ailment. If you put her in Belle Reve, you may just convince her she has a worse problem than she really does."

Lex looked sadly between Danny and Clark. "I understand how you feel." He began "A close friend, someone you trust more than anyone else in the world. It's hard to see them like this. I promise, I'll take good care of her." Lex walked away slowly, dismissing himself from the conversation. Danny did not feel consoled, and it was clear that Clark felt the same.

"She can't go to Belle Reve." Clark said bluntly and Danny nodded, although he felt that Clark's reasoning was slightly different than his own. But ultimately Chloe had to be protected from Lex's care for now, and that was Danny's prime concern.

"So what's the plan?" Danny whispered, careful not to move his lips since he knew they were still under surveillance. Clark suggested phasing in and grabbing her, but Danny knew that with all the security in the psych ward that would lead to bigger problems. Instead he laid his hand on the wall, mentally feeling the electrical currents that raced through the building. His mind ghosted along the wires to the central fuse box and he shorted the arbitrary power systems. The lights went out, as did the video feed, but the life support systems and other essential lines stayed functional.

Soon enough Danny was knocking on Lois's door at the Talon while Clark held Chloe's still sleeping form in his arms. Lois stood disbelievingly in the door for a minute before directing Clark to lay Chloe on the bed.

"What are you doing?" Lois demanded as soon as Chloe looked remotely comfortable. "She should be in the hospital." Danny took a seat on the bed next to Chloe as Clark and Lois bustled around the room. He stroked a loose strand of hair away from her face, but was mentally trying to figure out her aura. It was flickering, it was almost as if she'd picked up another layer to it, and that layer was unbalanced.

Danny shivered; the layer was deeply unstable, and dark. But it wasn't Chloe's. As they'd been moving her to the Talon Danny had felt that strange energy source come with them, following Chloe like a shadow. And occasionally from the corner of his eye Danny could almost see a pale figure of a girl, but she was gone as soon as Danny blinked his eyes. It was strange; it was almost ghostly but not. When they'd come into the apartment Danny had felt a strange tingle, almost akin to his ghost sense, but a lot more painful. But he couldn't find the source.

"Lex wanted to transfer her to Belle Reve" Clark quickly explained, making clear to all his utter disdain for that mental institution.

"Well, Clark, maybe that's what she needs right now." Lois softly answered.

"It's not." Danny softly replied. Looking up to the two young adults before him, but Clark was much louder in expressing his own opinions.

"Lois, you don't know what goes on in there. And do you really want those doctors getting inside Chloe's head?" Clark almost shouted. So Clark was acting from a position of fear. Reading between the lines it was obvious that Clark was scared for his own secret.

"If it makes her feel better, I don't care if Daffy Duck whacks her with a mallet." Lois shot back equally loudly.

Danny was much more quiet when he responded, sensing that Chloe was starting to wake up. "Lois, I'm not gonna say that Chloe shouldn't see anyone, but taking her to Belle Reve is the worst thing they could do to Chloe. She'll be much better off waking up here with you than she could be there with a dozen doctors around her."

"Thanks Danny" Chloe said groggily, struggling to sit up. "You guys, I'm drugged, not deaf." Instantly Clark and Lois dropped their argument, watching Chloe as she rubbed her head.

"Hey," Danny said, gently rubbing the back of her hand and projecting his calming aura to try and get her back on her feet faster. "How're you doing?" Chloe managed a small half-smile at Danny before replying that she was thirsty.

It was clear that the sedatives were still working their way through her system. Her usually bright eyes were dim, and the strange flickering in her aura was giving even Danny a headache. He was tempted to close himself off completely to them, with Chloe and Clark both being in the room, but he needed to try to get Chloe better, and the easiest way to do that was for him to leak some of his own positive energy to her. Lois and Clark would probably feel it too, but it was far more important to make sure Chloe was okay.

"I'll get you some water." Danny offered, making towards the kitchen, but Chloe's hand fastened around his wrist.

"Actually, can I just get a cappuccino? I think it might help clear the cobwebs." Chloe requested.

Lois smiled down at her cousin "I'll go downstairs and whip you up a double." Lois turned on her heels and to leave the room, leaving Clark, Chloe and Danny in relative privacy. Although Danny did overhear Lois's whispered threat "Can you not do anything ridiculous for five minutes?" to Clark on her way out.

"Not too happy about the breakout, huh?" Chloe mumbled, gathering herself up into a ball, although she kept her right hand firmly fastened around Danny's wrist.

"Yeah" Danny and Clark replied in synch. Clark took a seat by Chloe's feet, and Danny shifted to allow Chloe a clear view of her friend.

"She's just worried about you." Clark comforted, clasping his hands together in his lap. "We all are."

"Clark, I know what I saw." Chloe said firmly, the most lucidly she'd said anything so far. "I didn't imagine anything. And I didn't hurt myself, I wouldn't do that." She looked Clark firmly in the eyes before saying "I'm not my mother." Danny was thrown for a loop, but instinctively knew that now wasn't the time to press the issue. The most important thing was getting Chloe better.

"I know." Clark replied quietly with a soft smile.

"_I have to find him." _Danny jerked to attention as he heard a voice.

"Did you hear that?" Chloe asked, pulling her hand away from Danny.

"Hear what?" Clark asked, and Danny raised an eyebrow. How could Clark have missed that? Both he and Chloe had heard it, and it was not ghostly. It didn't echo right, and it didn't give Danny the same feeling as when there was a ghost around.

The weird energy in the room intensified, and Danny jumped as he saw a girl standing next to Clark. Her energy was bizarre, but it was like that additional layer that Chloe's aura had been encased by. She was deathly pale, looking at Chloe with pleading eyes as she demanded _"Help me"_ before she vanished from sight.

"_I have to find him" _The girl's voice reverberated around the apartment, and Danny looked for the source.

"She's here." Chloe choked fearfully, pressing herself against the wall. Clark looked down on her sceptically, but Danny followed Chloe's fearful gaze. The girl was in the bathroom, slowly walking backwards with blood trickling from her wrists. She looked bedraggled and fearful, her darkened eyes pleading for help as she stepped back into the wall. She phased through the sink and behind the mirror, but far different from any ghost Danny had ever seen. It was more like a flash of green light as she merged into the wall.

Chloe leapt up from the bed, and hung with eyes wide as she clung to the door frame. Danny was soon behind her, gazing at the mirror while probing it mentally. The energy was coming from there, just behind the wall. Chloe raced over to the mirror, frantically pressing her fingers against the mirror and sink as if it would release the girl. Clark stood up and slowly came into the bathroom behind them.

"Chloe, you okay?" He asked softly, and Chloe quickly spun around to face Clark.

"She's in the wall." Chloe rushed, looking between Danny, the sink and Clark.

"Who?" Clark queried, almost patronisingly.

"The girl I keep seeing, we have to help her." Chloe babbled.

Clark looked over to Danny, and in that look Danny knew that Clark wasn't seeing what they were seeing. This was like Youngblood all over again. "Look, Chloe" Clark said calmly as he walked over to her. "Just calm down, all right? We'll get her out of the wall." Clark sounded sceptical, he moved to take her away, but Chloe became frantic.

"No. Clark. No, Clark! Clark, I'm not crazy. She's in the wall, please, just look." Chloe implored.

"She's not lying." Danny said, looking at his cousin, and Chloe stepped over to him.

"You see her too?" Chloe demanded, frantically searching his eyes. Danny nodded, laying a calming hand on her shoulder.

"You're not crazy." Danny stated, meeting her firmly in the eyes before looking over to his cousin. "There's something weird about the wall. I don't know what's going on, but it would help if you'd look." Danny beseeched with confident authority, leaving no room for Clark to object, and even if he did, Danny could always turn the wall invisible. Clark gazed at the wall, and Danny watched with intrigue the shift from normal to x-ray vision. It was a different type of energy in Clark's eyes, but it still came from the sun. Danny made a mental note to explore it some other time, preferably when Chloe was not about to get herself permanently thrown into the psych ward.

Clark's eyes widened and he uttered a fearful "Oh my God" before clamouring over to the wall. He punched his fist right through the mirror, sending shards of glass clattering across the floor as he ripped out the face of the dry wall. As the dust settled they all gasped as a skeleton was revealed. Clark staggered back, and Danny sensed the powerful radiation from a meteor rock pervade the room. The skeleton was old, the barest of rags hanging off old dusty bones. Dust covered long dark hair, and instantly Danny knew this was the girl who had cried out for their help.

Chloe and Danny guided Clark out of the room and away from the kryptonite. Chloe stayed curiously in the bathroom while Clark went to call the Sheriff's office. Danny was intrigued; this was obviously the restless spirit of that young girl, the weird energy had seemed to radiate out from the kryptonite encrusted bracelet on her wrist. But it wasn't ghostly. It was almost as if the kryptonite had somehow allowed her spirit to walk again, not that that made any sense to Danny.

"You may want to stop with the silver eyes Danny." Clark commented, poking Danny's shoulder. Danny picked up one of the silver spoons from the kitchen counter, and sure enough his eyes were silver, littered with flecks of green and blue. Danny blinked, his eyes becoming blue once more, although there were small flecks of silver when he looked closely. Danny stalked into the bathroom just as Clark got onto the office. He struggled to articulate what he had found, but was eventually able to convey that they had found a skeleton in the bathroom wall.

Chloe was in the bathroom, curiously looking at the skeleton. Even from here Danny was conscious of the weird energy; that girl's spirit as it bombarded him. It seemed to be coming from the heavy metallic bracelet that clung to the skeleton's wrist. The green kryptonite didn't glow when he was around, but he was aware of it. Chloe reached out and before Danny could shout a warning her fingers brushed the green stone.

There was a flash, and Danny could only watch as the second aura that clung to Chloe's penetrated and took over. It was not an overshadowing; he had seen that happen and this was nothing alike. It was far more violent and in a flash of green and a swirl of white "Chloe" blinked her eyes open. Except it wasn't Chloe. The spirit didn't carry herself the same way, nor did she feel the same. And the aura held the distasteful twang of meteor infected mental illness. This was more like... possession. Like a typical horror movie possession.

Usually when a ghost overshadows someone, they have the sense to at least pretend to be that person. There's access to memories, habits, aspects of that persons personality that become a part of you while you're in their body. The ghost knows everything about that person, and sort of melds their consciousness to their host body. Of course you can make them act out of their habits, force them to do things that they normally would never do, but it worked differently to this.

What Danny saw from this... not-ghost, this spirit, this... _dæmon?_ It grated against him in a way that he couldn't describe. While his core demanded that he protect Chloe, his instincts screamed at him to eliminate this not-ghost. This thing was wrong, and every fibre of his being was screeching at him to tear the vile excuse for a ghost apart. The possession of a human done this way was wrong, conflicting against even a ghost's warped sense of morals. Danny froze, trying to calm himself. If he didn't he'd probably tear Chloe apart with the dæmon. And he was calling it a dæmon, not a demon because he'd met _demons_ and this wasn't like that either.

Danny could not help the primal growl that slipped through his throat, nor the way his eyes glowed green in his disgust. This _possession _was so very wrong. The girl had completely suppressed Chloe's aura, using her body but completely blocking everything that made Chloe, _Chloe_. With an overshadowing the person was still there in some form, that's why it was so hard to tell when someone was overshadowed if it was successful. As morally objectionable as overshadowing was, it was far better that this invasion and domination of Chloe's body and soul.

The girl in Chloe's body jumped back; almost frightened. On some level Danny wanted to help the girl, his core demanded that he protect anyone who looked so scared. However another part of him demanded that he rip apart the threat to Chloe. He took a deep breath, suppressing all of his ghostly instincts to the point where he could at least talk to the girl.

"Your eyes changed colour." The girl said, looking at him fearfully. She backed up, bumping against the free standing mirror behind her. In the reflection Danny saw that his eyes had settled into the strange shade of silver again. But the reflection of Chloe's back was the tattered remains of a white dress and long dark ratty hair. "You're not like _him_ are you?" The girl asked fearfully. That's what clenched it for Danny. He had to help Chloe, and the only to save her was to help out the dæmon that had possessed her.

"Who's '_him_'?" Danny asked gently, forcing himself to be civil.

"_Him_, the man that did this to her." She said, gesturing to the girl in the wall. Danny nodded in acknowledgement.

"And who are you?" Danny asked and the girl's eyes widened. She looked stunned, but Danny got no further before Lois barged in, demanding to know what Clark had done. When she saw the massive hole in the wall she froze, breathlessly demanding to know what was going on. It took the barest of moments for her to compose herself.

"Are you alright?" Lois asked Chloe, but she moved for a closer inspection. The girl winked at Danny before replying to Lois's question.

"Yeah, I feel much better now." Lois then insisted on getting 'Chloe' into some proper clothes, and the four of them quickly made their way to the Kent farm away from the skeleton in the bathroom while the Sheriff's department tried to ID the girl. Danny hadn't had the opportunity to tell Clark that Chloe had been possessed, and couldn't say so in front of Lois.

'Chloe' was sat down in Clark's bedroom, and Danny was just watching her. He had been assigned guard duty, but mostly he was just watching her twitch nervously.

"You can stop staring at me you know." The girl whispered with another look at Danny.

"Please, who are you?" Danny asked quietly.

"Gretchen Winters." She replied shortly. She sat quietly for a minute, anxiously biting at her fingernails. She almost seemed to forget Danny was there. Then she looked up at him "You're like me, aren't you?" She asked. "You died, and you can't move on. You need to stay and make sure the people who hurt you can't do it again. Help me. Help me stop him. Help me make sure that this never happens again."

"Who is 'he'?" Danny asked.

"Mikey. Michael. He never told me his last name. He killed me. That's all you need to know. But I'm not the first. He hurt us, all of us. And when we weren't any use anymore he buried us behind the wall." She blinked fearfully at him. "I don't want that anymore. I didn't want it. Help me, please?" She was almost crying, and Danny felt that he had little choice but to comply.

"How?" Danny asked, and Gretchen just smiled, although there was a sinister edge to it. That was when Clark came in with a steaming cup of coffee and handed it to the girl.

"Maybe this girl's ghost was trying to contact you." Clark suggested.

"She's not a ghost." Danny rejected. The girl sent him a look and continued biting at Chloe's nails.

"Yeah, when that lightning hit the Talon it must have jump-started her body." The girl suggested nervously. She didn't even talk like Chloe, how could Clark be missing this?

"Not to mention the Kryptonite in her bracelet." Clark commented, pacing around his room. Danny shifted further into the corner. He had found out in the car trip that physical contact with her was out of the question. Apparently kryptonite charged dæmons could electrocute him like the rock itself. It was less intense, but definitely uncomfortable.

"Yeah, the krypto-thing" 'Chloe' agreed. She looked over to Danny once before looking away "That poor girl. Sealed up in that wall all this time, all alone."

"I just hope she didn't suffer." Clark murmured.

"Well I think she did. I think she suffered a lot." She took a sip of the coffee, looking skittishly around the room. Clark suggested that she get some rest, but 'Chloe' said she'd slept enough. Nearly ten years in a wall could do that to her, Danny guessed. "We need to find him" she whispered quickly, taking a sidelong glance at Danny.

"Find who?" Clark asked

"The man that did this. He needs to suffer, like she did." 'Chloe' replied, twitching nervously. Clark suggested she try to get some sleep, and left the room, motioning for Danny to follow. With one last glance back at the stranger in Chloe's body he followed his cousin down the stairs. But he did have some information to go off of. He now had two names to work with, hopefully he could find something.

_Line Break_

Clark frowned, he'd looked everywhere for Chloe, but they hadn't been able to find her. After he and Danny had left her to go to sleep they'd found out from Lois that the girl who had been trapped behind the wall was a girl called Gretchen Winters. What was more that she wasn't the first girl to be found buried behind a wall. They'd gone up to tell Chloe, but by the time they were back in the room she'd vanished. Clark had gone to Chloe's school as a last resort.

He rounded the corner to Chloe's dormitory and his eyes widened. Lana was crouched down next to Lex Luthor on the floor, Lex groaned, his eyes crinkled in pain as he struggled to come to his feet. Lana looked up at Clark, a hint of fear flickering in her eyes, but that was nothing to the accusatory glare Lex sent him. "What happened?" Clark demanded.

"You tell me" Lex replied aggressively. "How did Chloe get out of her restraints at the hospital?"

Clark Blinked. "Chloe was here? Where'd she go?"

"I don't know." Lana answered with her brown eyes wide in fear "But she was acting like an entirely different person."

"Now she's out there with a Taser when she should be getting the help she needs. Nice work." Lex added sarcastically. Clark flinched at the accusation, but he had been wrong in that regard. Now he really needed to find Chloe. Lana was right; Chloe hadn't been acting like herself ever since she found the girl in the wall. There were too many variables in this. Clark walked off into the night, considering where he needed to look next. He called Lois, hopeful that Chloe had gone back to the Talon, but that got him no further than another accusation.

With two accusations he was starting to wonder if he'd made the right choice in taking Chloe out of the hospital. All he'd gone off of was his own fear of hospitals, doctors and anything that could reveal his secret, and the advice of Danny, saying that Chloe needed to be around her family. Now Chloe was missing, and she had gone so far as to attack Lex. There was something desperately wrong with her and Clark was still no closer to finding Chloe than he had been an hour ago.

Clark sighed; realising there was another resource he could use. Clark called Danny who said he was already working on it. _"Michael Westmore. He's an orderly at the hospital."_ Danny mumbled after a moment.

"You think it's him?" Clark demanded

"_He's the only Michael with any connection to Gretchen, and there are all these really creepy photos of him at vigils for the missing girls." _Danny asserted.

It was all they really had to go on. "Have you got an address?" Clark asked.

"_Yeah, 7530 Laurel Avenue. Meet you there?" _Danny asked, but Clark didn't bother to answer, he was already running.

Clark raced at full speed back to Smallville, battling for vision as the rain turned to a solid wall of water in front of him. By the time he got there he was soaked to the skin, and his cousin was there in his white haired, glowing ghost half. Clark took a moment to appraise the house. There was a cast iron gate, swinging heavily over the cracked footpath. Tiny rivulets of water flowed over the cracked cement path to an old run down house. A flash of lightning jumped across the sky and the silhouette of the house took on a dark, almost haunted look.

Clark looked subtly at the ghost next to him, Phantom looked uncomfortable, and Clark bit down the irony of a ghost being unhappy in a 'haunted' house. However it was Phantom who led them up towards the front door, completely ignoring the cast iron lion that stood as a doorknock. Phantom turned the door intangible so that Clark didn't have to break it down and led the way into the cold and creepy house.

The front hallway was dark and eerily quiet. Clark took a tentative step forward, but started as he saw a small pool of blood on the floor. A dark cast iron vase had rolled off into the corner, but there was a dark stain of crimson running across the rim. Someone had caused a lot of damage with it and Clark just hoped Chloe was okay. He turned to get the halfa's opinion, but found he was already gone. Clark jumped into action when he heard a pained scream echoing up from the floor beneath him.

_Line Break_

Lois's eyes slowly flickered open. Her thoughts were foggy, and she had the distinct metallic taste of chloroform in her mouth. She shook her head trying to clear the cobwebs. The last thing she remembered was closing the door of the apartment on that man Michael from the hospital. He had come over, saying he was trying to help Chloe, but he had given Lois all the wrong vibes. He'd been creepy, almost obsessive about finding Lois's cousin. So she'd escorted him out, but... she couldn't remember anything much more than a thick cloth being fastened over her mouth as she struggled to free herself from restraining arms when she tried to call in the police.

Her head was still foggy, but she dimly recognised the tightness around her wrists that suggested she had been tied up. She felt a cloth fastened around her mouth, gagging her and successfully preventing her from shouting out for help. Struggling to remove the gag, Lois took stock of her surroundings. She was in an underground basement, darkened in the storm. However the uncovered light-bulb hanging in the middle of the room sent dim shadows spiralling out away from her. She was tied to an old chair, the hard back digging against her spine.

The basement was cluttered with dust covered relics and broken panelling. There was a wooden wall freestanding in the middle of the room, but half of the wooden panels had broken away. This was the sort of place where things went to be forgotten about. Lois's struggles intensified as she tried to remove the gag, to do anything to free herself before she joined the dusty objects in their stagnated doom.

Lois heard a muffled voice coming from above her. She dimly recognised it as the voice of that guy, Michael. "I know things probably seem pretty bad right now, but it's gonna be alright. I'll help you."

"Like you helped Gretchen Winters?" That sounded like Chloe's voice. Chloe was here. Lois wanted to scream for her help, she bit against the gag, still trying to remove it as she listened to the conversation from upstairs.

"You remember her, don't you?" Chloe said, her voice cracking halfway. It was definitely her voice, but something about that tone just wasn't Chloe. "You were so nice to her at first. You gave her a pretty green bracelet, and you held her when she cried and you listened to all her problems. All the things that were tearing her up inside." Chloe paused for a moment, and Lois hoped something hadn't gone wrong.

"And then you told her your problems" Chloe spat, her voice becoming aggressive and dark. "And it made her sick! And then she tried to leave and you wouldn't let her go. And you grabbed a knife...!" Chloe's voice had escalated into pure hysteria now, and Lois seriously worried for her cousin's sanity. First thing she needed to do was get out of here, preferably taking down that sick bastard of a man, then she needed to make sure Chloe got proper care.

"She didn't deserve to die like that you bastard!" There was a loud thud, it sounded like the slam of a body against a wall. The ceiling above Lois shuddered. But the gag was finally moving. There were loud thuds from upstairs, it sounded like a vicious struggle. Lois could have sworn she heard the buzz of electricity, but there was a loud masculine scream and a thud. A shower of dust fell from the ceiling above Lois as she finally manipulated the gag out of her mouth.

"Help!" She called out, hoping that Chloe could come and help her and that that man wouldn't be the one to answer her plea "Help me. Is somebody up there?"

Lois heard a door open upstairs and eventually Chloe came into her part of the basement. She looked confused and scared, but immediately came to unfasten her. "We have to get out of here." Lois said, meeting her cousin in the eyes as Chloe struggled to untie the tight ropes binding Lois to the chair. "The orderly from the hospital, he killed that girl."

"I know." Chloe commented darkly "He isn't gonna hurt anyone again." Lois looked up, trying to understand what Chloe had just said, but instead shouted a warning as Chloe was struck from behind by that man, Michael. Lois watched helplessly as Chloe was tied to a chair herself. What sort of monster was that man? Chloe needed psychological help, not to be traumatised by some sicko who spent his life burying people behind walls.

Lois shivered as the man turned to face her. There was a large bleeding gash on his forehead, still oozing crimson. A sinister gleam shone in his eyes as he darkly commented "Time for your treatment ladies."

Lois struggled against the ropes. She needed to get them out of here, needed to keep her cousin safe. But it was helpless. She couldn't break free, and it was all that she could do to watch as Chloe slowly blinked to awareness, struggling herself as she found herself tied to another chair on the other side of the room. Lois tried to meet her eyes, to show her that it was somehow all gonna be alright, but Chloe only looked at Michael.

"Does it hurt?" Michael demanded, making Lois jump from the sudden break in the silence. "Does it make you feel like you wanna do something wrong to yourself even though you deserve it?"

Chloe was silent for a minute. Lois seethed internally at what this monster was doing to her cousin. "Let them go" Chloe said quietly.

"'Them'?" Michael questioned. "Disassociated. Removed from what's happening. You really are sick." He said, slowly walking up to Chloe. Lois couldn't help the bile that rose up in her throat.

"Look who's talking" Lois spat, but she was completely ignored.

"There are things that squirm just beneath the skin. But I can make them stop." Michael said, squatting down now so he was on Chloe's eye level. Lois squirmed, still struggling to escape. She couldn't let him keep saying those things to Chloe.

"Hey!" Lois yelled, hoping to distract him. "Get the hell away from her!" She froze when he turned his psychopathic gaze onto her, an involuntary shiver running down her spine.

"I'm just trying to help before she ends up in an asylum. Like her mother." Michael replied coldly. Lois stilled, she hadn't known that. All she knew was that her aunt Moira had gone missing, not that she'd ended up in an asylum.

"It was one of her squirmy things. She didn't even tell her doctor." Michael said, drifting over to a shelf behind Lois. She strained her neck, trying to keep her eyes on the madman. "But I get inside my girls. I find out things.

"My father used to make these. He was very good with his hands." Michael moved over to Chloe, but Lois saw the thick bracelet in his hand. It looked vaguely Celtic in design, with a big green stone in the setting. Something told Lois that it was meteor rock, rather than anything nice.

"I'd just sit for hours and watch him. And as he made them, he'd tell me secrets. Secrets about my mother. She wasn't very nice. But he loved her. He helped her be at peace." Lois's eyes widened at the insinuation. It almost sounded like this man's dad had killed his mom.

The man moved over to Chloe, brushing his fingers against her chin. "I help my girls. I take their secrets." Lois shuddered as the man put the bracelet on Chloe's trembling wrist. She whimpered, Lois watched as Chloe shrunk back in the chair, straining against her bonds. "And they take my secrets. Forever." Lois silently cheered as Chloe spat on him, but it did nothing to stop him.

"You always hurt the ones you love." He whispered, standing up and pacing across to the shelf behind Lois once more. She heard the scrape of metal against metal and knew that whatever was coming would not be pleasant. But Michael was still talking. "It's not a secret. It's just something you have to learn." He walked over towards Chloe, a twelve inch dagger protruding from beneath his sweaty jacket. He snapped around to face Lois, and she shrunk back at the demented look in his eye. Blood rushed through her head and she barely heard him demand that she slit her own wrist.

Michael cut her right hand free, handing her the dagger. Stepping towards a bench as he demanded "Open your wrist and release all your secrets; you can be at peace, just like the rest of them... Or" He reached behind his back, withdrawing a gun and aiming it at Chloe's head. "You'll watch your cousin die."

Lois made a split second decision. She wouldn't give in to his demands. For a moment she held the dagger just hovering above her wrist before flinging it towards him, watching as it landed straight in his heart. There was a moment of stillness as he realised what had happened before letting out an agonising scream. An insane gleam flew through his eye and he stalked over to her, forcefully kicking her chest.

Lois felt a moment of weightlessness before a roaring pain raced through her skull. It was with little relief that she faded into the oblivion of unconsciousness as the injury from a hard fall onto the cement floor consumed her.

_Line Break_

Danny gasped as he invisibly phased into the basement, subconsciously dropping out of his ghost form as he went and took stock of the scene. Lois was unconscious on the floor, and Michael Westmore who he recognised from the photos was staggering back, attempting to pull a dagger out of his heart. Gretchen was shivering in fear, gazing at her assailant. There was too much demand on his core, he was frozen, unable to determine who he needed to protect first.

"Are all the women in your family crazy?" Michael demanded, pulling the blade out of his chest. The strange thing was that he didn't fall unconscious from blood loss. Danny had forcibly repressed his aura sensing abilities earlier that night, and he needed to be fully aware at the moment, so he didn't lower his defences just for curiosity.

Danny felt a surge of heat fly past him as Clark's heat vision burned the blade, scoring the man's flesh and forcing him to drop it. Unfortunately he came into the range of the kryptonite on Chloe's bracelet, falling unconscious after just one punch. Everything was happening too fast, and Danny couldn't do anything without harming a human in the process. Michael took several threatening steps towards Gretchen, and she panicked.

"No! Mikey! Mikey!" She screamed and the murderous man paused, demanding to know where she found out that name. "Mikey, that's what your dad used to call you: 'Little Mikey'. Remember that. You hated it."

"How do you know so much?" Michael demanded, taking a step towards Gretchen.

"I know all your secrets Mikey. It's me. It's Gretchen. I need you Mikey. I need you to take away all my secrets. Make it stop hurting, just like you did before. Please?" She begged. Danny saw the man smile almost lovingly at her.

"Anything for my girl" he whispered, crouching down with the reclaimed dagger in his hand. The tension in the air mounted to an almost tangible level, and Danny was finally able to make a move, but it was too late.

Gretchen reached her hand out to Mikey, the kryptonite stone slamming into his cheek. The dæmonic spirit left Chloe, swirling in a cloud of green and white into Michael. Danny was sickened as he watched the same cruel possession happen again, but worse. He felt the dæmon killing her host from within, suffocating him while simultaneously shutting down the heart and brain. Michael was dead even before he touched the floor.

The dæmon stepped out of Michael's body, having the audacity to smile peaceably at Chloe. She did look a lot healthier now, and she even had something like a ghostly aura now, but her existence still grated against Danny's ghostly nerves. He was glad as she faded out of existence, knowing instinctively that she had moved on, or at least her dæmonic spirit was no longer on any plane that he knew of. He felt sorry for the girl, but what Gretchen had done was deplorable, the way she did things went against both his human and ghostly morals. It was good that she had found peace, but he was glad that she was gone from the world.

Danny dropped his invisibility, racing over to a dazed Chloe to check that she was okay. He quickly untied the bonds around her wrists, drawing her into a tight hug. He needed to reassure himself that she was okay, that the dæmon hadn't done anything lasting to her.

"What happened?" Danny heard Clark ask, having himself come back to consciousness. Lois was not far after him, demanding to know what was going on. Chloe shrugged Danny off, taking a hesitant step out of the chair. Chloe looked down at the fallen form of Michael, before looking up at the three of them with tear filled green eyes.

"I guess Gretchen got what she came back for." Chloe slowly answered, barely meeting each of their eyes. She still looked worried. Gretchen was gone, but Danny knew that Chloe still felt haunted by her. He just hoped that Chloe wouldn't remember what had happened; he didn't know how different possession was to overshadowing on the host. Danny took an opportunity to excuse himself, saying he'd go get the truck. He needed time to think. Once he was outside though Danny froze, and stared up into the dark rainclouds in the thunderous sky.

Gretchen may have gotten what she came back for, but Danny had never in all his life – existence – as a half ghost seen any ghost _kill_. They may be violent and cruel, but the only one who had the real appetite for bloodshed was Pariah Dark, and Danny had managed to confine him back in the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep before he could actually kill anyone. And what was more, this had happened in his presence. He'd just stood there, completely paralysed by the kryptonite fuelled dæmon. He felt sick.

Danny teleported back to the farmhouse to grab the truck, knowing they would have a lot of explaining to do if Lois found out that Clark and Danny had popped out of nowhere. He teleported the truck outside the house just as Lois, Clark and Chloe came out the front. The three of them looked worn; Chloe had drawn her arms tightly around her chest, still looking afraid and disoriented. Clark sent Danny a look which Danny immediately understood; while Chloe may not have been mentally unstable, Gretchen had hurt her. Danny promised himself that he would look out for her, he needed to make sure she was okay and that the dæmon hadn't done anything lasting to Chloe.

The four of them climbed into the truck, Lois and Clark taking the front seat and Danny and Chloe in the back. Danny wrapped a blanket around the blonde's shoulders, which she tugged gratefully around herself. They pulled away from the creepy house, heading towards the Kent Farm and safety. Fortunately the thunderstorm had let up a bit, turning into a misty drizzle as the four of them drove towards the farm.

The drive was silent; Clark had put the heat on so at least the humans were comfortable. Danny stared out the window, looking at the cloudy sky. He had never just watched a human die in front of him. Pariah Dark would have killed, but Danny had stopped him before he had the chance. Dark Dan, his evil alternate future self, he had slaughtered his family in front of him, but even that hadn't been permanent. He didn't know what was worse, seeing a man die even if he was a disgusting excuse of a man, or failing to protect him.

They pulled up to the house and Danny was glad that the downstairs light was on. It made the place feel warm and inviting. Clark insisted that Chloe and Lois stay there for the night. They all needed the safe haven that the Kent Farm provided. As Clark set up a spare blow-up bed in Danny's room Danny made the four of them a hot drink. Eventually the four of them retired, Danny staying on the downstairs sofa so that Chloe and Lois could enjoy the safety of each other's company.

Danny leaned back against the cushions as he gazed into the embers of the fire, pondering the events of the day. There were still a lot of questions that needed answering, and he wasn't sure how this would resolve itself. Danny settled down into the sofa, pulling the red blanket from the Far Frozen over him. Eventually he needed to return it, but for now he just wanted to sleep and not deal with what he had witnessed earlier that night.

* * *

><p>AN: I didn't want it to happen, I really didn't, but Danny and Chloe are getting closer. I had wanted to keep it more of a brotherly relationship, but they aren't entirely cooperating.<p>

Anyway, Gretchen was a 'ghost' in the actual season, but I don't think Danny would get on with her because not only is she malicious, but she is kryptonite fuelled and ghosts don't mix well with kryptonite.

Didn't originally plan on using the episode, but couldn't pass up the opportunity.

Oh well, hope it's acceptable if not fully resolved.

'Till next time

Bluerose.


	18. Crimson

Chapter 17

Crimson 

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Chloe squeezed her eyes tightly closed as the sunlight fell through the split curtains to fall across her face. She blinked awake, staring at the pale white ceiling above her she realised she was not in her bed in her dorm at school, nor was she at the Talon at Lois'. She rolled over, seeing Lois sleeping on a blow-up bed beside her. It took a minute for her to realise that she was at the Kent Farm. More specifically she was in Danny's bedroom at the Kent Farm. It was fairly uncluttered; the only thing that even told Chloe that this was Danny's room was his sketchbook, carefully placed on the desk. She pulled herself out of the bed; carefully stepping around Lois's sleeping form and made her way downstairs.

What she saw surprised her; on the sofa was a sleeping Danny Fenton, the red blanket that had covered him had slipped off half way, revealing a lightly toned chest. He looked innocent, sleeping peacefully with the gentlest of smiles on his lips. It was curious to see him like this, considering that the last time she had seen him in this state of undress he had thick bandages wrapped around his torso. Now there was no sign of it, so it was probably a good thing he hadn't been taken to the hospital. More than that, he actually looked a bit taller. When Chloe had first met Danny he could have passed as a young fifteen year old rather than sixteen. Now he looked fully sixteen, maybe pushing seventeen.

Shaking her head to clear away those thoughts Chloe took a step forward, moving towards the kitchen. Unfortunately one of the floorboards creaked ever so slightly. It was barely audible, but Danny was up like a shot. He fell off the sofa and stood up blinking in the sunlight. There was no doubt about it; he was taller, standing only just over six feet tall. Not quite as tall as Clark, but still. With his bright blue eyes it was almost possible to think they were related, except for the fact that Chloe knew that they physically couldn't be.

"Um, hey Chloe." Danny said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly and blinking sleep out of his eyes.

"Hey yourself." Chloe replied lightly. The storm from the previous evening had blown out during the night, and the sunlight seemed brighter than it had in a long time. Danny stood in the living room still looking dazed. His hair was rumpled from sleep, long black strands falling gently over his cerulean eyes. Chloe caught sight of the necklace that sat around his neck. She had never really seen it before, but now that she wasn't completely panicked she noticed the three pendants that swung loosely from the chain. One was a red jewelled ring; probably not red kryptonite like their class rings had been, and sitting next to it was a tiny silver sword. The third pendant struck Chloe as unusual; it was the well recognised DP symbol. Chloe hadn't expected Danny to buy into that trend since he actually knew Phantom, but somehow it suited him to wear the symbol.

As he blinked the sleep out of his eyes Chloe couldn't help but think... well, she didn't know what to think. Danny was a paradox, half the time he seemed ridiculously clumsy, but others he was the epitome of grace. He was able to perfectly conceal his meteor power, and he'd never shown any signs of the mental instability that usually came with it. Sometimes he seemed heavily burdened, as if a great weight rested on his shoulders, but other times he was so carefree that he seemed almost childish.

Danny looked down on himself and seemed to realise his state of undress. He made a small noise, halfway between a grunt and a whimper and teleported away. A moment later he was back, a long navy t-shirt covering his figure. The bagginess of the fabric completely concealed the finely toned muscles he sported. Danny waved lightly at her before moving into the kitchen. Within minutes Chloe had a steaming cup of coffee in front of her as she sat at the table.

"Feeling better?" Danny asked as he cracked several eggs into the mixing bowl he had pulled out. Chloe frowned slightly. She wasn't sure what to think. She couldn't really remember what Gretchen had done while she was in control of her body; the last thing she remembered was touching the bracelet back in the bathroom at the Talon, and then... looking down at the corpse of that orderly from the hospital, with Gretchen's spirit standing over her. She shivered, but looking over at Danny she couldn't help but feel safe and protected, like nothing could hurt her.

"I'll be alright, I think we all need to talk though." Chloe replied. Danny nodded and sent her a gentle smile.

"I figured that." Danny said, stirring the batter in the bowl. It looked like Danny was making pancakes for breakfast. "But the important thing is you're okay. No nausea, headache, dizziness, anything like that?" Danny pressed with a look of genuine concern in his eye.

"No, I'm fine. Just a little torn up, but I guess that's to be expected." Chloe answered with a shrug as she took another sip of coffee. "Why do you ask?" Danny sent her a strange look before shrugging himself, flicking the stovetop on and pulling out a frypan.

"It can happen after a ghost overshadows someone if they did it badly. Gretchen... what she did wasn't the same; it was closer to... possession. But I wanted to make sure." Danny said softly as he flipped a pancake. "I'm just glad you're alright." Chloe nodded, allowing a comfortable silence to develop as Danny cooked breakfast. The kitchen smelled warm and inviting, but that didn't stop the thoughts that were plaguing her mind. Sure, she had been – possessed? That's what Danny had just called it – but there were some times where she'd been really worried that she was going mad.

That scared her. She didn't want to end up in some mental institution; she didn't want to be like her mom. But of all people that Gretchen could have chosen, why was it Chloe? Why was it that she had been the only one who could see her? Why... but that wasn't true.

"You saw her too." Chloe whispered, and Danny immediately spun around, eyes wide. "How could you see her? No one else could." Chloe asked looking up into his big blue eyes. Danny visibly gulped, and Chloe wondered what was going through his head.

"I don't exactly know." He answered slowly. "It could have to do with how much time I've spent around ghosts. Or it could be that she chose a specific... wavelength to be visible to." Danny shrugged. "Ghosts can do that. There's one ghost, Youngblood who can only be seen by children, so..."

"So it's not the first time you've seen something like this happen? You don't think I'm..."

"No" Danny answered firmly, cutting her off before Chloe could utter what she was afraid to say. "You're not. The first time I saw a ghost no one else could, I thought I was going crazy. My sister arranged a family camping trip, but the ghost followed us. The ghost, Youngblood, can only be seen by children, well and other ghosts. In the end I was able to... convince Jazz to look at things from a younger point of view, and she saw him too. Point is, when ghosts and spirits are concerned, the normal rules tend to go out the window. I know for a fact that Phantom can choose exactly who he wants to be invisible to." Danny had a strange smile on his face, and Chloe could see that he was lost in memories.

"He played a prank on you, didn't he?" Chloe asked, happy for a distraction.

"No, well, sort of." Danny answered, adding another pancake to the growing stack on the table. "You see, sometimes when Phantom found out about a new power he'd go ask Sam, Tuck and I for help. When he figured that one out he spent a whole day where Sam and Tuck were the only ones who could see him. It was kinda funny." Danny chuckled at the memory.

The two were interrupted by a sleepy Lois Lane coming down the stairs, followed by a slightly confused Martha Kent.

"I didn't know we were expecting visitors." Martha commented, looking piercingly at Danny who shrugged.

"It was necessary." Danny replied, putting five plates around on the table and refilling the coffee plunger.

"Sorry for the intrusion Mrs Kent." Lois said humbly. "We just needed a place to regroup, and Clark offered." Martha smiled at that, but looked upstairs. Clark had always been hard to wake up in the mornings; at school he had often been late because of it. It seemed that some things never changed. Martha asked Danny to go upstairs to retrieve his cousin, which gave Chloe an opportunity to ask Martha something she'd been meaning to since she'd seen Danny wake up that morning.

"How old exactly is Danny?" Chloe asked quietly. Lois perked up, setting her coffee down and Looking over at Martha.

Martha looked confused for a moment before answering "He'll be seventeen in June. Why do you ask?"

"This morning when I came downstairs I accidentally woke him up, and I realised he's grown a lot since he came here. When we first met him he looked barely fifteen, and now all of a sudden he looks seventeen."

"I noticed that." Lois interjected "He's shot up like a rocket. What are you feeding those boy's Mrs K?" she joked. There was a loud thump and a groan from upstairs and the light sound of Danny's laughter before the two boys came back down the stairs. Clark was rumpling his hair as he slowly woke himself up. Clark glared at Danny as he walked past, but smiled at Chloe and Lois when he saw them in the kitchen. He gave his mom a one armed hug as he took a seat at the table.

"Morning Smallville" Lois teased "Glad to see that you're still the last up around here." Chloe smiled as Clark rolled his eyes. With everyone at the table there was a silent consensus to dig in. Chloe was surprised at how nice her pancakes tasted. They were sweet and soft, buttery with the slightest hint of cinnamon. She hadn't expected Danny to be able to cook, but here was yet another example of how surprising he could be. The conversation was light; nobody wanted to voice their concerns about last night while Martha was present.

During the meal Chloe noticed Lois watching her from the corner of her eyes. Chloe's mind flicked back to the last few days, and the truth was that she hadn't been acting like her usual self. She wanted to believe Danny, that there was nothing wrong with her. But part of her was terrified that she was going to end up in a mental institution like her mom.

With that thought she put her fork down, no longer hungry. She noticed that Danny seemed to have finished too, having eaten even less than her and was just patiently waiting for everyone else to finish up. Eventually Martha stood up. While it was a Sunday she had a shift at the Talon and she said she had some papers she wanted to read over before she went on the job. Lois decided to hitch a ride with Martha seeing that she had no mode of transport available.

Chloe followed Clark into the lounge room. With the sun out it seemed a lot warmer, and the room felt welcoming. Chloe took a seat, absently pulling the red blanket Danny had slept under around her.

"You all right?" Clark asked as he took the seat next to her on the sofa. He absently rested his hands in his lap, looking across to Chloe.

"I'll be fine as soon as I get back to the _Planet_" Chloe answered, prompting a light bout of laughter from the two boys. No matter what happened Chloe would always be a reporter at heart.

"I'm just glad you're not in the hospital." Clark said softly after a minute.

"Yeah, or wearing a straight jacket at Belle Reve" Chloe joked, still trying to squash her own fear.

Clark put his hand on her shoulder. "I'd never let that happen." He reassured. Chloe frowned, something about that wasn't entirely comforting.

"You know I had a couple of moments there when I really thought I was losing my mind. I mean, I understand that Gretchen's spirit was released and all that, but why did she choose me? Why was I the one who could see her?"

"Maybe because you care more about people than anyone else I know." Clark answered, and Chloe rolled her eyes.

"Or maybe there really is something wrong with me. Like my mother." Chloe replied lightly. Inside though she was scared, she didn't want to end up like that. Ever.

"What is wrong with your mother exactly?" Danny asked softly. Chloe frowned; she had never told anyone but Clark about her mom. Not even Lois knew. But somehow she felt like she could trust Danny too, like he would understand and keep her safe despite it.

"I don't know." Chloe shrugged "I mean, she left when I was twelve, so that was before... I don't know. All I know is that she's... she's not all there."

"But you do know where she is?" Clark asked.

Chloe nodded. "Yeah"

"Why haven't you gone to see her?" Clark queried softly.

Chloe took a deep breath looking between the two boys before looking into the empty fireplace. "Well, because... because I'm afraid."Chloe looked up, her eyes flicking between Clark and Danny. "I'm afraid that I'll look into her eyes and see myself."

"What if you wait too long and you never get the chance to look into her eyes again?" Clark asked. "She's your mother. She always will be. It's not going to change no matter what." Chloe nodded, turning away from the two blue eyed boys. Clark was right, maybe it was time she went to visit her mom.

_Line Break_

Danny frowned as the second period bell rang. He had been run late to school because the Corn Ghost decided that it would be fun to play around in the cornfields after the rain. That would have been fine if he hadn't decided that 'playing around' involved trashing the tractors of every single farmer within a ten mile radius by making the corn grow through the engine. Now he was running late, and had already missed one class for the day. He was trying hard not to disappoint the teachers after they had let him skip ahead. Plus there was an element of the fact that he was living with and related to Clark that put a large amount of pressure on.

He quickly shut the locker door, moving through the busy hallways. As usual he registered a few meteor infected people. But none of them were malicious, and Danny didn't feel the need to interrupt their life if they could handle their power by themself. If they started hurting someone then he'd happily step in, but until that point it was unnecessary. He was the last person to prosecute someone just because they'd been cursed to be different from everyone else.

Danny slid into his English Literature class, taking his usual seat at the back of the room. Unfortunately that lesson was being constantly interrupted by the constant giggling of three girls in the front row. They were sort of like the Paulina and Star of Smallville High's senior year, with a third girl added in just for good measure.

"He's so cute though" the blonde whispered loudly enough for only Danny to hear. The three of them had been passing notes all lesson, but only now had any of them actually said anything aloud.

"It's your choice Rosie," the brunette whispered back. Danny sighed, looking back over to the teacher as he continued lecturing, pointedly ignoring the three noisy girls in the front row. Danny kept taking notes; it was easier to pay attention to him than Mr Lancer had been back in Casper High. The bell rang, and Danny packed up his books, noticing the three shadows that surrounded him as he packed his bag.

"Hey, Danny, isn't it?" Danny heard the blonde girl, Rosaline asked as she tapped him on the shoulder. Danny looked up and was met with a pair of chocolate brown eyes. His eyes lingered for a moment on her face before he looked away, sliding his notebook away and slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

"Yeah," he acknowledged "Rosaline, right, Lily and Louise?" he indicated to the two other girls behind him. Danny didn't know what they wanted with him. While the seniors didn't particularly care about the juniors, Jay was on the football team and had made his open dislike of Danny apparent to the whole school. Adding that to the annoyance from Danny being skipped ahead, most of his senior peers tended to ignore him. He was running late for his next class, so he made to move to the door, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

Danny turned to face the girl, "I'm sorry, Rosaline" Danny said, shifting the weight on his back "but I'm running late for class." Danny began to pull away, but his eyes caught on the red bracelet fastened around her wrist. The silver settings held stones that glittered almost like rubies. Danny felt an inexplicable pull, and felt his consciousness fade away in a swirl of blackness.

Danny blinked, realising that suddenly he was out in the hallway and he had no idea how he got there. Something flickered at the back of his mind, and he dimly felt compelled to meet Rosaline after school. He wondered where that thought came from, but made his way on to his third period chemistry class regardless. He arrived just on time, and was able to make his way through the lab fairly easily. His mind was on the blackout. He knew he'd experienced something like that before, but he couldn't quite place where.

The rest of the day passed in a blur, Danny had to attend to four minor ghosts during the day, but they were dealt with easily, and the Thermos wasn't even at half capacity. The final bell for the day rang, and Danny made his way out the front doors to wait for Rosaline. He didn't know why he was waiting, only that he had to.

"Hey" She said, she was on her own. Her two friends seemed to have gone off on their own, leaving Danny and Rosaline by themselves.

"Hi" Danny replied cautiously. Now that he was here he had no idea why he was. It wasn't as if he particularly liked Rosaline. She was a human year older than him, and she was so much like Star from his old school it was painful. He didn't particularly want to be dealing with an A-List airhead anymore. Yet for some reason which he couldn't figure out, he was here.

"So I was thinking" Rosaline said, twirling a strand of blonde hair around her finger. Danny's eyes were once more drawn to the bracelet, and he started to feel his concentration wane into dim black fuzziness. "Maybe we could hang out at the Talon. I mean you never hang out with anybody..." Rosaline's voice vanished into meaningless waffle as Danny lost track of what she was saying. His eyes were drawn to the ruby coloured crystals on her bracelet and once more his mind disappeared into blackness.

_Line Break_

Clark was working in the barn, tuning up the engine on his dad's old motorbike. The afternoon sun was lighting up the barn and slowly erasing all traces of the rainstorm of the night before. Clark had a fair bit on his mind. It was obvious that both Chloe and Danny were still shaken up from Saturday night. Chloe was worried about her own mental health still, and Clark hoped nothing was wrong. She had eventually gone to the hospital psychiatrist and he had given her a clean bill of mental health, but she still worried. Danny on the other hand was worried for not being able to do anything, instead watching a man die in front of him.

But the thing pressing most on Clark's mind was Lana. She had gone to Lex to find a solution, rather than trying to resolve it with Clark. He knew that he had been pushing Lana away to protect his secret, but he had not thought she'd go so far as deferring to Lex. That barb hurt, and it made Clark's heart squirm with guilt. He had convinced himself that Lana was safest not knowing his secret, but things just got harder between them.

"Hey" Clark heard Lana's voice from behind him. He acknowledged her, but didn't look up. He still wasn't quite ready to face her. "Chloe told me what happened" Lana commented.

"Yeah, how's she holding up?" Clark asked, trying to keep the hurt from his voice.

Lana answered, and Clark could almost hear the dismissive shrug in her voice. "She's okay, considering that she was possessed by a demonic spirit and almost chopped up by a psychotic orderly." Clark turned around, steeling himself to ask what he needed to ask her.

"Why didn't you tell me you went to Lex?"

"Why didn't you tell me you broke Chloe out of the psych ward?" Lana shot back; her usually vibrant brown eyes were cold. Clark looked away guiltily. It had been ultimately his decision to break Chloe out. Sure Danny had helped, but Clark was the one who thought of keeping her out of the hospital, rather than just away from Lex.

"We should have come together on this, Clark." Lana said and sad regret swirled through her eyes as she took a step towards him. "That's what couples do when these things happen. They turn to each other."

Clark looked up the roof; shaking his head "Why didn't we?" he asked the air, knowing the answer already. He had pushed her too far, and he couldn't bear to admit to the consequences.

"I love you" Lana stated "I love you with all of my heart." Her voice cracked on the last word, making Clark's heart twinge with guilt. "But... I don't know how to talk to you anymore." She admitted, looking away.

There was an uncomfortably long silence, and Clark felt Lana's eyes searching to find his, but he couldn't meet her eyes. He realised that he was only hurting her, but there was nothing he could do. He wasn't ready to lose her, but he couldn't stand to see the pain in her eyes.

"I guess we all have our secrets." Lana said darkly, leaving him standing alone in the barn. It hurt to watch her walk away, knowing that she deserved more. But he couldn't tell her the truth. Surely it was better to keep her in the dark and safe rather than risk watching her die again because of what he knew. He sighed heavily, deciding to give up on the motorbike for now. He wiped the oil off the tools, chucking the rag off to the side when he was done. Clark made his way back to the house in silence, still pondering the situation with Lana.

When he got into the house he was shocked to see Danny lip-locked on the sofa with a girl he dimly recognised from the cheer squad from the year below him at Smallville High. She'd come up to him after a couple of games, hoping to score a date, but he had always been enamoured with Lana, even when she was dating another man the previous year. Clark was surprised, Danny had never mentioned that he was dating; he'd never even brought any of his friends from school over. Clark had assumed that he hadn't made any, but the evidence to the contrary was sitting on the sofa in a very tight pair of denim jeans and a rather skimpy lime green top.

Clark coughed lightly, alerting the two teens to his presence. Danny was still only sixteen, and while they may not be related by blood Clark felt obliged in his capacity as cousin-come-brother to look out for the halfa's best interests. The two broke away quickly, the blonde girl looking guiltily up at Clark, but Danny's back was still to him.

"Danny, can I speak with you for a moment?" Clark asked, but Danny gave no acknowledgement. The girl looked between the two, flattening her shirt back down.

"Go talk to Clark" she commanded "But don't be too long, you still owe me a kiss." Her voice was light and flirtatious, but it held a level of command that Clark was unfamiliar with. Danny turned around and Clark gasped. His eyes were a deep shade of crimson.

"I know." The girl said, she hadn't even seen fit to identify herself. "Aren't his eyes just so exotic? He won't tell me where he found those contacts, but..." she trailed off, twirling her hair.

Clark pulled Danny out of the room, away from the girl. His red eyes were unnerving. Clark was used to Danny's eyes changing colour when he was human. Occasionally they'd flash silver with green and blue flecks, and if he ever got really angry they'd turn a shade of bright green. But red was unfamiliar, and it looked almost sinister on his face. Clark was just glad that that girl had assumed they were contacts.

"Danny, who is she?" Clark asked. Danny's response was slow, almost emotionless; his crimson eyes unblinking.

"Rosaline." Danny answered simply. At least Clark had a name.

"And where did you meet her?" Clark pressed, intimidated by the vacant look in his cousin's red eyes.

"At school." Danny replied, his voice still emotionless. For a moment Clark thought he saw a flicker of... something, but it could easily have been a trick of the light. It was strange to see Danny so vacant, and Clark didn't like it. His cousin was a very emotive person, it didn't matter what mask he had on, there was always something there, but now he may as well have been a blank slate for all the emotion he was showing.

"Danny, come back." Clark heard Rosaline call, and immediately Danny's red eyes flared a brighter shade of crimson. He quickly walked into the lounge room, standing aimlessly in the archway as he looked at Rosaline. Clark quickly surveyed the girl. There was no doubt she was pretty, brown eyes blinking from thick black lashes, and long wavy blonde hair. Her t-shirt actually sported a small 'DP' symbol, but Clark was not interested in that bit of irony. Instead he watched as Rosaline bade Danny to sit back down and hug her, and Danny obediently followed her directions. He seemed to be doing everything she said unquestioningly. Clark frowned, something definitely wasn't right. His cousin was never this submissive.

Rosaline tugged her hand through her hair once more, and Clark noticed the red bracelet on her wrist. The way it sparkled was almost copied in Danny's eyes, but Clark put aside that ludicrous notion. After all, who ever heard of red stones forcing anyone to do something, let alone someone as strong willed as Danny. Clark excused himself, hoping that Danny would be okay without Clark there to help and planning on meeting Chloe at the _Daily Planet_.

Clark raced off, something about this felt familiar, and Clark struggled to remind himself where he had seen a girl making a guy answer to her every whim. He shook his head as he sped across the county line. Maybe Chloe would know, and perhaps a mystery like this was just the thing to get her mind off the events of the last few days.

_Line Break_

Chloe sat at her computer, quietly reflecting on the events of that morning. She had gone to the Forest Glen Sanatorium, where her mother was being treated. The institution was beautifully appointed with large gardens and bright open windows. It was the most surreal thing, and the climb up the wooden staircase to her mom's floor had been beyond intimidating. But she had done it. For the first time in over six years she had gone to see her mom.

It was sad; her mom had been standing in the window, the sun gently touching her long brown hair. Chloe had gone up to her, partially overjoyed to see her mom, partially terrified of her condition, of seeing her own possible fate. But when she'd seen her mom, actually seen her and hugged her, it was... both wonderful and saddening. Her mom hadn't really recognised her, but had responded to Chloe's tight embrace. Chloe had promised herself that she would visit more regularly; hopefully spending some time with her mom would help both of them.

Chloe stared blankly at the computer screen. It was good to be back at work, and the bustle of the _Planet_ bull-pen made her feel strangely comforted. She wasn't even that distressed that someone else had gotten to write the article about the 'suicide' of Michael Westmore the hospital orderly. The normality of the paper helped wash away her doubts from the last few days. Chloe happily dove into research, looking for a new story to work on.

At half past four she took a break, walking across the street to her favourite coffee shop to buy a cappuccino. When she was on the way back to the _Planet _she bumped into a worried looking Clark Kent.

"Hey Chloe" Clark said as he held the door open for her. He tried to smile, but the worry was still evident in his face.

"What's up?" Chloe asked, leading the way down to her desk. Clark took a seat next to her, his hands laying anxiously in his lap.

"Danny." Clark answered, and Chloe creased her brow. Clark hadn't been this worried when Danny had a gaping three inch wound in his stomach, so Chloe was concerned to find out what was wrong with Danny to get Clark as worried as he sounded. Chloe took a seat at her desk, spinning the chair around to face Clark.

"Okay, spill." She directed.

Clark gulped once, clearly looking for a place to start. "Do you remember last year when those cheerleaders spiked the water cooler with the kryptonite hormone, um, phenyl... something"

"Phenylethylamine?" Chloe prompted remembering that incident. It hadn't been one of her better moments. The cheerleaders last year were surprisingly good at chemistry, and had discovered a kryptonite infused hormone that, if consumed, made the infected only have eyes for one person. It was like a twisted version of love-sickness. The infected person would put everything aside to answer to the whims of that one person, becoming completely devoted to them. Chloe herself had fallen prey to it, and had fallen head over heels in love with Clark. It had been ridiculously embarrassing trying to walk that one off.

"Yeah, that, and the girls were able to manipulate those footballers by fooling them into thinking they'd fallen in love." Clark continued, confirming that they were thinking of the same thing.

"You think that Danny's been drinking that?" Chloe asked worriedly. Chloe had done some pretty weird things while she was on the stuff, and she didn't want to know what Danny would do. After all Danny was meteor infected and had a secret to keep.

"I'm not sure." Clark said, leaning in over himself. "It's weird. The guys last year were driven by..." Clark trailed off awkwardly. Chloe rolled her eyes at Clark. He always got awkward in these sorts of conversations.

"They were driven by lust." Chloe pressed.

"Right, but... Danny wasn't. He seemed... emotionless if anything. Do you think they could have changed the hormone?" Clark asked, looking up at Chloe.

Chloe spun around on her chair, pulling up the digital files from her heavily encrypted hard drive. Anything with the key words meteor rock in it were buried so deeply that only she could find them. She pulled up the file on the hormone phenylethylamine. It was a naturally occurring hormone, in the same family as adrenaline, however when it was infused with kryptonite it became more like a love potion than anything else.

"I don't think that's the solution. I mean, kryptonite is unpredictable, but unless they're working with a different hormone altogether it should work the same." Chloe said uncertainly, looking between the screen and her blue-eyed friend. Cark frowned unhappily.

"Was there anything else different about Danny?" Chloe asked, maybe she could find something else.

"He had red eyes. Not that that helps much." Clark answered.

"I'll run a search. In the meantime, see if you can break Danny out of it. Last year didn't you cure the footballers by blasting them with steam?" Chloe suggested. Clark agreed it was worth a shot, and was gone in a blur and a blast of wind. Chloe shook her head, typing the key words "red irises eyes" into her computer. There were 52 million hits. This was going to take a long time.

_Line Break_

Lionel Luthor sat in his office on the top floor of LuthorCorp. His mind was whirring; he knew that Martha Kent had been offered the state senate seat. He had even gone so far as to encourage her into taking it, just for the opportunity to see her again. He would never admit it, but he had feelings towards the widowed woman, and had felt this way for many years. But he knew that what she needed most at the moment was a friend, someone her own age not weighed down by the troubles of youth. So he could put his feelings aside, for the moment. But that did not stop him from offering his open support to her, and he would continue to do so.

Another concern was the young Clark Kent. Lionel knew that there was an enigma about the boy, and that it was somehow connected to the strange blank periods he had been experiencing. What was more concerning was Lex's unyielding interest in the young man. Lex had come up with many distractions, but his curiosity would never let him rest until he knew the full truth. Lex was like his father in that way, but he lacked subtlety. Lionel worried that Lex would find out Clark's secret and wreak havoc on the world with the knowledge.

The only puzzle piece that Lionel did not understand was the young Daniel Fenton. Despite the adversarial relationship between Lex and Clark the young boy had struck up a friendship with Lex. It was strange, since Lex seemed to have a similar interest in Daniel to what he did with Clark. Daniel seemed to ignore it, if he noticed it at all. But at the same time Daniel was able to bring out some of Lex's more pleasant qualities. Lex was much less ascorbic towards his father after he'd spent time with the young raven haired boy. Lionel had not formally spent time with Daniel, but his observations suggested that there was little special about Daniel Fenton. He seemed a plain boy, rather clumsy. He had a half decent mind, but Lionel saw nothing that would warrant such interest from his son.

However that was not his concern for today. Today he was working with a particular branch of the government that could possibly help ensure the safety of his beloved Martha. After a meeting with the eccentric Vladimir Masters, Lionel had looked into this branch, pulling a few strings along the way. The Guys in White were a well hidden department, an offshoot from the research department at Area 51. Their main focus was on 'ectoplasmic beings', or 'ghosts' as the public referred to them.

Masters had come to him earlier in the week, and they had had a civilised meeting. He was well aware that Masters had openly supported his son's senate candidacy, an endeavour which Lionel had not been happy with. However many of the policies that Lex had promoted _would _have been good for the business sector, so it was not unreasonable for Masters to express an interest in those policies. Luthor family politics were kept behind closed doors for a reason. Yet the discussion Masters and Lionel had shared was professional, he was expressing a bid for one of LuthorCorp's flailing subsidiaries. Truly Lionel was happy to be rid of the poorly performing company. However Masters had mentioned in passing the GIW, and for some reason the idea had stuck.

So Lionel had investigated the department on his own, finding that perhaps they could be beneficial in protecting Martha. While Lionel refused to give in to public hype, there was no doubt that there had been a surge in _'_paranormal_'_ and _'_unexplainable_'_ activity in Smallville ever since the first meteor shower. Lionel was pulling strings to generate a policy that would hopefully keep Martha safe from any _'_ectoplasmic being_'_ who had ill intent towards her.

He was hoping that by the end of the day the GIW would be actively protecting all senate members, including Martha. That would include a security check and a thorough investigation of the house and surrounding regions for traces of ectoplasmic activity. There had been regular reports of _'_ghosts_'_ in the Smallville Ledger, so Lionel's concerns were entirely valid. Especially when one considered the heavy toll that a year and a half of constant _'_ghost attacks_'_ had taken on the small town of Amity Park, just one state across.

That in itself was an interesting coincidence, not that Lionel put much stock in coincidence. Young Daniel Fenton was the son of two prominent _'_Ghost Hunters_'_, and had lived in Amity Park. It was interesting that the ghosts now seemed to be appearing in Smallville so soon after Daniel had gone to live there. However there was little to suggest a direct connection, after all Daniel Fenton was either a phenomenal actor, far superior to his cousin, or there was nothing special about him. Lionel was inclined toward the latter, as it was unlikely that two boys in the same family could sit on large secrets. No, it was Clark who was truly special, and Daniel was simply involved now in a secret that was far bigger than him.

There was a knock on the door and a white suited man was escorted in. Lionel stood up from his desk, holding a hand out for the bulky man to shake. "Agent Gamma of the Guys in White. We have much to discuss." The man said with a strangely confident smile. Lionel nodded. This would be simple, and he was going to ensure the safety of not only Martha, but the entire Kent family as well.

_Line Break_

Clark got back to the farm early in the evening. There was no sign of Danny there, or the girl. Clark couldn't hear anything in the large house, and he couldn't hear anything out in the fields either. Clark frowned, he had no idea how to snap Danny out of whatever it was and he couldn't even try if Danny wasn't there. He tried to call, but after six rings it went to message bank. On the third consecutive call he got an answer.

"_Clark" _Danny's voice was cold and emotionless.

"Danny, where are you?" Clark asked.

"_Rosaline wanted to go out, I'm at her place now." _Danny answered in that strangely empty voice.

"Can you come back here? I need your help with something." Clark said in a rush. There was a long moment, and over the phone he heard a feminine voice say that it was okay so long as Danny came back before she got lonely. Danny had no input at all, he was just silent. But still it wasn't too long before Danny said he was on the way.

Clark took a minute to figure out what to do, he hoped that exposing Danny to intense steam would work like it had the year before, but something told Clark that it wouldn't. Still that didn't stop Clark from pouring water all over the garden path and superheating it once he saw Danny walking down the driveway. Unfortunately all that did was make the air misty. Clark watched a pair of bright red eyes emerge eerily from in the white mist, Danny's apathic face was blank as he stared at Clark with his emotionless eyes.

It only took one look for Clark to know that that wasn't the problem, so what was it?

"Danny, what has Rosaline done to you?" Clark demanded, grabbing his cousin's wrist tightly.

"Nothing." Danny answered, but he didn't elaborate.

Clark frowned; Danny was acting nothing like himself. If he wasn't careful Rosaline would find out Danny's secret, and Clark knew that there was no way that Danny would want that to happen. But the question remained, how was she making Danny act like this?

"Does she know about you?" Clark asked, but got no answer as Danny vanished in a swirl of green mist. Out of desperation he called Chloe hoping that she had more success than he had. She suggested he come back to the _Planet_ since her results weren't particularly concrete and she needed a sounding board.

"Okay, so after a bit of sorting I got a couple of results on red eyes that we could be working with." Chloe commented breezily, pulling up a number of windows. The one up the front showed a short, grey haired man with bright red eyes. The picture was from a network that purported to have accurate information on ghosts. The label suggested that the man had been "overshadowed".

"Since we're obviously not dealing with spontaneous albinism I figured I'd go with the most obvious choices. The first thing is that there could be a ghost overshadowing him." Chloe said with a cringe, the wounds from her own possession were still obviously a bit raw. Clark however shook his head, pulling up a chair to sit next to Chloe.

"Try the next solution, Danny can't be overshadowed." Clark said, figuring that as a ghost himself it would be pretty difficult for another ghost to overshadow Danny.

"Really, why?" Chloe asked. Clark just said that Danny's parents had been ghost hunters, hoping it would be vague enough to protect Danny. Although if he couldn't figure out how to break this spell he was under he didn't know that telling Chloe would be so bad.

"Okay, how did he react to your steam treatment?" Chloe suggested, shrugging Clark's useless answer off in her usual manner.

"He didn't" _'Although there is the fact that it needed to be over 300__ degrees__ to knock the Box Ghost out'_ Clark mentally added. This was going to be hard, he had no idea how kryptonite infused anything would affect his cousin... Clark's mental train derailed. He knew full well how Danny reacted to kryptonite; Clark's dad had told him that as soon as Danny touched the green rock it looked like he was being electrocuted.

"It's not kryptonite" Clark said as he came to that epiphany. If it were, Danny would be being electrocuted, like how Clark got weak when he was around the green rocks. Chloe took that in stride, flicking through the images on the screen. Clark saw one that caught his eye.

"Chloe, go back a page." He commanded, and watched as a picture of a red eyed Danny Phantom in his original black hazmat suit appeared on screen. A ruby studded red crown sat precariously on top of his white hair, and a heavy set gold pendant hung around his neck. The page decried this as an example of Phantom's menace, and how he was going to turn on them all. But Clark saw the page differently. He saw his cousin stealing, but Danny had explained that away.

"Chloe, when was this photo taken?" Clark asked. Chloe typed on the keyboard, tracing the photo back to its original source. It was a photo from the Amity Park newspaper dated just under two years prior. A couple of days later a man called Frederich Isak Showenhower had been arrested for grand Larson. The name rang a bell to Clark, but it took a minute to place where.

"Freakshow." Clark whispered, his eyes widening. Chloe sent him a questioning glare, silently demanding he explained.

"Showenhower was a ringmaster for a travelling circus." Clark began, recalling as much of the story he could and simultaneously trying to protect Danny's identity. "Phantom fell prey to him. He called himself "Freakshow", had a staff that could control ghosts. Freakshow demanded the ghosts steal for him, that's the whole reason that Phantom is wanted for theft. But eventually Phantom was freed; he said that the staff had been broken."

"Wait, you've actually talked to Phantom?" Chloe queried, but at Clark's piercing glare she became quiet again. There was a moment's pause before she shook her head looking back at the screen. "Okay, so Phantom was being controlled and it turned his eyes red. Thing is, Phantom is a ghost. Whatever that staff was made of it wouldn't do the same thing to Danny, he's a human." Clark frowned; Danny could be affected by anything Phantom could, since they were the same person. He couldn't discount the staff.

"Can you pull up anything on the staff?" Clark asked. After a questioning glance it only took a minute for Chloe to pull up a full history of the staff. On the top of the screen was a picture of a gothic staff, an eerie red orb resting in space between the wings of a bat-wing shaped setting. The intricate carvings were so lifelike it seemed almost as if the bat could fly away if not for the orb that it held, and the staff itself was carved of wood so dark it almost seemed black.

"Okay, it says here that the Spirit Staff was an ancient artefact, passed down through the generations of the Showenhower family. Apparently after returning from an expedition to America in the 1820's, Frederich's ancestor, Isak Volkard Showenhower was reported to have prevented a band of maraudering spirits from rampaging through his village. He apparently came in, holding an "Unearthly red rock" above his head and commanded the spirits to stop.

When the spirits followed his directions obediently he realised the power of the stone, he spent months refining it, carving and polishing it to the point where no spirit could ever escape its command. However Isak was a humble man, and he was happier as an entertainer than playing the Pied Piper, so to speak. So he took the spirits away and established a travelling circus; Zirkus der Goten. Eventually the part the spirits played in the act was forgotten, and the Circus became renowned for its dark, yet awe inspiring acts. Since then all the males in the family have been named for Isak, and the Circus eventually became the Circus Gothica."

Clark frowned as he took all that in. The idea of an "Unearthly red rock" sounded disturbingly familiar. "Does it say where in America he went?"

"Not particularly, it says he was in the south of the Missouri Territory." Chloe shrugged. "Wait a second; Kansas was part of the territory in the 1820's. He could have come to the Smallville area."

"And that would mean that his Red Rock is really..." Clark said, his eyes widening at his hypothesis.

"Red kryptonite!" Chloe finished, turning around to face Clark. "But that doesn't make sense. How can red kryptonite control ghosts?"

"I don't know, but it sort of makes sense." Clark said. He hoped Danny wouldn't be too mad at him for telling Chloe some of this, it was for his own good, and Chloe was a great sounding board. "I know that green kryptonite can hurt ghosts. They can be near it, but if they touch it they essentially get electrocuted. It physically hurts them, like it hurts me. But red kryptonite..." Clark broke off, unsure how to continue.

"Red K takes away your inhibitions if you're in contact with it." Chloe blinked once, before her eyes widened. "That's the connection. Red K takes away your inhibitions, your self control. It sounds like for a ghost it completely takes away their self control, so they can be ordered around. It's funny, a ghost is affected by being near red K, but you have to touch it to be affected. With green K it's the other way around. But that doesn't solve the problem with Danny. All it tells us is that the stuff in the orb was red K."

Clark shook his head, the orb had been broken, but that wasn't the only source of red kryptonite. Some of the jewellery stores in town had adapted kryptonite as a cheap alternative for costume jewellery. And now he thought of it, Rosaline had been wearing a red bracelet. He stood up, realising exactly what was happening with his cousin.

"It tells us enough." Clark replied cryptically as he sped away. Now he knew what was wrong he had to get back to Smallville to save Danny before he permanently did something that he would regret. Clark blurred through the streets and across the blackened highway. The starry night sky shining like thousands of eyes as Clark raced back to Smallville. It was time for him to protect the protector.

_Line Break_

Rosaline smiled happily as she sat down on her bed. Today had been one of the most wonderful days she'd ever had. She had broken up with her last boyfriend a month ago, after she had realised that he was a no hoper who was going to end up in a dead end job and wasn't good enough for her in any regard. However, being one of the most popular girls in school she needed to have a boyfriend, so she had gone looking. The problem was that most of the seniors she had either already dated or were the same as her ex, totally hot, but complete airheads.

Last year she had been crushing on Clark Kent, the dreamy farm-boy turned footballer, he was intelligent, sporty and just plain hot. But he was only interested in Lana Lang and hadn't paid attention to anyone in her year. Then at the beginning of this year his cousin had come, he started off as a junior, but had aced his mid-year exams and had been skipped ahead. At least that was the story she'd heard. There was no doubt that he was smart, but it was only recently she'd started paying attention to him. He was tall, slightly geeky looking, but he totally made it work. He wasn't as beefy as his cousin, but he was equal in the hotness factor.

More than that he had the same bright blue eyes, but there was a deeper mystery to them. She'd see him walking in the halls and be amazed by the way his eyes shone, lit from within as if he knew something more than the rest of them. And everyone agreed that while he was quiet and reclusive, anyone who sat next to him in class felt strangely safe and protected. He was going somewhere, with the bright spark in his eyes and the light-hearted way he saw the world, as if nothing would stop him. Rosaline had long since decided that he was a suitable choice as her next boyfriend. He may not be on any sports team, but he was a tasty piece of arm candy none the less. The only tastier piece would have been Phantom, but no-one could claim him.

So this morning after English Lit she'd approached him. She knew she was the first person to do so since he got to the school, but that was because most people were afraid of Jay who took particular joy from beating up the dark haired boy. She'd asked Danny if he'd like to hang out after school. At first he seemed reluctant, but then, just as she'd been brushing her hair from her eyes he'd looked at her and instantly agreed. Rosaline could have sworn she felt her heart flutter when he said yes, but she'd taken control and told him to meet her just outside on the steps.

When they'd met up after school he'd been wearing a pair of crimson contacts. She didn't know why, but they just seemed so exotic and they made her heart thrill. She loved them, sure his eyes weren't baby blue anymore, but the red told of repressed power and danger. It made her feel empowered, as if she had tamed some powerful beast. It was amazing. Then he had shocked her. Sure she knew of meteor infected people in the town, Chloe Sullivan had reported about them in the _Torch_ almost every week. She was stunned to find that Danny was part of the meteor infected elite.

She had asked him to take her to the Talon, and he had somehow teleported her there. It was amazing, and she could hardly believe that the quiet Danny Fenton was sitting on a secret like that. More amazing still was the fact that he obliged her every request. With his power he could do anything, be anywhere. And yet he was here with her, doing whatever she wanted. If she asked him to hug her, he did. If she asked him to kiss her he did. But it was only their first day together as a couple, and she was going to do this right, she didn't want to rush too much into another relationship. It spoiled the fun.

"Kiss me" she demanded, and sighed as the dark haired boy pounced on her, drawing her breath away as his soft lips pressed into hers. This had been a brilliant idea. After Danny's cousin had interrupted them at his house she had suggested they go to hers. She leaned back, drawing in a deep breath before returning the kiss. His breath was chilled, and his skin felt as if he had just walked inside from the cold. But it was strangely exhilarating as he deepened the kiss. Even the short interruption from Clark Kent on the phone again didn't dissuade them from their passion.

Time flew, and Rosaline felt herself being swept away in a stream of gentle caresses, his cool fingers tingling against her skin and deep yet tender kisses brushing against her lips. They were interrupted when the door downstairs closed. Rosaline frowned, looking over at the clock. It was 7pm, and apparently her dad had just gotten home. But she didn't want to stop kissing Danny. She pouted at him, asking if he could take them somewhere where they wouldn't be discovered.

Rosaline laughed in delight as she found herself sitting atop the water tower looking over Smallville. It was cold in the late February air and she shivered. Before she knew it she was wrapped in the red blanket that had sat on her bed. She sighed and leaned back contentedly, looking at the bare chested boy next to her. That had been another surprise; under his baggy clothing he had lithe muscle. She ran her fingers gently across his chest, circling his belly button. He didn't seem bothered at all by the cold, and his red contacts seemed to glow in the dim moonlight. At the moment he seemed more like an earth-bound god, brimming with power, but he was hers and hers alone.

She smiled, resting her head against his chest and looking up at the moonlight. This was amazing, beautiful, surreal, and she could hardly believe that this strong powerful boy was hers. After just an afternoon she knew she wanted him forever, and was not going to let anything take him away from her. She cuddled into him further, looking up to his crimson eyes. He was truly spectacular. She leaned over him, the blanket falling off her shoulders as she bent down for another kiss. But then the water tower shuddered.

Rosaline fell down, losing her balance and crashed into the bare chest beneath her. She slowly crawled over to the side of the tower, her eyes widening when she saw a blue eyed Clark Kent just below. "What's he doing here?" She asked aloud, turning to face Danny. "Can you get rid of him for us?" She asked, raising her eyebrows into a pleading pout. She smiled when Danny vanished in a swirl of green, only to appear on the ground below.

"You shouldn't have come here." Danny's voice echoed up towards her, sounding almost sinister. Rosaline shivered, pulling the blanket close to her as she watched the two boys below. The tension in the air was palpable, and something told her this was going to be a clash of the titans.

_Line Break_

Clark frowned as he sped through Smallville. He had had no luck finding his cousin and Rosaline; they weren't at the Farm, nor were they in the Talon. Clark slowed, coming to a stop in an alley in the middle of town. He hadn't tried it before, but maybe he could find his cousin just based on his heartbeat. It had to be worth a shot. So Clark listened, picking up the disharmonious sounds of the Smallville night scene. He listened for one heartbeat; one that he knew was slower than any other. The wind brushed through his hair as his eyes flickered open. He had found it, over by the water tower.

He raced towards the metallic structure, slamming into the heavy iron tower leg, making the whole thing shudder. He knew he had gotten their attention when a pair of chocolate brown eyes looked over the side. They were filled with frustration as they looked down on him. He was about to call up to them, to try and drag Danny away from Rosaline if necessary. But he was interrupted by a spiral of mist in front of him.

Danny materialised, his red eyes dark and menacing. He looked nothing like the carefree boy that Clark usually hung around with. He looked scary, intimidating. There was a dark circle around his eyes and he looked closer to a wild animal than anything else.

"You shouldn't have come here." Danny said, and Clark felt a shiver run down his spine at that tone of voice. But Clark knew he couldn't back down. Danny was still in there somewhere, and Clark needed to bring him back before he did something that he'd regret.

"Danny, snap out of it." Clark pleaded, carefully eyeing his cousin. Danny was perfectly still, not even breathing. The tension in the air mounted, and for the first time Clark felt truly threatened by the dark look in his cousin's eye.

"I was told to make you go away." Danny commented, unblinking "Leave now, or I'll make you."

Clark took a step back, not knowing what to do. He couldn't just leave Danny here, not when he was under someone else's control. But he didn't know how to go about saving him. There was a big difference between beating a meteor freak down after they'd lost control of their senses and taking down his cousin when he was innocent of anything but losing out to mind control. Danny just stood there, his crimson eyes glowing menacingly in the half-light of the moon. Clark made his decision.

In a blur he sped up to his cousin, hoping to hold him down until he could snap Danny out of it. What he hadn't counted on was the painful blast of green energy that flew from Danny's still glowing hand. Clark was thrown back, skidding across the asphalt. There was a startled gasp from the top of the water tower, but Clark couldn't afford to pay much heed. He stood up, looking towards his cousin's suddenly menacing form.

Clark once more raced towards Danny, but Danny sidestepped and in a blur threw Clark heavily into the ground leaving a two foot crater in the earth. Once more Clark stood, knowing that the time for playing around was over. Clark punched Danny heavily in the stomach, but Danny simply smiled menacingly. There was a moment's pause and suddenly Clark felt a deep ache in his own stomach. Danny could punch _hard_. Clark coughed, winded, but managed to shake his head clear after a moment.

Clark frowned, he had no idea how to take Danny down, but with the order Danny had been given... Clark was worried. Danny would never kill; everything he knew about his cousin said that Danny couldn't kill. But if he saw Clark as a threat he would not back down, he would stop Clark in any way he could. The time for this thought stream cost Clark dearly. Suddenly he found himself encased in ice, immobilised by the unbreakable crystal.

Clark focused his heat vision on the icy prison, it took a while and heat bordering 1000 degrees but he managed to free himself enough to move his arms. Unfortunately by then Danny was nowhere in sight. Clark spun around, looking for any sign of his cousin, but saw nothing in the moon's pale glow. Suddenly he was struck again, a sharp pain cutting through his jaw line as Danny swung a controlled hit. Clark spat the blood that had gathered in his mouth onto the street. He took one look at his cousin and realised he wasn't even sweating, the dark haired boy was quickly and effectively taking Clark down and he wasn't even sweating. Clark needed to take it up another level.

Heedless of the consequences Clark made his oldest move; punch the guy hard enough that they go flying and fall unconscious. It had always worked in the past, so Clark pulled his arm back; putting all his strength behind it he swung hard. There was a resounding crack as his fist planted heavily into Danny's bare chest. Clark instantly knew that Danny was sporting several broken ribs. Danny was sent flying with a jarring thud into the water tower. The metal structure shuddered, and there was a piercing scream that split the night.

Clark watched as in slow motion the blonde haired girl atop the water tower lost her footing, sliding across the top right to the edge. The tips of her fingers clung to the ridge, holding on for dear life. Rosaline screamed, begging for help, but Clark was still frozen in place by Danny's icy prison. There was nothing he could do as he helplessly watched. The girl's hands slipped an inch and she squealed louder. At the base of the tower there was a flash of bright white-blue light.

_Line Break_

A piercing scream brought Danny back from the black depths he had been immersed in. It only took a moment for his core to start screaming at him to _protect_. He felt his eyes shift to a bright neon green, but he wasn't fully aware of the situation. All he saw was a girl about to fall to her death from the top of the seven story water tower. In an instant he was in his ghost form, flying towards the girl as she lost her grip. Her eyes were closed and her high pitched cry stabbed into his eardrums. His cool arms closed tightly around her as he caught her from her fall. His mind was still foggy from the darkness, but he had felt like this before.

Phantom came to a jarring halt in the air as he realised exactly when he had last felt like this. _'Freakshow'_ his mind screamed. But the crystal ball was broken, so how had he been controlled? What had he been made to do? Like the last time it was a jumbled blur of images, he couldn't remember doing anything terrible this time around, but his mind was virtually blank since English Lit this morning. At least he hoped it was this morning. Last time days had gone by and he couldn't remember it.

"D-Danny?" The girl in his arms asked breathlessly. Phantom shook his head and gently set her down on the ground. Her arms were tightly clung around his neck before he even knew what was happening. There was a slight coughing noise from behind them and Phantom spun to see Clark half entrapped in a pile of ghostly ice. Without a second thought he dispelled it, his stomach twisting with guilt. It was then he felt physical pain as several broken ribs made themselves known and he grunted, trying to push away the aching.

"Green eyes? Danny, you're back." Phantom heard Clark say, with heavy relief evident in his voice.

"What happened?" Phantom asked, looking between Clark and Rosaline. However he felt his eyes being drawn to the red bracelet on her wrist, and his mind started fading away. He had nothing but the strange desire to explain what was going on to the girl. He shut his eyes fast, attempting to dispel the mind control as it sunk its dark claws into his mind, but he was struggling. He heard Clark gasp, and there was another cry and the sound of shattering stone.

Phantom felt the last vestiges of the darkness disappear; he stood dizzily for a moment, taking stock of what had just occurred. It looked like Clark had used his heat vision to shatter the bracelet, but Rosaline had fallen unconscious from the blast. He walked over to her, taking her pulse. It felt like she would be fine, although he was now concerned for both his and his cousin's secrets. Clark needed to be protected now, so without a second thought he entered her unconscious dreaming.

Phantom had figured this ability out last year after Sam became sick with a bad fever. He had so badly wanted to comfort her that when she fell asleep he had been pulled into her mind. It was not the same as overshadowing someone; it was just walking around inside their mind. He could manipulate certain thought paths, and make long lasting subconscious suggestions, but to Phantom's mind it was less objectionable to Dream Walk than it was to overshadow, and in this case it was more useful.

Rosaline's mind was fairly simple, if lustful. Although the events of the day had thrown her mind into turmoil. He saw first every kiss she had forced him into, every discovery she had made, and every thought she had had about him. With his mind all his own he had no interest in the girl, but did not want her hurt by what she had seen. Fortunately though, somewhere between the destruction of the bracelet and the sheer ridiculousness of what her mind had seen she was repressing it, turning it into the half remembered ramblings of the dream world. Danny absently helped the process along, protecting the girl from their secrets and the emotional hurt from her discoveries. The whole process took about ten minutes, but by the time he was finished both Clark and Danny's secrets were safe.

Phantom shifted back to his human form, knowing that he needed to talk with Clark. However the important thing for now was to make sure Rosaline got home safely. He teleported her back into her bedroom, carefully tucking her under the sheets as he had done numerous times for Valerie after she had been knocked out in a ghost fight. The poor girl had had a hard end to the day even it was somewhat self inflicted, and she deserved to wake up feeling safe.

Shamefacedly, Danny went back to the farmhouse. He knew he deserved every one of his broken ribs for falling back into that trap again. Clark explained his hypothesis that red kryptonite and the orb from Freakshow's crystal ball were made of the same thing. Danny agreed, and found it interesting that he was affected in a similar but different way as Clark to another form of kryptonite. He needed to figure out why that was and to do that he would need to go on another trip into the Ghost Zone soon.

He wanted to figure out if there was any way to prevent that from happening again. Rosaline may not have forced him to do anything too terrible, but there were more people like Freakshow out there who would have no qualms about abusing him for his powers. Danny shivered at the thought. He never wanted something like Freakshow's first stint in Amity Park to happen again. For a moment his mind flailed, fearful of the whims of unscrupulous humans. If anyone else were to discover the power red kryptonite had over ghosts that would be a bad thing for him. Danny added 'learn how to avoid mind control' to his mental to-do list.

Suddenly Danny felt very alone. Sure he was friends with Clark, and by extension his friends, but since Tucker and Sam were gone he didn't really have anyone he could talk to. Chloe was nice, but she was so similar to his sister in so many ways that sometimes it became difficult to separate the two. Lois was friendly, but exuberant. She was a lot like Sam had been, but wasn't the same. Lana was sweet, but she was Clark's girlfriend, and even then that relationship was struggling. The thing was, they were all Clark's friends; people who had accepted Danny because he was related to Clark.

Danny had no friends of his own in the human world. For the most part he was okay with that. After all no one could ever replace Sam and Tucker. But he had nobody to turn to just to talk with. Sure, there was a lot he shared with Clark, and he knew there was a lot Clark shared with him, but Danny had a long past, and there were things he'd faced that Danny either couldn't or wasn't ready to share with Clark. Clark was supportive, but he didn't understand what it meant to be half ghost. Sam and Tuck had understood somewhat, but never fully. And while Clark may have extraordinary powers he had always had them. Danny still struggled with the loss of his humanity.

He was a ghost living among humans, and days like this reminded him of it. While Clark may lose his inhibitions to red kryptonite he was still Clark. But the red meteor rock made Danny little more than a tool. In the Human World, ghosts were lesser creatures, and people wouldn't see enslaving them as morally objectionable. But Danny was a ghost, perhaps not fully, but enough that most of the ghost rules applied to him (not all, but most). And to be controlled by a little red stone was scary when he was constantly fighting with himself to figure out where he belonged.

He sighed as he watched Clark head up to his room for bed; Danny was not tired in the slightest. For now he wanted to see a friend, someone who could empathise with his ghost side. Danny opened a portal into the Zone, feeling comforted by the endless green space and the floating purple doors. He went for a quiet fly, absently shifting into his ghost form as he flew. After twenty minutes he found the right door. Lately if he knew who he was looking for he could always just find their door.

The purple door hung in the vast expanse of the Ghost Zone, standing out against the green. The door was simple, plain purple steel with a silvery handle. In stark black painted on the door were the words 'Backstage Entrance'. Shyly Phantom knocked on the door, rubbing his fingers through his white hair. Slowly the door opened, and a blue haired ghost poked her head through, a soft red light coming from behind her.

"Phantom?" She questioned with confused green eyes.

"Hey Ember" Phantom said. "I was wondering if we could talk."

* * *

><p>AN: Another Chapter done. Danny is confused about what he is. We've all found out that Freakshow's staff was made of red kryptonite. And Clark and Danny have had a minor physical fight. I'm not ready to do a full blown Danny vs. Clark brawl, if I ever do, but that was a taste.<p>

What did you think of the brief history of the Showenhower family, was it believable?

P.S. There's a hint of what's coming next chapter if you look way back in chapter 2 (Into Smallville)

Ta-ta,

Bluerose


	19. Hybrid

Chapter 18

Hybrid

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

_Activation Sequence: Initiated_

_System Recovery Mode Activate: Code 01010110-01101001-01100011-01110100-01101111-01110010-00100000-01010011-01110100-01101111-01101110-01100101_

_Run Primary Bionic System Start-up: Bionic System; Fully Active_

_Run Primary Biological System Start-up: Biological System; Fully Active_

_Run System Scan: Diagnostic Confirmed; Systems Fully Functional_

_Run Final Scan: All Systems Online_

His head rolled back, swinging loosely around his neck as he took a deep breath. His lungs filled with oxygen for the first time in what felt like days. His eyes flickered open, blurry shadows making their way into clarity in the bright white room. His arms were held fast above his shoulders by firm metallic cuffs, and there was a strange itch at the back of his neck. Dimly he registered that this was the data support that had been part of keeping him here, alive.

"Victor?" A man's gentle voice brushed his consciousness. "Can you hear me?"

Still blinking Victor's eyes came into focus. The room was bright white, with yellow cables hanging down to various work stations. Each station housed some robotic part, mechanical arms and legs. Even a mechanical lung was open on display. He looked around the room, recalling with vivid clarity as a replica of each of these was installed into him, the mechanical nerves replacing his human ones. He shifted in his purple body suit, feeling the synthetic material rub against his skin. It looked like a cross between a wetsuit and a uniform from some budget sci-fi movie. But the doctors here had seen fit to dress him in it.

"I'm sorry for what we did to you" the man apologised softly. Dark eyes hidden behind wire rimmed glasses. Victor's eyes met his, and he recognised Dr Hong. The man was Chinese, and was the kindest man on the research team who had done this to him, who had made this unnatural amalgamation of human and machine. Dr Hong was the one who had explained what had happened to him, but that didn't change the resentment that Victor felt knowing exactly what had been stolen from him.

Dr Hong took a step back, pressing a button on the side of Victor's steel cage. The cuffs around his wrist sprang open, accompanying a loud buzzer. Victor looked questioningly at the man, wondering what had happened.

"This was all I could save" Dr Hong said, pulling a small piece of paper from the deep pocket of his lab coat. Victor took the paper in his hands, processing the image on the scrappy piece of paper. He recognised her, brown curly hair, deep caramel skin and the most gorgeous brown eyes. It was Katherine, his girlfriend from before any of this started. He smiled, the first time in months as he recognised the woman he loved.

"Thank you." Victor said sincerely, looking up into the kind doctor's eyes. Dr Hong smiled and stepped away, walking towards one of the work stations. Victor took a step forward, the cord at the back of his neck straining and finally releasing as he was disconnected from the system. The room darkened, a loud beeping blaring through the room, signalling a warning. Dr Hong spun around to face him with panicked eyes.

"They're coming!" He exclaimed. "You have to go" Dr Hong gently shoved Victor towards the door at the back of the lab. "Now!"

Victor didn't need to be told twice. He didn't want to be there, he wanted to be back at home with Katherine. Without a second thought he took off out the door, sprinting through the unfamiliar hallways, looking for any sign of an exit. Echoing from behind him he heard the shouts as a man called for them to seal the building so he couldn't escape, but he was already running.

He sprinted through long white corridors, the white doors looking like storage compartments gave little indication of direction, and Victor was desperately searching for anything that could lead him towards an exit. His eyes widened as in front of him was lit up with a tiny green dot, and Victor barely dodged as an electrical current charged past his right shoulder. There was an explosion behind him as the charge struck the wall. He rounded a corner, blindly running from the darkly clothed men behind him.

He pressed through a door, leading him into a cavernous space. Besides the graffiti and sense of abandonment he had no time to register anything about his surroundings. All he noticed was the white light coming through the door on the other side, and he desperately hoped that it would lead outside. He raced across the room, deftly leaping over a collapsed cement pylon as he cleared the room. He only just dodged another electrical blast as he sprinted out the door.

He found himself on a narrow ramp, leading down to a well outside. The steel door was closed, but that was no problem for Victor. He raced down, barrelling through the obstacle like butter and leaving a man sized hole in the six inch thick steel door. He was still out of time, trying to escape his captors. He raced out, barely taking note of the area; all he knew was that he had to get away.

He left the run down space, and found himself running through a more urbanised and up-kept area. He didn't recognise any of the street names, nothing looked familiar at all. Victor slowed, hoping that he was far enough away to be safe. It was raining, but Victor was glad. This was the first time he'd felt the rain since before...

He shook his head; he didn't want to think of that. Didn't want to think of what he'd become. What they'd turned him into. He kept running, following the road as it led towards the city. Hopefully he could lose himself in a crowd until he found his bearings.

There was a skidding of breaks, the red car that had just rounded the corner slamming into him. The bonnet crunched as the crumple zones collapsed beneath his firm stance. The doctors had told him he was a lot stronger now, but this really brought it home. He was no longer human.

Victor looked up, the windscreen shattered as the car came to a halt. The sides of the bonnet wrapped around him as he brought the vehicle to a grinding halt. He looked up, his eyes landing on the dazed driver. She looked dazed, her long brown hair drifting lightly in the cold air, and a soft fug tugged from her mouth as she breathed in the cold air. There was a large gash on her head, crimson spilling from the open wound. Victor was conflicted; he didn't want to leave the young woman alone, which was the wrong thing to do. But if he took her to a hospital there was a much higher chance of _them_ finding him. He looked over at her, noticing her confused stare. If she didn't get medical attention soon she could end up a lot worse.

Taking her to the hospital couldn't be that bad.

_Line Break_

Clark sighed as he tossed the last hay bale into the field. After the last few traumatic weeks it felt like things were settling into equilibrium. Although Clark noticed that Danny was spending more time in the Zone than he used to. In a way Clark felt sorry for him, Danny had taken the red kryptonite thing hard. Clark didn't like the stuff, but at least he was still himself when he was on red K. Danny was vulnerable, and while Rosaline hadn't done anything to bad, the opportunity had been there if she had found out. Danny had managed to keep both his and Clark's secrets safe from the girl, but the whole thing seemed to have forced a wedge between his cousin and the rest of humanity.

Clark shook his head, stepping into the cabin of the truck and making his way back to the farmhouse. Danny was at school at the moment, and his mom was probably upstairs working. Clark had encouraged her to take the senate seat, realising that not only would it honour his dad's memory, but his mom would be able to make a positive difference in the world. After all if she was able to handle two super-powered kids it was hardly as though the senate would be too much of a problem.

He was just stepping through the door when his phone rang. It was Lana. And she was in the hospital. He didn't need to know anything more and before she could say anything he was on the way. Five minutes later he was walking through the hallways of Metropolis General Hospital, keenly searching for any sign of Lana. He found her room; she was still being attended to by one of the nurses, but other than the red-soaked bandage on her head she looked alright. But that didn't stop him from asking.

"Yeah," Lana replied, she sounded dazed, though Clark wasn't sure if it was from the cut or from the painkillers. "I'm fine. How'd you get here so fast?"

Clark dodged the question, answering that he was at the _Planet_ with Chloe. "What happened?" He asked, hesitating to put his hand on her shoulder. He was no longer sure if it was appropriate to comfort her like that with their relationship being as rocky as it currently was.

"I was driving down the road" Lana explained "to go to the library, when this guy ran out in front of my car. I didn't even have time to break. Clark I hit him full on at 30 miles an hour."

Clark's widened "Lana I'm so sorry."

"No, you don't understand." Lana interrupted, shaking her head. "He didn't have a scratch on him."

Clark raised an eyebrow. "Lana, who is this guy?" He asked. Sure he could take a car hit at 30 miles an hour, but that would kill any normal human.

"I don't know" Lana replied, waving her hands in exasperation. "He brought me to the hospital, but he wouldn't tell me his name. He was acting all jumpy and tense, like someone was after him."

"What does he look like?" Clark demanded, looking firmly down into Lana's eyes. He wasn't going to make the same mistake he'd made with AC, but he needed to talk to this guy if what Lana had said was true.

"I don't know, he was African American, maybe around Danny's height. His hair was shaved short, and he was wearing this weird purple suit, like he'd just come out of a sci-fi convention." Lana explained with a shrug. Clark nodded, with any luck he hadn't gotten too far and Clark could find him before he disappeared into the aether.

Clark got outside the hospital and saw a guy who loosely matched Lana's description. He seemed to have changed clothes, donning a pair of denim jeans and a yellow jacket. He walked outside jumpily, ducking between the ambulances as he moved away from the hospital, but turned away when a police siren went off.

"Is that whose chasing you?" Clark demanded, attracting the young man's attention. "The police?"

"Look man, you got the wrong guy." He answered, but there was a challenging look in his eye as the man turned and began to stalk away. Not one to give up so easily Clark followed after him.

"So my girlfriend didn't crash her jeep running into you?" Clark asked.

"What are you looking for, an apology?" The man retorted, not even bothering to turn around.

"Just some answers. She said she hit you full on, how'd you manage that?" Clark inquired softly.

The man paused, turning to face Clark full on. "Milk" he replied, almost sarcastically "Does the body good." Clark finally got a good look at the man. He was young, probably around Clark's own age. His dark eyes held a strange depth, almost like looking into Danny's eyes, but so very different at the same time. But that wasn't what confused Clark, no, what confused Clark was that he knew the guy.

"Victor?" Clark puzzled "Victor Stone? Met High wide receiver?" Victor turned to look confusedly at Clark, almost sizing him up.

"I know you?" Victor asked, looking askance at Clark.

"I'm Clark Kent, I played for the Smallville Crows." Clark explained. Victor nodded in recognition.

"Kent, Quarterback. I remember. Some arm you got." Victor replied. Clark internally frowned at the mention of his glory days.

"I don't play anymore." Clark softly replied.

Victor twitched as another siren sounded, but stayed in place "Yeah, me neither." He murmured, looking down at the ground.

"That's not surprising since I heard you were dead." Clark managed to say, hoping it didn't come off as too brash.

"Look." Victor replied, looking down at his feet. "I'm sorry about what happened with your girlfriend, I really am." He looked up to meet Clark's eyes. "But I got places I _don't _wanna be right now. Catch you later Kent." Victor pulled away, but Clark clasped his hand firmly around Victor's arms.

"Victor wait..." Suddenly Clark felt himself being lifted into the air, slamming hard against the entrance's wall. The sharp clatter of crumbling tiles echoed around him as Clark stood up to shake the dust off. Now he really had to talk to Victor. There was no way for a normal human to do that. Clark focused, shifting his eyesight into a different part of the spectrum so he could x-ray the young man.

"What the hell are you made of?" Victor demanded.

"I was just about to ask you that." Clark murmured. His eyes widened at what he saw. Half of Victor's body was made of metal, while some bones and organs were still organic; the vast majority of the young man was comprised of robotic systems. His lungs, kidneys, half his stomach had all been replaced my mechanical equivalents. His skull was half bone and half metallic, and his left eye had been fully replaced by a mechanised camera like orb.

The man was half robot.

"What are you looking at man?" Victor demanded. Clark frowned, knowing that it was now imperative that he got Victor somewhere safe so they could talk. Something terrible had happened to Victor and he deserved the chance to find some form of safety. Clark hardly listened to himself as he struggled to convince Victor to come back home with him, but eventually he acquiesced. Clark dropped by the _Planet_ asking if he could borrow Chloe's car since Lana's was totalled and his was back at the farm.

It was a quiet drive; neither was really prepared to say anything yet. Clark was just glad that Victor had decided to follow him along, but obviously he too was curious. After all, it wasn't often you met someone who could just shrug off being thrown into a wall like that. Eventually they passed under the old wood archway that stood at the gate to the farm. Clark cut the engine and invited Victor up into the loft. It was then that his phone rang.

"Look, I'm sorry I had to leave so soon but Victor didn't really want to hang around" Clark said into his phone as he walked through the barn, shrugging off Lana's questions; where was he? Had he found the guy? The only thing he was able to happily give Lana was Victor's name.

"_You're sure you're alright? I'm happy to come out there"_ Lana offered.

"No" Clark answered quickly "you stay in Metropolis so I can figure out what's going on."

"_Are you sure? It's no problem for me to come."_ Lana pressed.

"Yeah." Clark replied, ascending the staircase to the barn loft where Victor was waiting. "Chloe's on her way to pick you up."

"_Alright, I'll see you later then." _Lana conceded. She didn't exactly sound happy with it, but there was something that Clark wanted to cover with Victor first.

"Okay, bye." Clark said, flipping the phone off and putting it into his pocket. He rounded the top of the staircase to see Victor sitting at the loft desk. Clark checked his watch, noting that school would have just let out, so Danny was probably on the way home now. Clark walked over to the desk, noting the downcast expression on Victor's face. He saw the source of victor's discomfort. The computer screen displayed the report of the car accident that had supposedly killed Victor and his family.

"Newspaper's got it wrong, huh?" Clark gently probed.

Victor shook his head sadly, looking away from the screen. "No" he answered softly "They got it right." Clark was confused. _"Met High Receiver Dies in Car Crash"_ it was there in black and white. The article had declared that the whole family had died, the car had been a complete wreck and everyone inside was already dead by the time the paramedics showed up on the scene. But Victor was clearly alive, sure he was different, but he was alive.

"We were all in the car laughing, carrying on." Victor continued, looking out the window and into the distance. "Then it started to snow. My little sister always loved the snow." There was a pause and Victor gently shook his head, as if unsure of what to say next. "My ma, my pops. My little sister." There was a slight crackle in Victor's voice as the heavy grief fought its way to the surface.

"I should have died with them." Victor said angrily. Clark frowned, not comprehending exactly what Victor was going through. "I passed out, expecting to see some angels next time I woke up." He paused, looking ruefully down at the floor. "Instead I got a bunch of Cyntechnics scientists playing Frankenstein."

"Cyntechnics, they did this to you?" Clark asked.

"I wasn't the only dead guy they pulled from an accident. Just the first to survive their experiments." Victor choked out sadly. "There was this one guy, that helped me escape, if it weren't for him I'd be more machine than man right now."

"Machine?" Clark queried, closing the distance between them. "You mean bionics? That's what all the metal is, in your body."

"Yeah." Victor absently answered before realising what he'd said. "How'd you know what's in me?" Victor demanded, incredulous. "What about that wall I tossed you into? How come you're not even hurt?"

"You're not the only one who drinks a lot of milk." Clark replied dismissively.

"Milk?" A voice interjected from downstairs. "That's what you're putting it up to? Clark what did you do?" Clark was amused to hear Danny's voice coming from downstairs. Victor froze, obviously terrified of the idea of another person being in the barn.

"Danny." Clark cringed, turning guiltily towards the staircase. "How much did you hear?" he asked the dark haired boy as Danny ascended the staircase. Danny looked over to Victor, sending him a comforting smile.

"A little. Enough to know that _you_ got yourself caught, again." Danny teased, a small smile worked its way onto Victor's face. Danny walked over to Victor, offering his hand. "Danny Fenton." He introduced himself. Victor cautiously shook Danny's hand, returning the favour.

"Danny here is my..." Clark began

"Brother?" Victor guessed.

"Cousin." Danny clarified. "Although you're not the first to think that." Clark just shook his head, and Victor snapped his attention to Clark.

"You can trust him." Clark comforted.

"So are you bionic like me?" Victor asked, but there was an undertone that begged the answer to be 'yes'.

"No." Clark answered with a rueful half smile. "I'm just different."

Victor nodded, turning his attention to Danny. "And you? Take after your cousin?"

Danny looked between the two of them. "Not really." He answered, and Clark looked sadly down at the ground. Seemed Danny wasn't going to reveal himself unless it was necessary. "I'm not the same as him. In a way, maybe. But in another..." Danny trailed off, looking out the window sadly. Clark could see that they'd lost him to his own musings, but was surprised with how much he'd actually revealed just then.

Victor just looked back at Clark, another thought clearly playing on his mind. "What about your girlfriend, Lana? She okay with you being... whatever you are?" Victor asked.

Clark shook his sadly, "Lana doesn't know." He answered. It was sad that he had to keep the truth from her, but she had almost died for knowing and Clark wasn't ready to lose her.

"Neither will Katherine." Victor murmured.

"Whose Katherine?" Danny asked softly. Clark's eyebrows creased in concern for the sad tone in Victor's voice.

Victor sniffed sadly, but a small smile played onto his lips. "That's my girl" he answered with a fond smile. He stood up, pulling a creased photo out of his pocket. Clark looked down at the brunette in the picture.

"She's beautiful." Clark remarked. Victor nodded sadly.

"We were planning on getting married after school." Victor said, walking over to look out the loft window. "Some wedding that would be now." He commented.

"She even know you're alive?" Clark asked, looking concernedly over at the young man in front of him.

"No." Victor replied, shaking his head. "I want to see her." Victor said, a desperate plea in his voice, but it turned to regret. "But if they knew what I am now, what they did to me... How could she ever love a thing like me?"

Clark looked over to Danny. The halfa was standing stunned, his eyes sparkling sadly as he looked at Victor. Clark turned his gaze back to the dark man. "I'm really not the best person to be asking about that." Clark said sadly, handing the photo back.

"It won't even matter if Cyntechnics catches up with me first." Victor said sadly.

"I got a friend who works at the _Daily Planet_." Clark offered. "Might be able to find out more about these guys. Maybe get them off your back." It was a small offer, and more than he could offer to Danny. Victor smiled at him, a curious but genuine smile.

"You'd do that for me?" Victor asked, a hint of hope penetrating his voice.

"I kind of got this thing about being experimented on in labs." Clark shot back lightly. "Sit tight here with Danny. You should be safe here." Clark said, grabbing his jacket. Heading down the stairs he heard Danny finally speak up.

"You can count on Clark. He'll move the earth to make sure his friends are safe." It was a huge statement. Clark frowned; he desperately wanted that to be true. Lately he hadn't been doing a good job of that, but he was determined to get those people off Victor's case. He deserved that much. For the moment Clark was content to leave Victor and Danny together. The two had quite a bit in common by the sounds of things. That decided he picked up his pace. It was time to bring Chloe into this.

_Line Break_

Victor looked at the fleeting back of Clark Kent. He'd only just met the guy and he was already pretty much putting his life in his hands. Or what was left of it. Victor frowned, he had never really had an opportunity to stop and think about what had happened to him. It was hard, knowing that half his humanity had been stolen from him. He never asked for it, and now he was a monster, he couldn't even turn to the one girl in the world who he needed the most for fear that she would hate him. Victor looked out the window, surveying the sun soaked farm. It was frightening to imagine what the future could hold.

Could he ever return to Katherine? Fulfil their high-school dream? Victor scoffed. No. That part of his life was over. Now he was reduced to this sub-human thing. Part robot. What did that even mean? He could feel the pressurised system of his metallic lungs expanding and contracting, but he could also feel the sunlight as it gently caressed his hand. He stood for a moment contemplating how different he was now. How different the sensation felt from when he was fully human.

"It feels strange, doesn't it?" Victor jumped as he heard Danny speak up. He had honestly forgotten the boy was even there. He was about to snap back at him, but Danny wasn't even looking at him. His gaze was far off in the distance, and something in his posture gave Victor pause. "The sunlight. You know what it does, and how it should feel. But at the same time it's different. And you don't know how something so simple, so constant can possibly have changed so much. And then you think, 'if the sun has changed, what else? How can anything be the same again?'"

Victor watched as the boy's shoulders hunched over. Somehow he understood exactly what Victor was feeling. "How can you know that?" Victor asked softly.

"Because that's how I felt." Danny whispered, barely audibly. His mind was still far off, but Victor's eyes widened.

"What do you mean by that?" Victor demanded, turning to face the boy in full. Danny didn't look any different to a regular kid. Long sleeved baggy shirt and messy dark hair. He looked ordinary as he hung out the window. The sort of kid that had would fade into the background at school. Danny turned to face him, and Victor saw something in his eyes. There was a strange depth to those cerulean orbs, and understanding.

"I'm may not be bionic, but I know exactly what you're going through." Danny said with the slightest of shrugs. He leaned his back against the window sill, his eyes drifting away from Victor and past the sofa.

"So what are you? You said you're like not Clark." Victor commented, but he was curious. Clark had just dodged Victor's earlier question, but Danny actually seemed like he was going to answer his questions. Victor saw Danny half smile.

"No, I'm not like him. He's lucky, he was born the way he is. One of the hardest things is remembering what it was like to be fully a... fully human." There was the briefest of pauses that made Victor wonder what Danny had been going to say.

"You say that like you're not?" Victor pressed. Danny smiled sadly, guiding Victor over to the sofa. Victor took a seat, watching the boy as he sat on the trunk opposite him.

"I used to be, but then... like you I got into an accident. Didn't expect to wake up on the other end. Unlike you... well, you're luckier than me in a way. At least you're alive." Victor frowned, there was nothing lucky about this. He'd been turned into some half-human freak without his consent and some kid comes along telling him that he's lucky to be alive.

"You think you know anything?" Victor spat. "First thing I see after the accident is people in lab coats reattaching my arm, which 'by the way, Victor, is now made of titanium alloy and electro-synthesised motor neurons'. You know what it's like to watch yourself being put back together and having doctors tell you how each mechanical process works now! What it's like to rely on the doctors clemency for you to even be awake, and whenever you are for them to only perform some new test? What about running for your life to get away from the institute that turned you into a monster and suddenly doesn't want to let go like you're some piece of equipment that they own? And then you go and say 'well at least you're lucky to be alive'. Do you have any idea what that's like?" Victor screamed, breathing heavily as he finished his rant.

Danny was sitting stoically opposite him, his eyes closed against Victor's tirade. But he didn't look scared. Slowly his eyes opened, revealing two orbs of glowing green. Victor visibly flinched back, those eyes were haunting, terrifying and strangely dead. They looked nothing like the bright blue eyes that has been shining at him mere moments ago. But Danny blinked, and his eyes returned to blue, a cold and dead blue, but blue nonetheless.

"Feel better?" Danny asked softly, and Victor realised how therapeutic his rant had been. "You're right, I don't know what it's like to wake up with people putting me back together. I'm not bionic, like I said. But everything else..." Danny sighed, ruffling his hair anxiously. "I've never really voluntarily told anyone. Clark knows, and his mom does too. But everyone else... Chloe, Clark's friend at the _Planet_, knows something, but suspects it's something else."

"See, I didn't get instructions when I woke up. I had to figure it out on my own. The first few months, they were hell. I couldn't control anything, and I was terrified. Terrified of my parents, terrified that someone would find out, terrified of my friends, terrified of what I'd become. I mean, what do you do when you wake up and suddenly you're the one thing you've been taught to fear all your life?" Danny shook his head sadly looking to the ground.

"But what are you? How long have you been this way?" Victor softly asked, his earlier rage vanished at the sorrow in the younger boy's voice. He only looked seventeen, but to be talking like that.

"Just over two and a half years. I had my accident when I was fourteen. As for what I am... I'm" Danny gulped, but Victor watched as he nodded to himself, coming to a firm decision. "I'm Goin' Ghost" Victor blinked as a bright blue-white ring appeared around his waist, splitting into two which passed over him. The dark t-shirt was replaced by a black tunic, a white cloak materialised over his shoulders, his hair became snow white and his eyes became glowing emeralds. A far cry from the emotionless green Victor had witnessed before, they conveyed so much emotion, so much understanding. And Victor couldn't help but feel astounded.

Victor knew the rumours, everyone in Metropolis had heard about the supposed Ghost King incident, and the one ghost who supposedly saved the town. Phantom. Even before his own accident and subsequent media isolation he had known of the ghost, but had never believed he existed. Victor gulped as one again he was forced to reassess reality.

"Guess you weren't kidding when you said I was lucky to be alive after all." Victor joked. "What are you?"

"A halfa; half human half ghost. A hybrid of the two." Danny answered, meeting Victor's eyes. "While I may not know what it's like to be half bionic, I know exactly what you're going through. I had the benefit of two great friends to help me adjust. And now I'm gonna be there for you." Danny declared, holding out a softly glowing hand for Victor to shake. He took it.

Victor listened, every story, every doubt Danny told him about made Victor feel less alone. Less like a monster and more human again. Danny told him stories from when he'd first started out, where staying tangible as a human was impossible. He told Victor of how wonderful things like sunlight and rain could feel, how this new perspective on life wasn't damning. Danny hadn't been told how the changes to his biology worked, and it was funny to listen to some of his earlier exploits. Danny had long since shifted back to his human form and looking into those bright blue eyes Victor felt an overwhelming sense of safety, as if no matter what he could make it through this alright.

For the first time since Victor woke up in that lab he began to feel hope.

_Line Break_

Clark frowned as he stormed through the Luthor Mansion. Chloe had found out that Cyntechnics was owned by LuthorCorp. Somehow Clark felt he shouldn't have been surprised by that titbit of information. Lex was responsible for what had happened to Victor, and Clark was going to find out why he'd done it. Finally reaching the office doors he flung them open.

"We need to talk" Clark announced, seeing the young billionaire contentedly seated on a sofa by the fire.

"And you should work on your entrance, Clark. Bit abrupt, don't you think?" Lex said, condescension dripping from his voice like oil.

"What do you know about Cyntechnics?" Clark demanded, catching the billionaire's eye.

"See, now that's exactly what I mean." Lex said, shaking his head. Despite Clark's obvious aggression Lex was pretending to be light hearted. "No small talk, no pleasantries. Just straight to the accusation."

"I haven't accused you of anything Lex." Clark coldly retorted. Lex walked over to the bar, showing Clark his back. But Clark could the tension hidden underneath his black shirt.

"You don't have to. Your righteous tone says it all." Lex said, pouring himself a glass of scotch as he asked "So what am I supposed to have done this time?"

"How about turning Victor Stone into a Tin Man without his consent?" Clark spat, hoping to get a rise out of the man. At least when Lex was angry it was easy to tell when what he said was the truth.

"Victor Stone the football player?" Lex inquired lightly, any emotion hidden by his back and a politely indifferent mask. "I thought I read he died in a car crash." Clark seethed. Now that he knew the truth the cover up was obvious.

"That's what Cyntechnics wanted everyone to believe so they could experiment on him." Clark retorted angrily. He couldn't believe that anyone would stoop so low as to mechanise a man so completely without his own consent. In a way it was worse than what had happened with Danny since it had been forced on him by the whims of someone with enough money to strip away half his humanity.

Lex scoffed. "Well maybe you should be badgering Cyntechnics."

Clark's eyes narrowed at the billionaire's back. "I am. LuthorCorp bought them out seven months ago."

Lex spun around, only now seeing fit to look Clark in the eye. "Clark, in the last quarter alone LuthorCorp has sold or acquired over a hundred small ventures."

"So you're saying you don't know what goes on within your own company?" Clark incredulously demanded.

"I'm saying I run a multinational corporation. The complexity of keeping it operating requires me to delegate certain responsibilities." Lex deflected with well practiced ease. "Now if someone's abusing that position, I'll take the necessary steps to rectify the situation." Clark resisted the temptation to punch the deceitful man in the face. Instead he squashed down his anger at once more seeing the man that Lex truly was.

"So will I." Clark coldly stated before making his own way out.

"Oh and Clark" Lex called after him and Clark trod down the urge to growl. "Tell Danny I look forward to seeing him on Saturday."

A cold shiver ran down Clark's spine. It was infuriating to think that this was the same man who had been his friend all those years ago. Now he was little more than a monster, and Clark was determined to make sure that Victor was safe. Danny was actually trying to maintain a friendship with Lex, but he was only going to end up hurt. But the priority was Victor, with Cyntechnics hounding him the way they were there had to be some way to keep him safe.

Clark ran the rest of the distance to the farm, mulling over ways to keep Victor out of harm's way. But he was interrupted by a loud crash coming from the barn. In an instant Clark was running towards the loud panicked noises that were coming from the barn.

_Line Break_

Danny and Victor laughed together, over the past hour they'd actually spoken about a lot and Danny had just finished telling Victor about the time his sister had first come ghost hunting, but managed to catch Danny four times instead. Okay, the fourth time _was_ Danny capturing himself to save her the trouble, but still. They had spent the time exchanging short family anecdotes about funny times and it somehow seemed they'd known each other forever. Victor was... cool. In some ways he was like an older and more socially aware Tucker, and the half bionic thing was a step in that direction. That said, Victor was a lot more interested in sports than he was in technology. At least for now.

Danny hadn't meant to tell Victor so much, not really. He didn't want to put Victor into any more danger. But Victor's self doubts were so similar to his own plight – the self hate, the painful introspection, the inherent knowledge that you were wrong for existing – that it had struck a chord in Danny's heart. It was strange, it had been a long time since those thoughts had first entered his mind, but now it was normal for them to be there. He had almost forgotten how it felt to be a new hybrid, to feel the painful sting of knowing that half your humanity had been stolen from you?

"So is there anyone else out there like you?" Victor asked interrupting Danny's musing.

"Not precisely." Danny eventually answered. "There is another half ghost out there. But it's not the same." Victor gestured for Danny to continue. It was hard thinking about Vlad. The man had done so much to make life hard for Danny, and Danny knew he was still lurking around somewhere after him. It was sad that the closest man in the whole world to him was so drastically different, so cruel.

"He's less complicated." Danny eventually replied "He's a human with ghost powers, which I think is preferable. He has a lot less weaknesses... or maybe it's just that he has more experience..." Danny trailed off. "Anyway. He, and you for that matter have at least one good thing going for you. You're still fully alive."

"What do you mean by that?" Victor asked. Danny shook his head.

"Us ghosts, we understand energy, it's weird and I'm not gonna try to explain it." Danny answered softly, looking at Victor's confused and curious eyes. "I know you're still fully alive, sure you've got a bionic half, and an electrical overlay, but the fact is that you're a hundred percent alive." Victor looked confused.

"What makes you say that? How can you tell? Half of me is a metal machine." Victor sceptically replied. Danny sighed rubbing his head. That reminded him that he wanted to give Victor some protection against Technus, but that was a matter for later. He didn't want to tell the full truth about ghosts and human energy and auras, but skimming the surface would suffice.

"Ghosts can just tell; it's like... music." Danny said at a loss for words it was hard to describe the difference, the strange vibration given off by all forms of life. The same way that animals knew to fear ghosts, ghosts knew whether something was living. Danny hadn't at first; that was part of the problem when Sam entered that beauty pageant. But like every other ghost instinct he had, he'd learned to. That was how he had discovered his ability to sense auras in the first place. Although he was now much more aware of auras than many of the other ghosts he knew.

"It's like the difference between a pop song and Mozart. I don't know how to describe it, you just know. One of the more fun things I discovered from becoming half human." Danny shrugged with a soft smile.

"So there are some perks to being unnatural." Victor said almost regretfully. Danny gave him an encouraging smile.

"You just have to find them." Danny encouraged. "Take me for example, I love flying. It's my favourite thing to do in the day. I don't sleep much anymore, so I usually spend half the night up in the sky or sitting on a cloud stargazing."

"Not sure how that would work out for me." Victor replied ruefully.

Danny smiled, laying an encouraging hand in Victor's shoulder. He could feel the thrum of electricity as it raced through Victor's body. It was almost like when Technus overshadowed a machine, but at the same time more natural. "Maybe not, but you'll find them. I hated it at first, but I got a whole bunch of new instincts the day of my accident. I like flying because it's so unnatural for a ghost to obey gravity. Odds are you'll find something that you love in what you can do now. If you want I'll help you find it."

Victor visibly smiled, and Danny felt the happiness coming from Victor's aura. Danny was happy to have the chance to encourage another hybrid into himself. Besides that there was something endearing about Victor. He may fly off the handle a bit quick, but he seemed genuine and light-hearted too.

Danny frowned. His still broadening senses detected that Lana was approaching, but there was a sense of dangerous anticipation in the air. It was the sort of tension that tended to arise just before something bad happened.

"Victor?" Lana's voice echoed up through the barn as she arrived. Neither of them seemed to have noticed the encroaching danger and so Danny just forced himself into a more observant state of awareness. Danny and Victor made their way back downstairs.

"Where's Clark?" Danny asked before Victor got the chance.

"He went to talk to Lex." Lana answered, looking between the two boys. "Danny, could you excuse Victor and I, I wanted to talk to him in private." Danny nodded, but only went as far as the outside of the barn. He knew something was going to happen, and it wasn't ghost related. Danny turned invisible, heading up to the roof to keep watch.

"Why did Clark go to Lex?" Victor asked, Danny only hearing because of his enhanced senses.

"It turns out that he owns the company that did this to you." Lana replied gently.

"Maybe I should go have a few words of my own with this Luthor." Victor's words came out harshly. Danny frowned at his new friend. Why did Lex have to offend so many people even before they met him?

Lana was gentle and consoling in her response. "Lex has done things in the past that I don't like, but I can't believe he has any part in this. He's different."

"So am I. Only I didn't have a choice." Victor retorted coldly. Danny was saddened, but understood. Those first few months were hard, and he'd hated everything about the monster he'd become.

"Well, now you do." Lana said confidently and Danny could just imagine her face, strict yet comforting at the same time.

"Between what? Being a can opener or a Cuisinart?" Victor retorted aggressively, trying to make a joke out of the situation and failing.

"No, between telling the truth to the woman you love or lying to her." Lana answered silently. It was obvious that she saw this as an analogy for her own troubles with Clark. Danny knew that Clark wanted to trust Lana, but couldn't trust himself to be there to protect her from all the dangers of knowing Clark's secret.

Victor sighed, quietly asking "Clark told you about Katherine?"

"Yeah. That's actually why I'm here." Lana softly replied.

"She's what's kept me going all those months in the lab. The thought of holding her in my arms again..." Victor admitted sadly. Danny sighed from his rooftop, looking at the moon. Sam had always been there for him, but they'd only been a couple for a month before he lost her. Sometimes he wondered if there was anything he could have done to save her, but as always came up with a blank.

"Hey, where are you going?" Lana's voice came up from beneath him, drawing Danny's attention back to the present. Danny blinked, there were several people gathering around in the barn. And none of them seemed like particularly good people. Danny dropped into the barn, immediately seeing the danger. They were all carrying snipers, but were well hidden in the shadows of the barn to human eyesight.

"To find my girl." Victor said, still oblivious of the danger "I don't know what I'm going to tell her, but at least I can..." he finally noticed the green target lighting up his shoulder "What the hell?" he asked, but it was too late. Danny felt the charge in the air and his core screamed for him to _protect_.

Without a second thought he jumped in front of the shot. It wasn't a bullet, it was some sort of high energy ray, like the ones his parents once made, but electricity based. It hit him square on the chest, right above his core. And it burned. Danny instantly knew that the energy was pure electricity and not ectoplasmic energy, which he could at least be somewhat thankful for. Danny grunted in pain as he felt his flesh continue to burn in the blast.

"Danny!" Lana exclaimed shocked, running over to him.

"Lana, get down!" Danny ordered, pushing her to the ground as another blast was sent over their heads at Victor. It hit him in the shoulder and sent him sprawling.

"Victor!" The two of them shouted, heading towards their fallen comrade. A black suited man came up to Danny, attempting to knock him out. But Danny was able to dodge the blow and knocked him out with a sharp jab. Unfortunately that distraction was all that was needed for another black suited man to ram his gun into Lana's head, sending her unconscious to the floor.

Danny saw red, sending out a powerful wave of energy that threw all the men back, simultaneously rendering them unconscious. Danny's hand shifted to his chest as he was left panting. The blast may not have touched his core but it came perilously close.

"Lana!" Danny blinked as Clark blurred in. "Lana are you okay?" he demanded, gently rousing the brown haired girl.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Lana panted, looking up into Clark's protective eyes.

"That makes one of us." Victor moaned, his hand held fast to his right arm which was oozing a strange black liquid. Danny's eyes widened seeing Victor's damaged state. Danny rushed over, placing his own hand over the wound to apply extra pressure.

"We have to get Victor somewhere safe." Danny said, looking between Lana and Clark. He knew that those men could wake up at any time and they had to be gone when they did.

"The Talon." Lana suggested. "Lois is out of town 'till tomorrow and she gave me a spare key." Given the urgency there was no time to debate, the four of them piled into Lana's car, Victor had tied his jacket around his arm in an attempt to stop the ooze, but it wasn't enough.

It was a race to get to the safety of the Talon and Lana quickly opened the door, guiding Victor over to the sofa and demanding Danny followed suit. Looking down it was obvious why, the energy blast had left a gaping wound on his chest and while it wasn't bleeding it looked really bad. But Danny was more concerned for Victor. He could feel the electrical balance in Victor's bionics fading, and instantly knew that those men had hit something vital.

"I'll get you a towel Victor. Clark, can you find the first aid kit for Danny?" Clark was the first to return, and Danny quickly covered the wound, already feeling his healing kicking in.

Victor looked sadly between the two of them, shifting his gaze guiltily towards the floor. "I'm sorry. I never meant to bring my crazy world into your life." Victor murmured.

"Don't worry about it, alright?" Clark comforted "You're safe now. Everything's gonna be okay." Danny rubbed the man's good shoulder. He had half an idea, but he'd need to distract Lana to try it. However Lana had already returned with a towel and she handed it to Victor who instantly pushed it to the still oozing wound.

"I'm not so sure." Victor said, pulling some of the flesh back. Danny could see an intricate network of circuitry, all tainted black by the slightly electric black substance that was leaking from a ruptured pipe. The black liquid was strange, slightly thicker than oil but Danny could sense the energy in it. "This isn't exactly something you can just put a little duct tape on." Victor explained "The bionics in my body are all connected. This goop coming out of my arm, it's from my power cell. If it continues to drain like this I'm a dead man."

Clark looked panicked and marched out, saying that he was going to see Lex again. Lana stayed behind, looking between the two boys seated on the sofa.

"Thanks for pushing me out of the way, Danny." Lana said sympathetically. She looked at the thick bandage on his chest and Danny shifted uncomfortably, instantly regretting his lack of foresight in not bringing a spare shirt. By now the wound was already half healed. The fact that it was energy based meant that it took longer to heal than a normal flesh wound, but he would recover a lot faster than Victor could. Still, it was a valid excuse to get Lana out of the way.

"It's no problem." Danny said, mimicking pain as he shifted on the couch. He allowed himself a flinch which made Lana's eyes round in sympathy.

"I'll go get you some ibuprofen." Lana said, moving away from the couch and into the bathroom, probably looking for the medicine cabinet.

"Does it really hurt?" Victor asked, looking concernedly at him. Danny could tell he was already blaming himself for Danny getting hurt.

"No, it would have hurt me more if I hadn't taken the shot. It's a ghost thing." Danny answered softly, hyper aware of Lana's continued rummaging. "I wanted to try something without Lana in the room." Danny put his hand over the wound, ignoring the torn prosthetic flesh. Danny was not the master of technology, but his experience when Technus had taken over a computer game had taught him a bit. Danny knew he could interface with technology to a point. The issue would be seeing how much he could help Victor.

Danny opened his consciousness to the electrical stream that was flowing through Victor's body. Taking the plunge he duplicated and overshadowed the technological part of Victor, mentally communicating with the man. Danny could now see how the system worked, each intricate connection and the fine way the doctors had integrated the neurons in Victor's brain and the artificial processing unit together. Given time he could probably copy down the blueprints to help Victor again in the future, but that wasn't the aim now. Danny set his mind to the oozing wound. He could bridge it closed with electrically enhanced ectoplasm, but that wouldn't be a permanent fix and would dispel the instant Danny lost concentration on it. But it was better than nothing.

"Danny. Danny, wake up." Lana said, nudging the duplicate's shoulder. Danny's attention snapped, invisibly merging with his duplicate as he blinked his eyes open. Lana didn't seem to have noticed the subterfuge, and the ectoplasmic bridge was in place keeping any more of the ooze from leaking out. Danny would need to figure out some way to keep Victor safe from Technus, some of the processes that he had the potential for would be devastating in the mad Technology Ghost's hands.

Victor grunted in pain, the wound may have been closed off for now, but he had lost a lot of vital fluid. He did take the time to send Danny a confused yet grateful glance. Danny settled down into the couch, musing over what he'd learned in his brief time in the mechanics of Victor's physiology. Once this was all sorted he needed to sit down and talk with Victor, but the important thing for now was somehow repairing the damage without handing Victor over to those men.

Danny frowned, this was going to be challenging.

_Line Break_

Clark raced through Metropolis to the suburban outskirts in search of Dr Hong's home. Talking with Chloe had given him a lot of information, and most of it was very troubling. It turned out that Dr Allister Krieg, the spearhead for the Machina project had a long history of ethically challenged research. He had been fired from both Stanford and MIT, and seemed to have turned to philanthropists for funding. With Lex's obsession with scientific advancement Chloe suggested that he may just be a target. Clark wasn't ready to concede that, after what he'd seen Lex do to AC he wouldn't doubt anything of the billionaire.

He raced up to the door of the doctor's house. While it was late this was an emergency, Victor's life was at stake. However there was no sign of movement behind the closed door of the suburban house. Clark frowned, there was a strange noise coming from the garage, sort of like the soft hissing of air out of a broken airbed. He raced into the garage and was shocked by what he saw. A man who Clark could only presume was Dr Hong sat in the car as a long pipe slowly filled the car with noxious fumes. He tossed the pipe out of the way, feeling the man's neck for a pulse.

"Is he dead?" Lex's voice cut the eerie silence and Clark once more found himself fighting the urge to sock the man in the face.

"I think you already know that answer, Lex." Clark retorted, abandoning the long dead form of Dr Hong and pressing out past Lex. He was furious; Victor's only hope had just gone up in flames.

"Clark do you really think that I actually had something to do with this?" Lex implored, but Clark was beyond livid.

"Why else would you be here, Lex? Last time we talked you acted as if you hadn't even heard of Cyntechnics." Clark spat coldly still walking away.

"I hadn't, but after you waved the red flag, I looked into it." Lex said.

"Do you expect me to believe that?" Clark retorted whirling around to face the billionaire.

"Believe what you want." Lex retorted before taking a deep breath and seeming to calm down. "Dr Hong was about to blow the whistle on the operation, and either he couldn't live with it or the man in charge wouldn't let him.

"You're talking about Allister Krieg?" Clark inquired.

Lex looked mildly impressed, with an undertone of fear. "You've done your homework. Look, Krieg's gone completely rogue. A project that started out as an effort to allow amputees to live a normal life has turned into one man's quest to create a living machine." It was a longwinded speech, and to Clark almost sounded rehearsed. Lex continued on to implore "Clark, if you know where Victor is, you need to tell me before Krieg finds him first."

Clark frowned, "He's sick. He's been shot. He said if he doesn't get repaired he may die."

"Then bring him to me." Clark ordered "I have the technology. I can help Victor without involving Krieg." Clark's frown deepened, memories of AC strapped to a lab table bubbled to the surface.

"I've seen the way you kelp people." Clark spat, rejecting the suggestion. Danny was there as a backup, and with the two of them they could come up with some solution.

"Look," Lex beseeched "I know you have your issues with me. I know you're angry. But do you really want to let our differences get in the way of saving Victor's life?" Clark shook his head dismissively. It was a hard decision, but Clark was no longer prepared to put the lives of the people he cared about in the hands of Lex Luthor. He walked away, leaving the billionaire alone in the cold night air.

He called Lana, knowing that Victor deserved to hear the bad news. Clark promised himself that as soon as he got back to the Talon he was going to work with his cousin to come up with a decision. The first ghost Clark had ever met – Skulker – had been almost entirely mechanised, so obviously there was some ghostly alternative to cybernetics that hopefully could save Victor.

Unfortunately when he got to the Talon Victor was gone, as was Danny. Apparently Victor had decided to go find Katherine one last time before he died and Lana hadn't been able to keep him there. Danny had followed Victor, much to Lana's displeasure since he was still wounded. With those men after Victor Clark didn't stick around, by now Victor was probably back in that lab.

_Line Break_

"Katherine!" Victor exclaimed as he fumbled through the door to his girlfriend's house. "Katherine!" he shouted, tripping over a small hallway table and shattering a vase. Danny was no longer beside him, he'd been distracted by a green blast six blocks ago. But Victor hadn't stopped to wait, he had to see his girl. There was so little time left.

"Hello Victor" A voice cut into the darkness sending shivers down his spine. It was Dr Krieg.

"Where's Katherine?" Victor demanded, his anger rising at the man who had so thoroughly destroyed his life.

"She's safe." Krieg said, turning to face him from his position at the large dining table. "And she'll stay that way as long as you cooperate." The threat hung in the air, ready to sever the only thing he had left. Victor fumed, anger pooling to the surface.

"If you so much as touch her," Victor threatened, his fists tightening despite his current damage level. "I swear to God..."

"I'm a Doctor Victor." Krieg stated "My goal is to help people, not to hurt them." His tone bespoke of how disassociated he was from the world. _Help my sorry ass_. Victor thought to himself. This man had done him so much damage and he was now genuinely fearful for Katherine.

"Don't play with me, doc. I wanna see her." Victor demanded.

"You will. But first you'll return to the lab. With these gentlemen." Krieg instructed. And that was it, he had no choice if he ever wanted to see Katherine safe again. He let himself be led away, but not before looking into the doctor's cold eyes.

"Hope you win your Nobel Prize." Victor spat, the black suited men guiding him outside. There was a sharp stab in his neck, and his systems went offline.

Victor blinked at the white lights, he had no idea how much time had passed; all he knew was that he was back in that damnable lab. His wrists were bound so tightly that even his enhanced muscles couldn't be freed from them. His head was held in place by a tall brace, obstructing his vision. His eyes fixed on the white coated Dr Krieg standing over him.

"Where's Katherine?" he demanded, noting the doctor's emotionless gaze.

"Back at home." Krieg replied, leaning over him. "But don't worry; we've called off the dogs. You'll be happy to know that we've replaced the tubing, re-calibrated a few of the servo-mechanisms. Your arm is even better than before." He sounded so proud, as if Victor was some prized possession that he had invested in.

"Can't wait to use it to smash your skull in." Victor spitefully spat. There was a slight cough from behind and the _good _doctor backed off, allowing a darkly clothed Lex Luthor space to step forward.

"How're you feeling?" He asked as victor struggled against his bonds. "Victor, I'm glad we managed to get to you in time to save you." His condescending tone made what was left of Victor's blood boil.

"You got some kind of God complex or something? I didn't ask to be saved." Victor spat.

Lex smiled condescendingly, as if he were explaining things to a child. "Look all I'm doing is giving you a future, a chance for a normal life."

"Normal?" Victor deadpanned. "Half of my body is straight out of the Sharper Image catalogue."

Lex's gaze turned cold. "At a price a lit steeper than six million Dollars. The last thing I want to do is cause you more pain."

"Then why not just take back all your fancy gadgetry? You can roll my sorry stump out of here in a wheelbarrow for all I care." Victor retorted angrily. He hated what they'd done to him, and here he was looking at the man in charge.

"You'd die without this gadgetry." Lex stated, but his voice became sadistically light. "But I'm as eager for your freedom as you are. You just need to be patient."

Victor looked over to the work station where Krieg was lifting up a small computer chip. "What's that?" he demanded, shifting away fearfully in his bonds.

"It's gonna make life easier for you." Lex answered with a slight, patronising smile.

"What are you doing to me?" Victor implored, his previous anger melting into pure terror.

"I'm helping you to be whole again." Lex replied, looking condescendingly down at Victor's still struggling form "Anger, despair, loneliness. Such strong emotions can create a rift between brain and bionics. This chip will take the edge off when necessary."

Victor's eyes widened. " You're trying to turn me into a drone, that's what you're trying to do. A robot." He thrashed against the bonds to no avail.

"Easy there." Lex soothed "You've read too much science fiction. Pacemakers, synthetic tissues, artificial hearts. The merging of man and machine is nothing new." Lex turned to the doctor who was walking menacingly towards Victor's lab table "I'll get out of your way. Keep me updated."

The doctor smiled maliciously "I'll prep him for the implant." Victor helplessly watched as Lex nodded before stalking out of the room, leaving Victor and the sadistic doctor alone. The doctor picked up a big dentist's drill, and Victor gulped.

"Just relax Victor. This won't take long." The doctor stated calmly, as if he wasn't holding a spinning drill threateningly close to Victor's skull.

"You want me to relax, put away the drill." Victor retorted, trying to escape the mounting terror.

"When we're done, I promise you, you'll feel like a new man." The doctor said and Victor could feel the whirl of air as the drill came ever closer to his head. He closed his eyes, desperately wishing to escape this nightmare.

Suddenly there was a loud thud, Victor peeked his eyes open to see all four lab technicians flying to the ground, falling unconscious where they landed.

"Nice tackle." Victor commented as a red jacketed Clark Kent came into view. Clark smiled as he quickly destroyed Victor's bonds, effectively freeing Victor. There was a blaring alarm as Victor left the table, but he didn't care. It was only too happily that he followed Clark out of the lab. Curiosity mounting as he trailed the taller man up the stairs t the rooftop.

"How'd you do that Kent?" Victor demanded with the image of the guards flying and Clark's almost instantaneous appearance.

"I can do a lot of things." Clark replied dismissively as the two of them came to the rooftop. Victor looked at Clark's confidant smile, and sent one back. With an unspoken word the two of them leapt off the building, leaving two large holes in the cement as they came in for a landing.

"Need a lift?" Phantom's echoing voice pierced the air, and a Phantom faded into visibility before them. His princely costume looked a ruffled and his eyes, while jocular were weary.

"Left it a bit late there, didn't you?" Clark lightly shot back. Phantom just shook his head, white hair shifting in the breeze. Without another moment's hesitation he'd grabbed both Victor and Clark by the arm and suddenly they were back in the barn loft. Victor blinked, trying to regain his bearings.

"Ooh." Phantom moaned, a bright ring appearing around his middle as he shifted back to human. "Note to self, don't teleport with Clark while maintaining a duplicate." Victor watched as the kid slumped down into the couch, rubbing his head.

"Am I the only one missing something here?" Victor asked. It had only been ten minutes since he escaped from the lab, and suddenly everything had changed.

"You're free, and that's what matters." Clark said, sending Victor a comforting smile. Victor allowed himself a smile of his own. He was free, they hadn't put that chip in him and he was fully repaired. A systems scan told him that everything was operating fully, and he positively grinned when Clark offered to go get them all something to eat.

_Line Break_

Clark sighed as he sat down on the sofa. Victor was sitting on the chair by the desk and Danny was floating off to the side, still rubbing his temples with a headache. Apparently teleporting with a Kryptonian was harder for him, something which he said he'd explain another day.

"What actually happened in there?" Danny asked softly breaking the silence.

"They fixed my arm. Doctor said it should be better than ever now." Victor said, almost ruefully. "They wanted to... install something else. Clark stopped them just in time."

"What did they want to add?" Clark asked and Victor trembled.

"New chip. They said that strong emotions can cause a 'rift between brain and bionics'." Victor scoffed ruefully. "All Lex wanted to do was get rid of my emotions completely, turn me into some drone." Clark frowned, but was startled when he saw Danny freeze in the air, his eyes shifting to a fearful green. Victor hadn't seemed to notice.

"How can anyone be like that? Act as if he owns someone." Clark focused back on Victor who was still ranting angrily. Clark let him, figuring that he needed to talk with Danny alone later.

"Lex was there?" Clark asked, unfortunately this only served to confirm his suspicions. Lex really had been in on this.

"All high and mighty with an 'I own you' smirk? Yeah, he was there. Probably would've done it himself if Krieg wasn't there."

Clark frowned. This just confirmed that Lex had outright lied to his face. Lex had been in the project, working alongside the monster that did this to Victor. Sure he could probably live with the changes, but nothing would change the fact that he was now half-machine without his consent. Victor and Clark helped themselves to a few sandwiches, neither noticed exactly when Danny left, only that he had.

By now it was midday, and Clark called Chloe to see if she would email over the information she had found on the Machina Project for him. He wanted to take this up with Lex, and knew that he needed to have legitimate information to show him. He was glad that Danny wasn't around; it was a cruel realisation to see that Lex was beyond hope. Clark just hoped that Danny had seen the light and would give up on the man before he became any more of a monster.

For the second time in two days Clark found himself storming through the Luthor mansion to find the owner of the house. He stormed through to the office, slamming the doors open and striding right up to the young billionaire at his desk.

"Clark." Lex said with a hint of condescension. "Gonna try some small talk this time? Like how Victor Stone miraculously escaped from the lab?" Clark slammed a manila file on Lex's desk, meeting the man with a cold glare. "I guess not." Lex commented picking up the file.

"That's everything Chloe and I could find on the Machina Project." Clark said. It was interesting to note that while the project was designed as a form of high tech prosthetics there was nothing about doing anything as horrendously extensive as what they had done to Victor.

Lex surveyed the information giving nothing away. Eventually he set the file down, his face a careful mask as he met Clark's eyes. "Well, there's nothing here about Krieg's renegade experiment that I haven't already uncovered. I have no desire to harass Victor Stone."

"He's suffered because of you." Clark retorted angrily.

"Clark, I..." Lex began, only for Clark to cut him off.

"Lex, you were there in the lab. He told me, when they were trying to put that chip in his head." Clark reprimanded. Lex looked away.

"I was there." He answered slowly "To stop Krieg." Clark raised an eyebrow, not believing him for a minute.

"That's not what Victor said." Clark scoffed, glaring at the billionaire.

"Victor was under heavy anaesthesia. He must have misconstrued my intentions." Lex said. He always had an answer for everything.

Clark scoffed. "Seems to happen a lot to you. Doesn't it?" he murmured darkly.

"You think he would have been better off if he'd died along with his family?" Lex implored.

Clark shook his head in disappointment. "You always think the ends justify the means. Don't you Lex?" Clark asked. It was a hard choice, but nobody should get to play god on another man's life. If Victor had wanted to be turned into a half-mechanised man he could have asked, but instead that choice, his own life had been taken out of his hands. It wasn't Clark's place to say who should live and who should die, but he was a strong believer in choice and free will. It was disgusting that Lex had tried to take that from Victor.

It was a full minute before Lex answered. "What I think is that some miracles have a price." He said slowly, as if tasting each word. "But that doesn't make them any less profound." Lex took a deep breath, finally meeting Clark's eyes. "Tell Victor that I hope we can move past what happened. Assure him that LuthorCorp has. You can let yourself out."

Clark watched Lex's retreating back as the billionaire left his office. This was a small victory, but at the same time it was worthwhile. He'd just bought Victor his freedom.

_Line Break_

Danny smiled as he watched Victor; he was testing his arm out, seeing how each of the connections was working. It was amazing to watch as each of the mechanical tendons strained, his wrist rotating in a perfectly human circle. Clark had gone to visit Lex, and Danny had finally recovered enough mentally to return to the barn. Hearing Victor say what that inhibitor chip did had reminded him of the lead up to his evil alternate future self's creation. After hearing that he had cleared out, retreating into the clouds to calm himself down.

To top everything off Lex had been behind it all. Danny didn't know what to do about that. He liked being friends with Lex to a point, but he always had to be guarded around him. From the selfsame alternate timeline he had learned to always give second chances, even Vlad had turned out alright in the end. But something like this shook Danny's conviction, making him doubt his friendship with the man. But at the same time... Danny knew that he wasn't beyond redemption and after everything that had happened between Clark and Lex, Danny was all the more certain that he just needed _someone_ to extend the hand of friendship.

Danny had been up in the clouds for the best part of an hour, drifting along with the wind. But now he had come back and was enjoying watching the dark man experiment with his new body. Victor was testing his arm, rotating it in every direction and watching how each of the joints worked. It was an amazing piece of technology; its movement was so fluid it could fool the unknowing eye into believing it was fully organic.

"Hey Cyborg." Danny interrupted him. Victor jumped slightly, sending a scowl in his direction.

"Cyborg?" Victor questioned, crinkling his eyebrows as he tasted the name. Danny thought it was apt, and it could help Victor make the transition quicker. After all it had helped him slightly. He'd been more accepting of his situation after he'd taken on a name for his other half.

"Figured it suited you." Danny shrugged. "Take it, embrace it, and make it yours. Why do you think I go around calling myself 'Phantom'?"

Victor smiled at him. "Cyborg... maybe you've got the right idea. Phantom." Danny beamed back.

"Yep, Hybrids United, that's us." Danny joked, happy to have someone like Victor to talk to. Victor sent him a small smile back. Danny knew that there was still a lot that Victor needed to deal with, but he was determined to help him in every way he could. Starting with one small present. He'd been working on it all night, it had required him completely filleting two USB flash-drives, but the end product was worth it.

"Here." Danny said, handing the small computer chip over.

"What's this?" Victor asked, carefully eyeing the device warily. Danny didn't blame him at all.

"That is an ecto-inhibiting program, so to speak. See there's a couple of ghosts out there that aren't as nice as me, and this will give you some protection against them." Danny explained. Victor cocked an eye.

"Okay, and how am I even gonna use it?" Victor doubtfully asked.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll work it out" Danny said cryptically, issuing the man a silent challenge. From his brief experience of Victor's mechanical half, as well as the data that his duplicate peeked at while in the lab Danny knew that Victor had the as yet untapped ability to interface with computers. The chip was a downloadable program which he could upload and would then give Victor permanent protection from any malicious ghost. Danny used the same program on his computer; Tucker had invented it so that Danny was the only ghost that could interface with any of his technology. Unfortunately Danny didn't speak binary code, so didn't know which commands were for or against him. He'd just recreated Tucker's design.

"Is everything working alright?" Clark asked as he walked into the barn. Victor looked over at Danny before answering.

"I feel like a billion dollars... which probably isn't too far off." There was a brief pause. "You really think that Luthor's just gonna let that much money walk off into the sunset?"

"I didn't really give him a choice." Clark shrugged with a smile dancing in his blue eyes.

"I'd say 'thank you', both of you, but the words just seem too small."

"And completely unnecessary." Clark answered and Danny was quick to agree. Victor laughed lightly, shaking his head.

"Your mom's raised you modest, didn't they?" Victor turned to look Clark seriously in the eye. "You're a hero Kent. I'm not gonna forget how much I owe you."

"Help someone else out when they're in need. We'll call it even." Clark returned warmly, clapping Victor on the shoulder.

"And you Danny, There just aren't the right words. Thanks, for everything."

"No problem, Cyborg." Danny said smiling. He held out his fist and the two exchanged a brotherly fist-bump. But there was one more surprise in store for Victor. Danny gestured over behind Victor, towards the large opening of the barn. There were two young women standing there, one was Lana, a gentle smile playing on her lips, but the second was unfamiliar but for a photograph Danny had only seen once. She wore a red jumper and her dark hair fell in soft ringlets over her shoulders. There was a soft blush on her cheeks and her dark brown eyes glittered in the afternoon sunlight. There, standing next to Lana was the caramel skinned woman from Victor's photograph.

"Katherine?" Victor asked as if he didn't believe what he was seeing, but it was only a moment before his confusion melted into a broad grin. He ran to the woman, picking her up with a happy sigh and spinning her in the air. The image brought a smile to Danny's face as the two were united. They were very much in love, and while they didn't have that vital spark this reunion proved that there could be love without it.

Victor lightly set Katherine down, but pulled her more deeply into a loving hug. Katherine's eyes creased in concern as she felt his back and Danny watched as she eventually pulled back. "Victor? What happened? What did those men do to you?"

Victor looked up, his eyes darting between Clark and Danny before returning to the brown eyes of the young woman in his arms. "It's a long story." Victor answered.

"We got time." Katherine comforted, meeting Victor firmly in the eyes and sending him a loving smile. Hand in hand they walked out of the barn, reunited at last after seven months apart.

Danny chose to ignore the unspoken conversation between Clark and Lana. Today was about the reunion of Victor and his girlfriend and Danny allowed himself a smile. Here was a human who was going to press on with life despite the change that had been imposed on him; someone who was looking for the positives in his situation instead of blaming his problems on someone else. Danny was glad to have found another hybrid that he could empathise with, a person Danny could have a completely honest friendship with.

For the first time in months Danny smiled a completely honest smile. Maybe he didn't have to be completely alone in the human world after all.

* * *

><p>AN: Yay, Cyborg's here. Although I think I may have superimposed too much of the Teen Titans version onto him. At this point he's still more into sports than he is into technology, and he still has a <em>lot <em>to learn about his new skill set, and a lot that has yet to be added to it. He's like Danny in Mystery Meat with the benefit of actually knowing how his physiology works. (So he has fewer accidents with his powers than Danny)

In the Smallville canon he vanishes until next season, but I reckon Danny changes things a little. :P

Anyway, I am glad to have this one out of the way. I couldn't get it to work for the longest time.

P.S. I ran out of words to write an Ember scene, and it wasn't important to this particular plot. She is coming back soon, but not immediately. I want to put her to good use, not chuck her into the story because I can. Sorry.

Adieu,

Bluerose


	20. Integrity

Chapter 19

Integrity

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

The headline in the newspaper jutted out against the stark white of the _Daily Planet_ paper. In bold font it proclaimed its title, reminding Martha of exactly what had happened in recent months. _'Widow to take Senate Seat; Martha Kent Assumes her Husband's Position' _Martha sighed, putting the paper down on the kitchen bench. It was only just under two months since they'd buried him and it still seemed too soon to be trying to move on. But she needed to, and Martha felt honour bound to follow through now that she'd accepted.

She took a seat at the table, gently gathering all the papers she'd been reviewing together and sliding them into her bag. She had a meeting that she needed to get to, and Lionel had kindly extended the offer to take her there. Martha was still unsure of what to make of the man's advances. He had been surprisingly kind and supportive through this whole time, giving her a touchstone to help ground herself against. She was glad he was here for her, but sometimes he'd push the envelope a little too far and made things difficult. She didn't know what to think.

There was a faint knock against the front door. Martha confusedly looked up at the kitchen Clock. There was still an hour before Lionel was going to pick her up for the conference in Topeka, and Clark had blurred out that morning saying that he was going to Metropolis with Lana.

"Danny, is that you?" Martha called out, but when there was no response she stood up from the table and went to the front door to find out what was going on. She pushed open the door, but saw no one outside. She was about to pass it off as the wind when she looked down. There was a large yellow envelope sitting on the porch. A sticker in heavyset font reading 'MARTHA KENT' was stuck on the top. Frowning she picked it up. It was heavy and bulky, whatever was in there was atypical to anything she'd ever received.

Slightly worried she returned to the kitchen, ripping the envelope open as she set it down. She pulled out a small portable DVD player, it was silver and plain. Martha was confused, who would be sending her something like that? Trying to stomp down the anxiety building in her chest she opened it, and it automatically loaded a disk. Martha's eyes widened as she watched. It was short, barely ten seconds of footage, but played in slow motion it was damning. There was no way she wanted this ever to get out.

Mortified she set the DVD player down, eyeing it as if it were a snake, coiled and ready to strike. Who could have sent that? What did they want? If they ever decided to take that video to the media... Martha shivered at the terrifying images her mind conjured up. Men in long white lab suits dragging him away, glimmers of green and silver as they tested their weapons. Bright blue eyes dimming as a scalpel carved a Y shaped incision across his chest. And experiments; endless, debilitating, dehumanising experiments.

Martha jumped as the phone rang, a sharp noise blaring against the silence of the otherwise empty house. Fearfully she picked it up. "Hello?" She whispered

"_Good day Martha."_ A gravelly voice replied through the phone. It was unnatural, sounding as if it had gone through some voice modulator.

"Who are you?" She demanded, trying to gain some control of the situation.

"_Who I am doesn't matter" _The mechanised voice replied.

"How did...?" But Martha was cut off.

"If you want that little video to... go away, you will bring us $500,000. Cash. Understand?" The cold voice demanded.

"No, I understand, but I don't think I can raise that much." Martha shakily replied.

"_Try hard. You will come to the alleyway behind the Sixth Street Warehouse. Midnight. Tonight. Alone." _The cold voice instructed and Martha shivered, barely managing to squash down her fear so she didn't sound terrified.

"Alright. I'll be there." She replied steadily. Listening to the sharp dial tone as the man on the other end of the phone hung up. Shakily she set the phone down, looking fearfully at the DVD player and what it symbolised.

There was a knock on the door, Martha quickly spun around, half expecting to see a dark figure wearing a black balaclava in the doorframe. But it was only Lionel Luthor, standing proudly in a pool of sunlight behind the screen door. Martha's heart slowed as the fear left her system, she needed to calm down and take control. _"Life only asks of you what it thinks you can handle" _Martha thought to herself, remembering her father's face as he told her that.

"Lionel." She said, steadying her breathing. She carefully positioned herself so her back concealed the condemning DVD player.

"I'm not too early am I?" Lionel asked lightly. "Didn't we say 11.30?" Martha shook her head. With what had just happened, she almost forgot.

"Oh, right. The conference in Topeka." Martha said, walking over to the screen and pushed it open, inviting the gentleman inside. As subtly as possible she put the DVD player back in its envelope and lay a few papers over it. Hopefully Lionel wouldn't notice it.

Martha heard Lionel walking towards her as he lightly said "You'll save a full day if you take the helicopter, senator. But if you think it could be a... a conflict of interest to accept help from LuthorCorp..."

"No, no, no" She reassured, trying to draw attention away from her own unease. "It's just that... something's come up and I'm going to have to reschedule." Martha watched as Lionel's gaze drifted away from her, landing on the table. Martha only hoped that he wouldn't notice.

"What is it, Martha?" He asked gently. "Is everything alright?" It didn't really sound like he'd noticed, just that he was concerned about her missing the conference.

"Nothing I can't handle." Martha replied firmly, sending him a small reassuring half-smile, which felt completely false to her.

Lionel took a step forward, smiling protectively. "Oh, I don't doubt that for a minute." He frowned for a moment before seeming to come to a decision and heading towards the door. He turned around to face her as he stood in the sunlit doorway, looking like a modern day knight as he stood in the sunlight. "If you need a ride in the future, or anything, anything at all, please don't hesitate." He offered, kindly. "Please, call me."

"I will. Thank you." Martha found herself replying with a shaky nod. With that he was gone, out the doorway and leaving Martha alone with her worries. This video... she didn't know how to fix the problem, how to protect him and make sure he stayed safe. She hesitatingly picked up the yellow envelope, looking up to the ceiling and silently begging for Jonathan's advice. He'd know what to do and she needed him desperately. Martha went up the stairs to her bedroom, she needed to figure this out and fast.

_Line Break_

Phantom smiled as he flew through the vibrant green sky of the Zone. After meeting Victor he'd decided to spend some time with his friends in the Zone. At the top of the list were Dora, Ghostwriter and Frostbite, but Ember had managed to make her way onto the shortlist. Over the past few weeks since finding out about red kryptonite he'd been spending quite a bit of time with the punk diva, and he'd found out that once you got past the whole 'I'm gonna take over the human realm by using music to turn people into mindless drones' thing, she was actually quite nice.

Dora had been happy to see him, and had thrown a huge feast for lunch when he got there. It always surprised him how much ghost food he could actually eat, the same as a normal human his age, whereas in the Real World he had trouble eating more than a third the recommended amount. After lunch Dora made him do a practice bout with Garth, and had clapped loudly when Phantom was able to disarm his opponent within a minute of the fight beginning. It was a pleasant visit, and one that was long since overdue. While ghosts may not notice time passing so much, Phantom had and it was startling how much had changed over the nine months since he'd last seen his liege.

While he was at Frostbite's he'd been given a full tour, something he'd missed out on when he visited all those months ago. He'd been embarrassed to see the elaborate shrine, dedicated to him and the battle where he defeated Pariah Dark. Then Frostbite had shown Phantom the Map of Infinite Realms, or 'Infi-Map' for short.

Seeing that was amazing, the Zone was enormous and there were so many different ghosts to be found. The map not only showed you where to find something, but it could actually take you there too. More than that, like many ghostly artefacts Frostbite explained that it had a mind of its own, and could take someone not only where they wanted to go, but where it deemed they needed to be. It could even find portals between the two realms, showing not only where, but also when the portal would open. The power of such an artefact was phenomenal, and Frostbite had kindly offered that Phantom could use it whenever he liked.

Phantom shook his head, a small smile on his face as he skirted around Skulker's Island. He still wasn't happy with the hunter ghost since his attack when he was trying to take care of Victor. Skulker had blasted him from behind, sneaking around his ghost sense while Phantom was focusing on keeping the ectoplasmic bridge in Victor's arm intact. Fortunately Skulker hadn't taken any heed of Victor, instead deciding to play a long game of tag with Phantom. When Skulker was finally in the thermos Phantom had had to take care of a couple of ghost wolves that had somehow wandered into the city and were terrorising a couple of backpackers outside their hotel.

It had taken Phantom a good half hour to find Victor again, relying on the almost useless hot and cold system of his obsession, following the pull to the greatest urge of _protect_. In the end it was Clark who had burst Victor out, but Phantom had been able to at least help them escape cleanly. Although he had learned that it was not fun trying to teleport with a Kryptonian on board. Clark was so much higher density than anything he was used to, and trying to pull him along while his duplicate raided the lab for information had left him with a splitting headache.

Phantom shook his head, he didn't want to be thinking of Skulker at the moment, and instead angled himself towards Ember's door. He knocked politely and was greeted by a smiling Ember who invited him in.

"Hey Ember" Phantom said as she led him through the backstage hallways of her lair.

"Hey Phantom." Ember replied, giving him a small smile. It still felt strange for the diva to smile at him like that, but it was a sweet one all the same. "How're things on the flip side?" she asked curiously as she plonked into her red sofa.

"Not too bad." Phantom answered with a shrug. "Between school and Clark's friends I've got my hands full." Ember shook her head.

"I don't know why you bother with school." She said dismissively. "It's not like you'll ever use it." Phantom rolled his eyes at her.

"Still human, it's the law." Phantom answered dismissively, knowing that Ember just wouldn't get it. It was often like this between them. She'd make a comment about some of the flaws of the human world, he'd put up a token argument, and then they'd spend the next fifteen minutes talking about why it was stupid for humans to think that way in the first place. Danny had only ever conceded to her twice, and he was not going to remind himself of what _that_ was about.

That part of Ember was a lot like Sam; the anti-establishment, overtly vocal, and outrageously rebellious side of her. But Ember was just so not Sam in so many other ways. Ember was a lot more sadistic than Sam had ever been, and didn't really care if someone got hurt so long as they got out of her way. Sure, Sam used to threaten, and a swift kick from her combat boots hurt, but she was a lot more subtle about it. Then again, unless you accidentally trod on her toes Ember was actually quite nice. Phantom's brow creased as he realised that somewhere in this he'd come to consider the blue haired ghost a friend.

Phantom ended up spending a couple of hours with her, just chatting. She was still a bit broken up after her relationship with Skulker. Apparently the two had tried dating for a while, by the sounds of it since just after the time Ember had tried to take over Amity Park with Youngblood. But they hadn't been right for each other, Skulker apparently obsessed over hunting too much, always choosing the hunt over a date with Ember. And Ember had admitted that the mechanical ghost didn't inspire her musician's heart. Phantom didn't make much comment other than to say when she was ready she'd find her guy. Ember had smiled at that.

It was nearing dusk by the time Phantom returned to the Real World, but he had one last person he needed to visit. Phantom slipped back into his human form as he walked up the storm cellar stairs. He tended to open his portals down there since it was almost certain that no one would be in the storm cellar. In some ways it was a lot easier keeping his secret on the Farm. There were more places he could hide and fewer people around to take notice, but Clark often had Lana, or Chloe over in the loft, and Lois was a regular visitor too.

Danny came out the door, his head shaking. He looked up, taking note of the golden clouds in the reddening sky as the sun sank towards the horizon. He wasn't entirely sure what to expect, Lex's personality was devilishly close to Vlad's and he'd already proven that he knew no bounds when it came to his goals. But something about Lex pulled at Danny's core. The rejection and loss that Lex had felt, the cruel resentment that had been shown to him all his life, and then the apparent betrayal of Clark, it was all too familiar. Having faced his own dark side, Danny could understand the temptation of that path. It would be so easy to just give in and turn his back on the light.

Yet there was still hope for Lex. And that is what inspired Danny. He was still trying to make the world a better place; his ultimate goals were for the betterment of humanity. If he just had someone to guide him, to be his moral compass, then Lex had the potential to do great things for humanity. The only problem was that he was easily manipulated by an artful word, and of course he was obsessed with understanding the whole world scientifically. What he had almost done to Arthur Curry was deplorable, what he had done to Victor Stone was worse. But Danny honestly believed that if he kept pressing he could help protect Lex from becoming a monster, protect Lex from himself.

Without another thought he headed off towards the Luthor Mansion.

_Line Break_

Clark smiled as he touched the slightly worn fabric of his old football jersey. The soft fabric brought back memories of games, the cheering of a crowd as the ball flew through the air, the gentle encouragement of the commentators, pressing him forward, and the way everything else, all his worries, all the pressures in his just vanished and all that mattered was the calm serenity of the game.

"I haven't seen that in a while." Clark looked up to meet Lana's soft brown eyes. He set the jersey down, turning to smile at the brunette.

"I guess Victor kind of reminded me of the glory days." Clark replied, a happy smile passing his lips.

"Why'd you quit anyway?" Lana inquired, fumbling over the words as she tried to clarify her question. "You were... you always seemed so at peace on that field. Like everything that weighed you down just evaporated."

The smile vanished. He had loved playing, but the pressure to use his powers, to make himself the best player on the field was too much. At school the cost of losing a game was so much less than at the university, sure he'd been offered a whole bunch of scholarships, but the cost of risking corrupting values instilled into him by his father was too much. But he couldn't tell Lana that.

"It's just a game." Clark shrugged. Stomping down his true feelings, how could he possibly explain that he'd given up because he knew the temptation to cheat using his powers would become too great?

Lana looked disappointedly at him, her brown eyes wavering sadly. "Clark why do you do that?" She implored.

"Do what?" Clark asked evasively, suspecting what she meant.

"Hide what you're really feeling." Lana supplied. She shrugged, regret crossing into her eyes. "Seeing Victor and Katherine together, how in love they are, it kind of reminded me of _our_ glory days." She paused; her sad brown orbs piercing Clark's eyes, making his insides squirm with guilt for the pain he was causing her. "And you know how much I love you, Clark. But we just seem to keep going around and around. We can't move forward."

"I know." Clark stated blandly. This was so hard, knowing that he was hurting her, but telling her the truth would hurt her more. It was a catch 22 and he hated every minute of the guilt he gave him.

"Just tell me the truth Clark. Do you still love me?" Lana demanded, and Clark felt his heart shattering. If there was one thing he was sure of it was that. Every minute of every day he loved her, and he wished she could know how much he cared, but his secret... he couldn't risk losing her for his secret. He knew she'd accept him, but nobody else would let her rest if she knew.

"I've always loved you." Clark replied heavily, meaning every word. "And I always will. No matter what happens." He watched Lana's eyes fill with pain, regret, disappointment and even rejection. He tried to ignore the way her eyes glittered, tears lacing around the edges of her eyes as she left him alone, staring at the old jersey.

He wished things were still that simple still; that somehow he could go back to how things were in school. Back when it was just finding out who the meteor freak was and making sure they didn't hurt anyone. Back when it didn't matter that he was keeping such a big secret from Lana because she didn't even notice. But it seemed that ever since Danny moved in, no, since the second meteor shower everything had become so much more complicated. Ruefully Clark folded the jersey away, storing it safely away in its trunk once more.

'_Cough'_

Clark jumped at the slight sound over his shoulder. He had been so immersed in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice the man standing behind him. Clark hastily stood, taking a moment to place the neat grey suit and silvery pony-tail of the gentleman who had appeared in the barn loft. The memory came to him, this was the man who had come to visit Danny on Christmas Eve, he had taken the younger boy off and had somehow managed to break Danny's arm while the two were together. Danny had said that he'd tripped and landed badly when Clark had asked, but Clark wasn't sure how much he believed Danny on that.

"Vlad Masters?" Clark said cautiously, carefully surveying the man. He was rewarded with a disarming smile and a light twinkling in Vlad's eyes.

"Clark Kent I presume." Vlad replied, offering Clark a hand. Clark reluctantly shook it, still curious as to while the man was here. From what he knew, Masters was a Wisconsin based billionaire, with wealth rivalling that of the Luthors. He obviously had some interest in the Fentons; after all he'd purposefully come out to visit Danny for Christmas, he'd offered to take Danny in instead of going to the Kents, but for Danny's refusal. And then there was the fact that the billionaire had fully paid for Danny's stay in hospital after the meteor shower.

Clark's mind screeched to a halt. If Masters had personally paid for Danny's hospital stay, he had to know Danny's secret. There was no way that Danny would have been able to hide his blood-work while he was lying unconscious in a hospital bed. So Vlad had obviously paid the Doctors off to protect Danny's secret. The question was why did Danny refuse to be around a man who had obviously gone so far out of his way to look after him? Was it just that he didn't want to trust the billionaire with his secret? Or was there more to the relationship?

"Pleasure to meet you properly, my dear boy." Masters said, his blue-grey eyes firmly meeting Clark's.

"Thanks, Mr Masters, um, may I ask what brings you here?" Clark asked. He wasn't sure what to make of the billionaire as he loosed another bright grin, lightly moving his hands behind his back. He looked confident and self assured, as if he ran the world. But his grin was not as intimidating as Lex's had become, so Clark actually found himself inclined to give this man limited trust. After all, there was no way he could be as predatorily twisted as Lex was.

"Well, my dear boy I was actually looking for the erstwhile young Daniel." Masters calmly replied. "He may have told you that I took care of him after that unfortunate incident in Amity Park, and I am keen to check on his well being. He always was such a fragile soul." Clark was unsure what to make of this. It seemed that Masters was genuinely concerned for Danny, in an almost paternal way.

"That was kind of you. Thanks for looking out for him, but he's not here just now." Clark answered slowly; he wasn't sure what to make of the man. On Christmas Eve Danny had seemed upset with the man, but Masters seemed to legitimately care for him. In fact after he had left Clark had spoken with his parents, and while his father had been wary, Masters had come off as a kind and altruistic gentleman. While he was cool and distant, the way he had looked at Danny showed both the elder Kents how deeply he cared for the young boy.

"It was no trouble, my dear boy." Masters replied quickly with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I see the Little Badger as the son I was never blessed with. Seeing him in such a condition I felt obliged to help. He is a very special boy." Masters finished with a soft smile and a gentle glitter in his eyes. Clark nodded in acknowledgement of his speech. This all but confirmed that Masters knew Danny's secret. Although Clark wasn't going to ask about it unless prompted, years of keeping his own gifts secret had taught him that.

Clark allowed himself a smile, offering a seat to the silver-haired billionaire. Masters seemed reluctant to do so, but eventually acquiesced. A confidant smile played across his lips. "So how is the Little Badger?" Masters asked "Not causing too much trouble I hope."

"He's no trouble at all." Clark freely admitted "He goes so far out of his way to help out around the farm, and he's been a big help since... since my dad passed away." Clark frowned at the last bit. It was still so recent, but it no longer hurt to say those words. Clark still desperately missed his dad, but it was getting easier to acknowledge that he was gone now that he wasn't taking his anger out on the world. He hated to imagine what would have happened if he allowed anger and hate to control him.

"Clark, I can offer few words of consolation that you've not already heard, however your family is now a big part of young Daniel's life, and if there is any way in which I can help you, please, feel free to ask." Clark's eyes creased in confusion. That was a huge offer, and an entirely unnecessary one. But it was also an offer that Lex had made years ago, long before he had abandoned any sense of morality. Clark allowed himself a smile at the offer; it seemed that some billionaires weren't so corrupted by their own wealth that they didn't care for anyone else in the world.

"Thank you Mr Masters. That's a kind offer, but my dad always believed in sticking things through, and I want to do that for him." He noticed the slight stiffening of Mr Masters, but was consoled by the charming smile he was given.

"It's charming how alike you and young Daniel are. When he and I first met he showed similar loyalty to his father, it is remarkable to see it in you." Masters said, a light smile playing on his lips.

"We have a lot in common; Chloe and Lana often say we may as well be brothers." Clark replied ruefully.

"You have become close then?" Vlad inquired.

Clark shrugged "I guess. I've only known him for seven months now, but it's kinda hard to imagine life without him around." It was weird to be saying so much, but the paternal glimmer in Masters' eyes made Clark feel that he was just looking out for Danny.

"I am glad that he found such acceptance with you. Given how unusual he is, many would not give him a chance." Masters' said, his hands neatly folded in his lap. "However, if ever he needs help, you should know that I am more than capable of taking care of his... particular needs. All you need do is ask." Clark frowned in confusion. Danny had always seemed alright with them, perhaps he had been hurt by Clark's emotional turmoil after the funeral, but he had always perked up in the end.

"What do you mean by that?" Clark asked.

"Daniel is a special boy, but he is far from subtle. By now I am sure you've noticed things about him that don't quite add up. His parents, mostly Jack, often told me how concerned they were for him, fearful that he was falling down the wrong path." Masters calmly answered, picking at his fingernails.

"I know why he's like that, and I accept it." Clark answered, watching as Masters' eyes widened. There was a flood of emotion that Clark couldn't quite follow before he settled into a confidant smile once more.

"Then we can speak candidly." Master's commented. "Young Daniel is half-ghost, this is apparently known to both of us." Clark nodded in acknowledgement, grateful that Masters had been so honest instead of circling the truth. "What you are probably not aware of are the specific needs of a half-ghost, needs which I fear he has been denying himself for too long." Cark frowned in confusion, puzzled by what Masters was suggesting.

"What _needs _are you talking about?" Clark asked, hopeful that the billionaire could answer some of the questions he'd had about Danny since the beginning.

"My dear boy, I would be happy to answer you, but it is a complicated subject, one which I am sure even young Daniel is still largely unfamiliar with. Much of my understanding is based more on hypothesis than on experimentation, but my hypotheses are usually accurate. However I must admit I am running short on time." He strummed his fingers against his chin for a moment before continuing. "Perhaps we could agree to meet tomorrow, I am sure I can answer many of your questions, which would in turn help young Daniel."

Clark hesitated only for a moment before eagerly accepting. It seemed that Danny knew so much about Clark, being already well versed in some of the stories of Krypton, and knowing not only what all his powers were, but also of their solar power source. Danny had been able to help Clark in so many ways because he already understood so much about Clark. It would be nice to be able to offer the same support to the younger boy.

"Then I shall look forward to meeting with you, perhaps if we meet at my hotel around one, I am currently staying in the penthouse suite in the Alexandria Hotel in Metropolis." Masters suggested.

Clark was all too keen to learn more about his cousin. After what had happened with Victor, Clark realised that he had no idea how to help Danny if something went terribly wrong, so this could probably help. "I'll be glad to."

"Oh, and one more thing, Daniel is particularly private and would shun any help offered. For the sake of his own personal integrity I believe it would be best if you refrained from informing him of out meeting, at least until afterwards." Clark was hesitant about that, but agreed, knowing that even after knowing Danny for so long he had shared very little into his biology. It seemed that despite Clark's honest interest Danny was being very private, and Clark needed to know more if he was ever going to help Danny the way Danny had helped him.

"Thank you for this opportunity, Mr Masters. I'll look forward to it." Clark said with a timid smile.

Masters broke out into a broad grin. "Please, young man, do call me Vlad. And I am all too happy to; it is in Daniel's best interest after all. I shall see you tomorrow in my suite then. Ta-ta." Vlad said, and with a cheerful grin he let himself out of the barn, disappearing quietly down the stairs.

Clark smiled, tomorrow he could look forward to learning more about his cousin, something which he had been keen to do ever since Danny had first showed him how he changed forms. He carefully eyed the trunk once more. It felt strangely symbolic, he was setting aside his old dreams, the life of the footballer, but now he had something new to pursue. The past would always stay with him, but he could try to look forward, be the man his father wanted him to be. And the first step was to learn as much about his cousin as he could.

_Line Break_

Martha frowned shakily as she sat on the end of her bed. It was seven in the evening and she didn't know what to do. She had managed to rally up the amount those people had demanded, but that was at the expense of putting another mortgage on the house. She felt hot tears prickling in her eyes. Everything since Jon's heart attack had been so hard. Nothing was going the way it should, and now to protect one of the boy's secrets she needed to take a second loan out on the house. She plucked a photo frame from the sideboard, holding the old family portrait in her hands, gently stroking fingers against the smiling face of her husband in the photo.

"Oh, Jonathan, what am I going to do?" She whispered to the air.

"Aunt Martha?" Martha looked up at hearing Danny's voice, blue eyes peering through the doorway and glittering with honest concern. He came into the room, taking a seat next to her on the bed and laying a comforting hand on her shoulder. It was too much; Jon had always done the same thing when she was upset. She couldn't hold it back anymore and the pressure was too great. For the first time since the funeral she allowed herself to cry.

She didn't know how long her tears lasted; only that she was starting to feel better. Danny was murmuring soft comforts to her, and a wave of warmth washed over her heart. She noticed the gentle arms wrapped around her, both protective and comforting. She blinked the last stinging tears from her eyes, pulling away from her nephew's sympathetic embrace.

"Aunt Martha." Danny said softly, gently patting her back as her sobs died down. "I know things are tough at the moment, but if we all stick together we can make it through." Martha met his bright silver eyes, eyes that proclaimed safety, but the doubts and fears in her heart paralysed her. She shook her head. She didn't want to bring anyone else into this; Clark could never forgive himself if he found out. She wanted to tell Danny, something about the way he looked at her faintly mirrored how Jon once had. Danny's silver eyes were kind and supportive, as if he would go to the ends of the Earth to keep her safe.

"I'm not sure we will." Martha whispered so softly it was more to herself. "I don't know what to do. I'm so confused."

"Ssh, Aunt Martha, it's okay." Danny comforted.

"It's just..." she trailed off, suddenly realising something. If she told Danny there would be nothing that would stop the halfa from protecting her, he'd get himself caught before he let her get into danger. And given that her boys' secrets were the very thing she needed to protect she couldn't risk him. So she decided to hide it, she could sort this out on her own. She had to. "It's so hard... without Jon here anymore. He always knew exactly what to say."

Martha watched Danny's eyes crease in sympathy, the silver blinking away into icy blue. "I know." Danny softly murmured. And Martha understood what he meant in the silence. Things were hard at the moment, Martha herself still felt the sting for the loss of her sister, and without Jon it all seemed so much worse. But Danny was right, if they all stuck together, protected each other the three of them would make it through alright.

Martha's conviction firmed. She could do this, sure she was scared and those men were making things so much more complicated. But even if it meant the second mortgage on the house it would be worth it just to keep her son and her nephew safe. She pulled out of Danny's embrace, thanking him kindly for comforting her. It was amazing how he knew to pop up when he was needed the most. He gave her a gentle smile and left downstairs to make dinner for the three of them.

As the scent cooking food permeated the upstairs air Martha's fingers found the portrait once more. Jon's shining blue eyes reminding her of what they'd promised so long ago. When they had taken Clark in they had promised to do whatever it took to protect him and keep him safe. She needed to do this, to keep not only Clark, but also Danny safe. Any price was worthwhile to make sure that her two boys were protected. Nodding to herself in self assurance she set the photo frame down. It was going to be a late night.

_Line Break_

Clark sighed as he stared into his coffee mug. After Vlad Masters had left he had decided to visit Lana and try to sort things out with her. They'd met at a coffee shop on campus, it was crowded and they'd barely managed to get a seat. However the conversation had not gone well. After meeting Victor, and seeing how entirely he was willing to trust Katherine she was subtly putting the pressure on for him to tell her the truth.

He wanted to tell her, his heart screamed for it. But the fact was that it wasn't safe for her to know. In that alternate timeline she had only known the truth for less than a day and had been killed for it. He couldn't take that risk. He couldn't end up losing her like that.

"I just don't understand." Lana said, her eyes creased sadly "Why do you always close yourself off." Her own coffee was sitting abandoned on the table. Her hands gently clasped together on the tabletop.

"Lana, I..." Clark began, hoping to find the words that could make it better.

"Clark, stop. We've done this before, and every time we seem to drift further apart." Lana looked into his eyes, the soft chocolate brown swirling with desperation. "All I'm asking is that you let me in. I just want you to trust me."

Clark frowned, looking away from her. Lately every conversation they had seemed to come down to this. And every time Clark felt that he was pushing her further away. She didn't deserve it, but at the same time she didn't deserve the danger from knowing the truth.

"I do trust you, with all my heart I trust you." Clark answered sincerely, but it was a dodge. And both of them knew it. Lana frowned disappointedly at him.

"Clark, I love you. I really do, and it breaks my heart to see you doing this. When I saw Katherine and Victor, it was just... they trusted each other completely. Even despite what had happened to him. And she was willing to listen." Lana tentatively reached out to Clark's hand, her soft fingers clasping around Clark's. "Whatever it is that you keep hiding, I want to know. I want to listen."

Clark felt his heart shattering once more; it would be so easy to just tell her. And he knew, knew from the bottom of his heart that he could trust her with his secret. But it wasn't worth the risk. He couldn't lose her, not again. Sadly he pulled his hand away, not meeting her eyes.

"Lana, I love you, but there are some things about me... I wish I could tell you, I honestly do. But..." Clark struggled, fumbling with the words.

Lana looked at him, her eyes betraying her hurt, her confusion and most importantly her disappointment. For the second time in as many days Clark watched her bottom lip firm up, and she left the coffee shop with her shoulders set in grim determination. Clark only wished there was some way to get through this without hurting her more than he already had. He groaned, looking into the depths of his cold coffee cup. All he could do was hurt her, and he was tired of it.

Clark left the coffee shop not long after, stepping up into the cold cabin of the truck. Over the course of the long drive back home he found himself musing over all the questions he could ask Vlad tomorrow. Anything was better than digging into the pain in his heart. In a funny sort of way he was excited for it, Danny had been living with them for nearly eight months now and yet there was still so much Clark didn't know.

It was strange that Danny seemed to know so much about Krypton and Clark's own powers. He kept meaning to ask Danny about it, but whenever Danny was around it always somehow slipped his mind. Danny had let some things slip; like that he had a guardian/mentor figure in the Ghost Zone that insisted on teaching him all about ghost history and culture. However Clark knew little more about this guardian than that he was a powerful ghost. But Clark was keen to know more, not just about Danny, but about ghosts in general.

By the time he got back to the farm it was late, although the house was completely empty. Clark warmed himself up some of the leftovers for dinner, but didn't pay much attention to the meal. He headed upstairs soon after, mulling over what was the most important things to ask Vlad. It was a phenomenal offer, and Clark was keen to use it. It wasn't often that a billionaire made an offer like that with no strings attached, and it seemed that Vlad was doing this simply because he wanted to do the right thing by Danny. Clark settled into a dreamless sleep, the encroaching darkness providing a relief from Clark's other concerns.

It was late morning by the time he woke up, eyes fluttering against the dismal grey that had set in overnight. He could hear his mom downstairs, probably working on some budget for the senate or something. Looking at the clock Clark realised that Danny was certainly at school by now, and while it would only be a few hours before Clark could look forward to getting some real answers about ghosts he had wanted to talk quickly with Danny before he left. Clark got out of bed, heading downstairs and making himself a piece of toast.

Heading out to the barn he realised that three quarters of the day's farm chores had already been finished, the missing hay bales in the loft told Clark that the cows had been attended to and a trip to the woodpile showed that it was already restocked. Apparently Danny hadn't been able to sleep well last night; Clark decided to add that to the long list of questions he had for Vlad.

Resolving to pick up some more hay bales when he stopped at the supply store on the way home, Clark jumped in the truck and headed out to Metropolis. The hour drive was quiet and calming. While there was a lot troubling him at the moment, the prospect of finding some answers was encouraging. Eventually the cornfields gave way to the urbanised landscape of the city. He pulled the truck into a free parking garage and set about walking to the Alexandria hotel.

After a two minute discussion he made his way up to the penthouse suite. It took up the whole top floor, the elevator opening up directly into a large foyer area. The butler standing outside the room asked for Clark's name before turning around to announce his entrance. Hesitatingly he stepped in.

_Line Break_

Martha pulled her car up outside the warehouse. It was minutes before midnight, and the briefcase on the seat next to her was burning a metaphorical hole in the upholstery. Steeling herself she picked it up, stepping out of her car and pulling her coat tightly around her. Her breath came out in short puffs of mist as she walked into the darkness, her arms wrapped tightly around the briefcase.

"Did you bring the money?" Martha jumped as a man stepped out of the darkness behind her. He was wearing a dark denim jacket and a black balaclava. It was impossible for her to tell anything about him other than he was tall and had more muscle mass than her son.

"Yes." She answered timidly, before stomping down on her fear and acting much less afraid than she really was. "Who are you? Why are you doing this?" She demanded, but closed her eyes in the bright light as an additional car pulled up. It was black, and the logo on the front identified it as a Renault. Martha spun around to find the blackmailer vanished. She watched warily as a dark shoe lowered itself from the driver's seat.

"Lionel?" Martha demanded incredulous as she observed the driver who had chased off the man. "What are you doing here?"

Lionel raised an eyebrow. "Well I could ask you that same question."

Martha shook her head; Clark's secret was still in jeopardy. "You have no idea what you just did." Martha replied, trying to quell the mounting fear in her stomach.

"I got worried, Martha." Lionel supplied. "I saw that package at your house this morning. I know you don't want to accept help from me, but I can't just sit back and let you walk into trouble alone."

"You don't understand." Martha shot back.

"Yes I do." Lionel calmly replied, his dark eyes filled with a note of understanding she'd not seen since Jon's passing. "I recognise the signs. You're a senator. You've got a high profile. You're in the public eye. Blackmail comes with the territory."

Gathering herself and trying to sound as professional as she could Martha asked "So, what does one do in this position?"

Lionel's reply was simple. "You can't give into blackmail, it never ends."

Martha sighed, knowing that there was so much more on the line than simple blackmail. "You don't understand. There's a lot at stake."

"There always is." Lionel answered calmly. "Let me help you."

"No, Lionel. I can handle it." Martha replied. It was necessary if she wanted to stand any chance of keeping Clark safe.

Lionel started to sound flustered and unsure of himself. "Yes, you're a very capable woman, but this is something quite beyond your experience." Lionel managed to calm himself, taking a deep breath. "What came to you in that package is of no interest to me. My only interest is your well-being. Let me take care of this for you. Please." The beseeching look in his eye and Martha's own desperation left her wilt little choice.

Timidly she nodded, noting the large smile that brightened in his eyes. He was gone barely a minute later, saying that he would make sure it all worked out. Martha stood frozen in the night, steam billowing around her in the night air as she bewilderedly watched his car disappear; the briefcase clung still tightly to her chest. It was five minuted before her heartbeat slowed enough for her to move. She returned to the car, staring blankly at the steering wheel unsure of what had just happened.

In the cold night air she began the long drive home, mulling over everything. Lionel Luthor had come to her rescue, kept her safe from the blackmailers. He had promised to take care of them, meaning that she didn't need to take the second mortgage on the house. But the most important thing was the fact that he didn't care at all what was in the video, all he wanted was to make sure that she was safe. Martha smiled at that idea. It was a wonderful feeling to believe that there was someone out there who had her back. Lionel could protect her I ways that neither Clark nor Danny could. If she just let herself trust him then he could be a reliable ally, a friend.

Martha smiled as she pulled up to the house, while her stomach still writhed in worry over the blackmailer she felt that she could put her trust in Lionel. She had to. Quietly she made her way through the house, noting the gentle breathing of her sleeping son in his room. She smiled at the thought that his secret was safe. It felt wonderful to believe that there was another man out there who would look out for her son, even if he did not know the whole truth. With a faint smile on her lips she settled in to bed for the night.

_Line Break_

Clark's eyes widened as he took in the palatial expanse of the penthouse suite at the Alexandria. The room he was in was the living room, and it alone could engulf the entire bottom level of his house. The decor was a soft gold, accentuated with a pale green. In the centre of the room was an elegant lounge suite, the pale gold sofa seemed to glow in the sunlight that poured through the large windows on the far side of the room. A green and gold rug sat beneath an elegant oak coffee table, fully set up for a high tea. The room felt opulent, far more so than anything in the Luthor Mansion with the way the pale colours contrasted with the vibrancy of the rich tapestries that hung from the walls.

However Clark's attention was quickly pulled from the elaborate decor to the silver haired man who stood in front of the large windows. Shoulders back with his hands confidently resting behind his back he overlooked the city. His silhouette was one of a powerful and dominant man, and Clark felt lucky that Vlad had taken the time to invite him over. His stance bespoke quiet dignity, and he looked much more in his element here than he had in the barn loft the previous day. Unsure of how to proceed, Clark coughed lightly to grab his attention.

The silver-haired billionaire turned to face Clark, breaking into a broad grin as their eyes met. "Clark, my boy. I'm delighted you came." Clark smiled, taken aback as he thanked the man for inviting him. He allowed himself to be guided over to the lounge suite, taking the proffered chair. Vlad poured the tow of them a cup of tea, settling back into his own seat.

"Now," Vlad commented after a few minutes "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but first I must inquire as to how you found out about young Daniel's particular... talents."

Clark shrugged, it wasn't as if Vlad would do anything bad with the information, and as long as Clark didn't expose his own secret then all that could come of this was good for Danny. "It was the second day Danny was here." Clark answered. "I was taking Danny on a tour of Smallville when the hunter ghost, Skulker attacked."

"Ah Skulker," Vlad interjected with a reminisce smile. "Predictable as ever I see. Please, continue."

Clark shrugged "He picked Danny up and threw him down into the ground hard enough to leave a crater. It should have hurt, but Danny just brushed it off. Then Skulker tossed him off into the cornfields. Next time I saw him there was barely a scratch on him." Clark frowned, unsure as to whether he should talk about Lex, but decided not to.

"By the time we got home even the big gash on his arm was gone, so he explained everything." Clark finished with a slight shrug.

"Fascinating." Vlad said with a small smile playing on his lips. "The Little Badger never ceases to amaze me. He must have felt he could trust you unquestioningly to have revealed such a deeply kept and dangerous secret. Even his parents never knew."

"I guess he could trust me to keep him safe, I think he wanted someone to talk to." Clark answered slowly.

"Indeed." Vlad replied with a smile. "And I am glad he did. It is a good thing he has someone close to him that knows, I fear it is incredibly isolating to be so burdened with gifts like his. But no matter. Now that my own curiosity is assuaged I am sure you have your own questions to ask."

Clark nodded, his mind whirling from the many questions he'd wanted to ask Danny but hadn't had the courage. Some things would probably be private, but since Danny knew so much about Kryptonians Clark wanted to know about ghosts. After all it was Danny who had told him that his molecules were so much more densely packed than anything on Earth. Knowing that he decided to start at the very basics.

"What exactly are ghosts?" Clark asked.

Vlad looked curiously at him before answering. "An excellent place to start, although I am sure young Daniel has offered his own explanation. In essence a ghost is an idea or specific thought pattern that manifests itself in the physical plane. This thought pattern is generally referred to as its obsession, without which the ghost would cease to exist. While some ghosts are capable of experiencing deeper and more complex thought, almost everything the ghost does will in some way relate back to this central idea.

"Here is where things become more complicated. Suppose analogously we were to examine the human brain. The thought patterns are carried along a complex web of neurotransmitters and neurological connections. This is a highly complex network of electrical signals which constitute human brain patterns.

"A ghost, however, has no 'brain' so to speak; these connections are instead made through the ectoplasm from which the ghost is made. Instead of neurotransmitters the electrical signals are transmitted through their 'bodily' ectoplasm and this generates their thought patterns. Ghosts themselves have no internal organs; all they are made from is simply different states of ectoplasm."

Vlad paused for a minute allowing Clark to catch up. Danny had mentioned something like this back when he explained that he was a halfa. He said that one of the things that made him so different was the fact that he had organs and bones, things like the human anatomy. However he was still confused.

"What is ectoplasm?" Clark asked.

"Ectoplasm itself is a difficult concept to understand." Vlad supplied calmly taking another sip of tea. "It is a substance entire unlike anything that naturally occurs on Earth; however it operates on a similar principal to the electromagnetic spectrum. As you are probably aware 'waves' on the Electromagnetic spectrum possess a dual nature in as much as they act both as a wave and as a particle, in other words they appear to have both energetic and physical presence. Ectoplasm posses this dual nature, however has different origins to the EM spectrum.

"Daniel has probably referred to ectoplasm as a semi-solid form of energy, and this is a fairly apt description given the sheer complexity of the substance. This is the simplest way to appreciate ectoplasm and has served the purposes of most scientific inquiry." Clark nodded, that made sense to a certain degree.

"So how does that work with ghost powers?" Clark pressed.

Vlad smiled at him. "Ectoplasm effectively mimics the EM spectrum; by manipulating the energy 'frequency' the ghost is able to shift in and out of visibility, move through solid objects, as well as utilising many of their other powers. However this is as far as the EM spectrum analogy can go. Some of the abilities, such as Daniel's ability to project a beam of ectoplasmic energy come from a different source, seemingly driven by the sheer force of will."

"Okay," Clark accepted. He was glad he had such a good memory otherwise he knew he'd forget most of what he was learning. "What about a ghost's core?" Clark inquired.

Vlad raised an eyebrow. "I see young Daniel has been more thorough in teaching you than I had expected. The concept of a ghost's core is not common knowledge, mostly because the ghosts do not want it to become widely known. I believe that it is a mere untested hypothesis in the wider scientific community. That is as far as officiated science acknowledges.

"However, from what I understand, ghosts draw not only their physical and will powers from their core, but it is also an integral part of their biology. No true ghost can survive without its core, and sufficient damage to the core would theoretically 'kill' the ghost, if that is the correct term to use. While I'll admit I do have more access to paranormal research than many of my peers it is still a new science and there is still much to be learned. There is also the fact that many of the ghosts that can be captured for study destabilise and dissolve before an intense exploration of their 'anatomy' can be conducted."

Clark gulped, this was too close to his own fears, but it was answering some of his questions. When Clark had been in the Far Frozen he'd gotten a brief overview on cores, this reconfirmed what he knew and also added a bit more depth. It was interesting to be learning this much about ghosts, but he was unsure of how this worked for his cousin.

"What does that mean for Danny?" Clark asked curiously.

Vlad sighed deeply. "I am not completely sure, and I am reluctant to perform the experiment. To my understanding a half-ghost may never develop a core as a stable source of power. However, I believe that while he is resistant to it, a high enough energy blast or deep puncture to his chest area could cause substantial, if not fatal damage. He has extraordinary healing capabilities and I suspect that the voltage required to harm his ghost form permanently would be more than enough to power a small country. But he, like anyone can be killed." Vlad finished with a deep frown and Clark shifted uncomfortably at the dark direction that the conversation had taken.

Clark shook his head, trying to clear things in his mind. "Okay, I get that, sort of. I mean he sort of explained once why human weapons don't hurt him as much as ghost weapons. It was something along the lines of the residual ectoplasmic trace interfering with his regenerative capabilities. Or something like that. But if he does get seriously hurt, how do I help him. He once came home with a three inch hole in his stomach, and all we could do was bandage it up."

Vlad gave a long suffering sigh as he leaned back in his chair. "Young Daniel always does manage to find himself in the most precarious of situations, it hardly surprises me. As to how to help him, over the weeks he was in the hospital the doctors and I found there was very little we could do to help him recover. Putting trace amounts of ectoplasm into his IV had the most positive effects, but I hardly imagine you have a steady access to raw ectoplasm.

"Most human made drugs have very little effect on him, he was on a technically lethal morphine drip for over a week and it did nothing to ease his pain." Vlad sighed, his grey-blue eyes clouded and heavy. "It would seem that the only way for you to help him is to bandage him up and let his body recover on its own."

Clark looked up to meet the eyes of the billionaire sadly. That wasn't what he'd wanted to hear, but at the same time it wasn't unexpected. All of the few times he himself had been physically wounded he had just had to wait it out.

"Having said that, you have likely noticed that Daniel holds a particular fondness for hot chocolate, or chocolate in general?" At Clark's quick nod Vlad continued. "I believe that for him this is one way to 'feed' his ghost half. The release of additional endorphins mimics the way true ghosts 'feed' off the emotions of humans. This is pure speculation; however I believe that this boosts the systems of his ghost half, although I am unsure if the presence of phenylethylamine affects him as well. It could replicate the effects of satisfying a 'ghostly obsession' so to speak."

Clark frowned, but accepted the truth of that. He had noticed Danny's sweet tooth, when they went to the Talon he only ever got hot chocolate, and if he made dessert it was almost always chocolate based. Funny that he hadn't realised that until it was pointed out. But that did raise an important question, one that had bothered Clark since he'd first found out about it. He'd never asked Danny because it seemed too personal, and Danny had warned him against asking about the subject in the first place.

"And is it normal for him to have an obsession?" Clark asked quietly.

Vlad's frown thinned as he thought. "I am not sure." He eventually answered. "To a point it is natural for anyone to obsess over things. Humans themselves obsess over a vast variety of issues over the course of their life. However it is difficult to draw an observable line between normal human obsession and deep rooted 'ghostly obsessions'. While I suppose it is _plausible_ that young Daniel engages in a ghost-like obsession, it would be difficult to determine if it is drawn from his ghost half or if he is psychologically projecting his own preconceptions onto himself. Rather than having a true 'ghostly obsession' it could be, and indeed seems far more likely, that he believes that as he has a ghost half he should have a ghost-like obsession."

Clark frowned, his brows creasing in confusion. "So you're saying that his obsession is all in his head?"

"To a point, yes." Vlad quickly answered. "The biology of a half ghost is complex to say the least. He himself is a balance between two species that were not designed to coexist. Daniel is no longer a pure human, his entire body can change from physical matter into pure energy, and it is complex to observe how that affects his physiology and mental states. Compounding that with the facts that he became half-ghost at such a young age, as well as having to fight, often for his life, for the past two years; it is a wonder that he has so few observable mental difficulties. That is leaving aside the devastating loss of his entire family.

"You should know, while I am glad that he has turned to you that if ever he needs help, or even if you find you don't know what to do for him, I would be happy to extend the hand of assistance. I do care for young Daniel, and I trust that someday both of you will find me as a stable provider. I am happy to help either of you in any regard, all you need do is ask." Vlad finished with a warm smile.

Clark nodded in appreciation, thanking the man for his almost too kind offer. While Clark hoped it was never needed, it would be nice to know that if Danny ever got badly hurt there was someone they could both rely on. Clark happily shook Vlad's hand as he was guided out. By the angle of the sun in the sky he had been there for the best part of two hours.

Vlad had told Clark a lot, and given him a lot to think about. Clark frowned as he drove back towards the farm. Most of what Vlad had said made sense, but some of it was seriously concerning. Not the least of which was the possibility that Danny's protective obsession was just a psychological construct. Clark frowned, that didn't seem quite right. Everything he had seen of Danny suggested that it was a genuine ghostly obsession, but then why would Vlad suggest that it wasn't? He seemed like a kind and welcoming man, but Danny had purposefully distanced himself from Vlad, despite the obvious benefits.

For the time being Clark just wanted to sit back and observe, to try and make sense of everything that he had been told. Although it was comforting to think that Vlad was so willing to help the boy out. Clark had always been terrified that if someone found out his secret they would abuse it. But here Vlad was, not only accepting Danny's secret, but actively seeking to find ways to support him from the sidelines. Clark smiled. It seemed that there were still some good people out in the world after all.

_Line Break_

Danny smiled as he knocked on the door of the small suburban house. He had gone straight to Metropolis after school to visit Victor, intending on spending the rest of the day with him. He wanted to try to help him through the whole hybrid thing. It was strange in a way. When Danny had first met Vlad the first thing he had been so happy to think that he wasn't alone anymore. But then Vlad had proven what sort of a man he was, and Danny had rejected anything to do with the elder half-ghost. But with Victor things were different.

Danny now found himself in the position Vlad had been in, the most experienced half breed. And Danny was determined to do the right thing by Victor. The experience of becoming a hybrid was extremely isolating, it had made Danny feel completely cut off from the world. But Victor deserved to know that he wasn't alone, that there was someone out there who would have his back when things got tough. Danny knew all too well that they would, but he promised himself to be there for Victor.

The night before Danny had gone to visit Lex. They had been meeting up once a week for a spar for the past few weeks, and Danny was not about to let that go. But this week he had gone with slightly different intentions. Lex needed to be reminded that people were people, not his play toys. Danny had subtly reprimanded him for what he let happen to Victor, whether or not Lex had ordered it to happen, the responsibility was ultimately Lex's and Danny hoped that he had convinced him not to play god again.

It was a difficult line to walk, he was trying to be a friend to Lex and earn his trust. At the same time he was trying to sway him away from the dark path he was on. The project with Victor had been started long before Danny came to Smallville, so he just wanted to make sure nothing like that ever happened again. Finally he was trying to guide Lex towards helping people, or at least not intentionally hurting them. All the while he had to keep the lid on Clark and his own secrets. It was a very tricky situation, but if he could get through to Lex it would be worth it.

They had parted on a pleasant note, and Danny believed that the reflective look in his eye meant that something Danny had said had got through to Lex. As soon as he was outside the Luthor grounds he had teleported home, planning to get a bit of homework done before he went out on patrol. Instead he had found his Aunt crying on her bed. He didn't ask what was going on, he only wanted to comfort her. She seemed to be under a lot of stress so he had reached out with his aura to comfort her. He had hated using that skill while he lived in Amity Park, but here he found himself relying on it to comfort and calm his friends and family.

Eventually Aunt Martha had calmed down, thanking Danny for being there for them. He had gone out for a late night flight; soaring up to sit on the clouds and stargaze for a while. It was three in the morning by the time he returned home. The house had been quiet and calm, so Danny presumed that everything had settled down. As he lay down to sleep he had decided to go visit Victor, while it hadn't been long since they'd seen each other Danny thought it would be a good idea if they talked.

That was how he found himself standing outside the small house in the suburbs of Metropolis, Katherine had invited Victor to stay there while the two sorted things out and Victor had given Danny the address when he called. Shaking himself out of his reflective musings Danny reached up to ring the doorbell. There was a minute's pause before the door opened and Danny was met by the slightly confused face of Victor.

"Danny?" He asked, but broke into a big smile "Come on in. I actually wanted to talk with you." Danny was escorted into the house, through to a tastefully decorated living room.

"Katherine." Victor called, looking up the staircase "We have a visitor." Victor guided Danny to take a seat, and Danny happily slung his backpack to the side before looking up at Victor.

"So how'd it go?" Danny asked.

"Pretty well, we're gonna try to make things work." Victor answered and Danny smiled.

"I've already lost him once; I not about to let him go again." Katherine answered coming into the room. "You're Danny, right? You helped Victor out."

Danny nodded, carefully watching as she took a seat next to Victor. It was lovely to see how naturally she reached for his hand, taking solace in Victor's company. He smiled at the two.

"In more ways than one." Victor added. "Danny said some things I needed to hear, sort of helped set me back on track."

Danny frowned slightly, but didn't let the light leave his eyes. He didn't want Katherine to know the full extent of his hybrid status, the knowledge of Phantom was not safe, but he was happy to dance around the truth a little like he did with Chloe.

"I didn't do much. Just because you're a little different doesn't make you any less human. It's who you choose to be that says who you are, not what you're made from." Danny shrugged. Katherine sent him a grateful smile which was mirrored by Victor.

"Then thank you. For helping me get my Victor back." Katherine beamed, getting up to get them a couple of refreshments. Victor smiled after her as she left the room.

"I'm guessing you don't want her to know what you are?" Victor asked as he looked over at Danny.

Danny sadly shook his head. "I've still got guys on my own back that I can't seem to get rid of. Figure you don't want her brought into my mess." Danny supplied. "But I do promise to be here for you, I'm happy to talk about anything. I'm here for you."

Victor nodded, an understanding and grateful smile playing on his lips. "Well, I do have a few questions..." Victor admitted and Danny smiled. He happily settled himself in, fully prepared to help a fellow hybrid adjust to their new life.

_Line Break_

Martha sat at the table sipping a cup of coffee. It had been half an hour since Danny left for school, and Martha was quietly proud of how hard he was trying to do well. He seemed to have settled in well after being skipped ahead, and had even managed to cut down on his truancy. With only three months left of school he was happily counting down the days until graduation. All the while he managed to balance his double life. The Smallville Ledger was highly complementary of Phantom for keeping the town safe from other ghosts, although they did wonder why he'd left Amity Park.

Clark too seemed to be doing alright. Despite his relationship problems with Lana he'd left the house that morning with a smile on his face. He said he was headed into Metropolis, and Martha had assumed that he'd arranged a meeting with Chloe. Martha was glad that he was safe, really that both of them were; but Danny had the benefit of a secret identity where Clark just used his powers without any protection. This time Clark had been caught, but it seemed Lionel had swooped in to the rescue. A true ordinary hero.

There was a soft knock on the front door. _'Think of the devil' _Martha thought as she looked at the greying head of Lionel Luthor. She smiled as she welcomed him in, but that dropped into a concerned frown as she realised why he was here.

"What happened?" Martha asked, looking up into his eyes. "Did you...?"

"Don't worry." He cut her off, gently waving away her concerns. "It's been solved. The man responsible has agreed never to contact you again."

Martha's eyes wrinkled in concern. "Who was he?" She asked, fearful that he could come back to make life hard for them all. If he had put that video out... it was a truly scary line of thought. Especially after Clark had told her what the GIW had planned for Phantom if they ever caught him.

"He was a police academy dropout, turned warehouse security guard." Lionel answered. His voice was light, dismissing all of Martha's worries. "He was trying to cash in at somebody else's expense."

"Did he tell you what this was about?" Martha inquired, hoping that Clark's secret was still safe, after all that was the purpose of this whole exercise.

"I didn't let him." Lionel dismissed. "I was only interested in making sure that he went away. And he did. Willingly." There was a slight pause, and Martha watched as his eyes crinkled into worry. "But, um... there is one thing that concerns me."

Martha frowned, she was truly thankful to the man, not only for saving her son, but also grateful that he had so respected the family's privacy. "What is it?" She asked softly.

"You're a public figure now, senator." Lionel said by way of answer. "How people perceive you is... It's everything. It's possible that any association with me..." He paused for a moment, his spine straightening out. It was possible now to see the cool, calculating _public_ Lionel that the media so pursued. "With Lionel Luthor, could be dangerous to your new career."

Martha frowned, rejecting the idea. She was not going to let anyone tell her whom she could or could not associate and be friends with. "I'm not the type of person who turns her back on her friends because of what people think." Martha answered coolly, eliciting a small but comforted smile from Lionel.

"I don't know many people like you, Martha." He replied, his soft smile widening. "I admire your integrity so much. The state of Kansas is lucky to have you." Martha shook her head at this thought. It was a part of who she was, it was something that her father had taught her and her sisters growing up, and she was not going to forget it. It didn't matter what other people believed, if you found friendship in someone it was not something to be thrown away.

Lionel dismissed Martha's offer to stay for coffee, saying that he had a meeting that he needed to attend to in the city. As she watched his fleeting back she couldn't help but feel thankful for the fact that he was there to help keep things together. Clark couldn't know about this, he would never let it rest if he thought the family was in danger because of his secret. She looked over to the table where she had hidden the DVD, anxious to get rid of it and be done with the whole thing.

Martha lit the fire, the crackling flames leaping up into the kindling, it took half an hour but she finally got the fire up to a roaring heat. She picked up a photo of Jon from the mantle, tears prickling in her eyes at the memory of her husband and all he had sacrificed, not just for Clark, but for all of them. For hem she would continue, and do anything she could to keep her son safe. Setting the photograph aside she knelt down in front of the fireplace, the warmth flaring out towards her.

Martha picked up the disk, staring fearfully at it for a moment before she tossed it into the flames. She watched as the disk slowly melted, bubbling and liquefying as it was consumed by the flames. Martha smiled at the thought that it was finally over, Clark's secret was safe and she could sleep soundly knowing that he would stay that way. She walked away from the fire without a second thought, putting the traumatic events of the last few days behind her.

_Line Break_

Vlad Masters smiled as he looked down over the city skyline. Slowly everything was falling into place. Every piece was playing their part perfectly. Vlad was supremely enthused by how perfectly Clark Kent had reacted today. He was as openly trusting and delightfully naive as young Daniel had been the first time they had met at the College Reunion two years ago. The meeting had gone splendidly, and Vlad knew that now Clark would listen to him and take his council, with the right prodding it would only be a matter of time before Clark saw things Vlad's way.

Daniel may be counting on Clark as his knight, but little was he to know that Vlad had just made him his pawn. With two other pawns in place and his two knights closing in it was only a matter of time. There was just one more player that he had yet to put into play. He was planning on visiting the Observant's High Council very soon to solicit this particular piece. Vlad loved playing chess, and this particular game was one he was determined to win. His queen may have been lost, but the game was far from over. And Vlad was not going to let the opposing king get away from him.

"Soon, Little Badger." Vlad murmured darkly, feeling his eyes flash a cool shade of crimson. "Soon your king will fall."

_Line Break_

Lionel Luthor took a calming breath, schooling his face into a cool and emotionless mask. The man from the warehouse had agreed to his terms, and now all that remained to the affair was to give him his money. He was in his office at LuthorCorp, where he attended to all of his important dealings. And there was little more important than the well being of Martha Kent and her family to him. Calmly he handed over the envelope, knowing that the man would quite happily disappear once this was over.

The man handed him a copy of the disk, the last one in existence he presumed, knowing that Martha would have long since disposed of hers. The silent transaction complete, Lionel watched as the tall man left the office. This had been a most rewarding affair, he had earned the trust of Martha, and she had gone so far as to call him her friend. While he wanted more than that it was a solid first step. More than that, he had proven to Martha that he could help solve problems that she was unfamiliar with. He sincerely doubted that anyone in the Kent family had ever had to deal with blackmail before.

Lionel proudly stalked over to his desk, pouring himself a glass of scotch as he settled into the seat. He carefully slid the disk into the slot on his computer, patiently waiting for the DVD to load. The scene played, it was short but it proved everything in the world. He slowed the scene down to frame by frame to see the whole picture.

_Static blurred across the screen as a wave of energy blasted out from the centre of the warehouse room._

_A huge ball of fire exploded from the centre, consuming everything in its path. _

_The flames spiralled out, turning the whole screen into a fiery inferno._

_A red jacketed Clark Kent came racing out of the flames; the unconscious form of Lana Lang is in his arms as he pulled her safely from the inferno._

Lionel froze the video on the last image, smiling softly at the image on the screen. He quietly closed the laptop, stepping away from the desk as he turned to survey the darkened city from his office window. Quietly, to the empty air he whispered seven terrifyingly easy words.

"Your secret is safe with me. Kal-El."

* * *

><p>AN: Not the most action packed chapter, but some important stuff is going on. I was mainly working from the sub-plot in the episode 'Cyborg' because it develops the relationship between Lionel and Martha.<p>

Plus, Lionel knows Clark's secret, and Vlad is toying with Clark.

Sorry to get so scientific, but I think that candour would go towards proving how 'trustworthy' Vlad is to Clark. Fun.

Anyhow, 'till next time,

Bluerose


	21. Control

Chapter 20

Control

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Clark smiled over his coffee. Today had been a wonderful day, he'd spent the afternoon with Lana and they'd gone out to a club together. Lana had eventually managed to drag him out on the dance floor, and he had proceeded to embarrass himself wholeheartedly. After that they'd left for the Talon. Clark was thoroughly enjoying her company. It had been so long since they'd had this much fun in each other's presence that it was liberating. Lately it seemed to get awkward all too quickly when she decided to press into his secret.

"Clark, you're amazing." Lana laughed over her mocha. Clark raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Okay, so you're not gonna win any dance contests, but you're definitely not the worst."

"Lana, I almost started a ten person pile up doing the two-step." Clark retorted, shaking his head. "Maybe next time we should just skip the dancing before someone gets hurt."

"Well" Lana said, a cheeky glint flickering into her eye. "Maybe we should try something else more often."

"Like what?" Clark asked.

"Well, I'll give you a hint." The glint in her eyes spread to a cheeky grin that pulled at her lips. "Chloe happens to be pulling an all nighter at the _Daily Planet_."

Clark frowned, immediately picking up the insinuation. "So you have the dorm room all to yourself."

"All to _ourselves._" Lana emphasised.

"That sounds great." Clark replied a little too quickly. "It really does, but I have to get back to the farm. It's gonna rain tomorrow and I have to put out some tarps." It sounded bad even to him, but he couldn't take the risk. With his powers he didn't know how safe it would be to be alone with her like that. More than that, he didn't know if he could make it out with his secret intact. And he knew now that he needed to keep the secret from her for her own safety. Lex had proven that for him.

The light vanished from Lana's eyes as they switched from brightly jovial to cold dejection. "Clark, whenever you're ready I'll be waiting as long as it takes. No pressure." She stood up, and Clark took a moment to realise that she was leaving. Hastily he stood up.

"Lana... I" He stopped, unsure of how to make things better. It had all been going so well, and now that barrier between them was up again.

"Look," Lana sighed, meeting his eyes. "I gotta go, it's getting late. But I'll talk to you tomorrow. Okay?" She sent him the smallest of encouraging smiles, but it was enough. Barely.

"Okay" Clark replied, the faintest of smiles playing across his own lips as he watched her walk out the Talon's front doors.

"I thought she'd never leave." A soft feminine voice sighed from behind him. Clark spun around to face her. She was tall and thin, dressed in a denim jacket and a tight black leather miniskirt. She had grey-blue eyes and short blonde hair, curling in tight ringlets around her heart shaped face. Swinging from her neck was a beautifully polished turquoise pendant. Something about the way she walked made Clark feel like she controlled the world.

"Hi," She introduced herself. "I'm Simone."

"I was just leaving" Clark said, picking his jacket up from the chair he had been seated on and turning to leave himself.

"What's the hurry?" Simone asked, her hand tracing her collarbones and touching the pendant on her neck. Clark's attention was immediately drawn to the polished blue stone. There was something inviting about it that he couldn't quite place.

"You're not going anywhere until I tell you to." Simone ordered, and Clark felt compelled to listen to her.

"Okay" Clark responded, almost listlessly. Part of him realised that stopping to talk with some strange girl was nothing like him, but something about Simone made it okay. The part of him that usually told him to stop and think seemed to have gone away, and Clark was all too happy to listen to the mellow voice of the young blonde woman.

"You're gonna believe everything I tell you, you're gonna do everything I say. Starting now." There was something in her voice that was vaguely hypnotic, compelling Clark to listen to her advice. He smiled.

"What do you have in mind?" Clark asked with a soft smile playing on his lips as he looked into her gorgeous pale eyes.

Next thing he knew he was out in the alleyway behind the Talon, Simone wedged tightly between him and the fence with her soft tongue pressed deeply against his. Her soft skin danced beneath his hands as they smothered each other in passionate embrace. This had been a brilliant idea. Clark had almost forgotten what it was like to be kissed like this, and Lana didn't have the same fierce passion. With Simone all his fears and worries seemed to disappear, and he liked it.

Clark felt more than saw the lights of a car as it pulled into the alley, a loud set of footsteps approached him and Simone, but neither of them really cared. All that mattered was Simone and Clark and the fiery kisses she was pouring on him.

"Smallville?" The stunned voice of Lois Lane interrupted them. Really, there was something about Lois and interrupting him whenever life was getting interesting. Clark turned to face her, Simone's warm arms still wrapped around his neck as Lois demanded "What the hell are you doing?"

"Lois, I'd like you to meet Simone." Clark confidently pronounced. "My new girlfriend." Lois's lip twitched and Clark bit down a laugh. Simone and Clark ran off, this was entirely too much fun and the blankly shocked look on Lois' face had been priceless.

"You know, I think I'd like to head in for the night." Simone whispered in Clark's ear, eliciting a broad grin from Clark who was only too happy to oblige. He gently lifted her into the passenger's seat of the truck before jumping in himself. He drove home, Simone gently rubbing his thigh the whole time, sending soft tingling up his spine. Clark was glad she had shown up to add some spice into his life. He pulled the car up outside the house, Simone looked a little disappointed.

"It's not much, but it's home." Clark said, sending a gentle smile towards Simone. After a moment she smiled back.

"It's charming." Simone replied as Clark guided her inside. On the bench was the apple pie that his mom had been making as he left this afternoon. Clark smiled as he cutting a large slice for her to try. His mom's speciality may be making muffins, but she made a mean apple pie.

"Here you go." Clark beamed as he slid the pie across the table to Simone.

"Apple pie. Well what else?" Simone asked with a broad smile as she took a seat.

"My mom just made it." Clark said, beaming at the beautiful blonde girl opposite him.

"Of course she did." Simone smiled, taking a delicate bite. "That's delicious. All I need now is a glass of champagne, but I don't suppose you have that hidden behind the marmalade." Simone joked. But that gave Clark an idea. Simone wanted champagne, she would have champagne. In a blur he was off, returning barely a minute later with a bottle of champagne firmly in hand.

"What did you...? Simone asked, trailing off when she saw the bottle in his hands. Clark beamed, he was glad to have surprised her. "Where did you get that?" Simone demanded.

Clark felt no need to dance around the truth, so gave the simple but true answer. "Hal's liquor store in Metropolis."

"What?" Simone asked; a strangely curious look in her eye. "Metropolis, how?"

"I can run really fast." Clark shrugged. A smile danced onto his lips when he saw the bright happy spark that lit Simone's eyes as she heard this. A cheeky smile crossed her lips.

"So if I were to say 'Clark, I want some chocolate covered strawberries'..." Clark smiled at her suggestion and in a flash he was gone. Simone squealed in delight as he reappeared, a box of chocolate covered strawberries and a single red long-stem rose in the other.

"You are too good to be true." Simone commented, taking the box of strawberries with a smile. "Next thing you're gonna tell me you've got a brother who can fly."

Clark smiled happily, "His name's Danny and he's my cousin." Clark admitted freely. It was so easy to talk to her, he felt like he didn't have to hide anything from Simone.

"Really?" Simone queried sceptically. "Well I'll look forward to meeting this cousin of yours then." Clark smiled as a playful grin ghosted onto her lips. She gently sniffed the rose, sending him a cheeky grin.

"I think it's time you told your girlfriend about us." Simone suggested and Clark couldn't help but agree. Normally he would have wanted to protect Lana, but now he had Simone, and she knew about him. Simone hadn't even seemed fazed by it. "Call her and ask her to come over." Simone ordered, and Clark all too easily obliged.

She leaned forward, giving Clark another kiss before dragging him along out to the barn. Her high heels strode proudly against the hardwood stairs, and there was something possessive in the way her eyes shone in the dim light of the barn loft. On his way past Clark flicked the switch for the lanterns on and the rafters were lit by thirty small overhead lights, glowing warmly in the dim barn loft. Simone smiled happily, the dim light shining brilliantly in her beautiful blue eyes. She pulled him into her, her lips softly brushing his as gentle as a butterfly. She laughed teasingly as she pulled away, on hand possessively clutching the collar of Clark's shirt.

"So, lightning legs," Simone began, her velveteen voice even more seductive here than in the house. "Got any other special skills?" She strode to the centre of the loft, spinning around with a tantalising smile playing on her lips. "I wanna know everything you're capable of."

Clark gulped, suddenly nervous. But he found he wanted to tell her everything. He wanted her to know everything about him. Something about Simone made him feel like he had to tell her, and there was nothing holding him back. He picked up an old metal bat, tossing it lightly between his hands for a moment before he quickly bent it over itself. He was left with a bent bat in the shape of an 'S'

"An 'S' for Simone." Clark proclaimed softly, earning himself a light laugh from the beautiful blonde.

"Ever since I was little I dreamed about my knight in shining armour. And now that dream had actually come true." Clark smiled as she leaned in for a kiss. That was strangely flattering, and it felt wonderful for someone to think that way of his gifts. For so long he had had to hide them, never knowing who to trust. Really Chloe was the only normal human who knew about his powers other than his mom who had raised him. Somehow Simone made him feel so free, like there was nothing holding him back and he could take on the world. He deepened the kiss.

"Take off your shirt" Simone ordered, leaning back slightly and Clark was quick to acquiesce. He smiled as she gently rubbed her hands along his chest.

"Your turn?" He requested gently, Simone smiled and smoothly undid her denim jacket revealing the saucy black bra hidden beneath. The alluring smile on her lips drew Clark in and he quickly obliged her request to take off his jeans too. His clothes fell in a heap, tossed carelessly aside as his eyes surveyed the soft pale skin of the blonde. He smiled, tugging her to press tightly against his chest. He looked down, staring into her intoxicatingly beautiful eyes as they sparkled in the low light of the barn loft.

"Simone" Clark murmured worriedly, realising one thing. "With my powers, I could hurt you." Simone just smirked, as if it was foolish for him to even think that.

"That's a chance I'm willing to take." Simone answered with her enticing smile, leaning in for a kiss. Clark responded, she was fiery, energetic and passionate. She was everything that had been lacking in his relationship with Lana. He picked her up gently, pulling her over to the sofa before descending into a deeper kiss, their two bodies crushing gently against each other.

"Oh God" Clark heard from a corner. He blinked in confusion. That wasn't Simone. It only took a second for him to realise that that was Lana, finally here.

"You don't care about her anymore Clark. Go tell her that it's over." Simone instructed, her bright eyes glittering in the dim light. In a moment Clark had grabbed his jeans and had pulled them on, racing over behind Lana as she retreated down the wooden stairs.

"Lana wait." Clark dictated, watching as Lana spun around. The hurt and anger in her eyes was obvious, but Clark couldn't find it in him to care. Not really. Deep down something stirred, but at the same time there was something more compelling about being with Simone.

"This is why you couldn't spend the night with me?" Lana accused with venom in her voice.

"Lana, I've fallen in love with someone else." Clark stated bluntly. Simone wanted this done, and it was better for everyone if Clark broke it off with Lana now. He felt so much freer around Simone, like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. There was no judgement, no secrets, nothing hidden. He watched as Lana turned and strode off, her shoulders stiff. He had hurt her, and a small part of him wanted to run after her and make sure she was okay. But a larger part of him wanted to go back to Simone. Clark thought of Simone, the way her curly hair framed her face and the beautiful Turquoise stone that danced between her collar bones. Really there was no choice to be made at all.

_Line Break_

Danny smiled as he opened a portal to the Zone. With a quick blast the Corn Ghost was thrown backwards into the Zone, screaming all the way. Danny had been planning on visiting the Zone anyway; Clockwork had left him a reprimanding note saying that he was neglecting his studies, so Danny knew he had to go back soon. Sometimes he wondered why Clockwork was teaching him so much. There were things about the Zone that Danny had been taught that even some of the older ghosts didn't know. But when he asked Clockwork he had simply smiled, saying that "The truth would be revealed with the fullness of time."

Even Frostbite seemed to be in on it. Danny had gone once to the Far Frozen to visit the yeti and do a bit of training, and in passing he had mentioned what he was being taught of ghost culture. That had solicited a broad grin on Frostbite's wise old face, but even he did not give Danny any clues. "It is not my place to inform even you, Great One, of the nature of the ghost realms. All I can advise is to learn from the lessons your mentor gives you. Clockworks methods may seem abstract, but all have a purpose. Some are simply more obvious for those who know to look." After that Danny had dropped the subject, deciding that he didn't want any more riddles from his teachers.

Danny closed the portal he had sent the Corn Ghost through since it led to the area nearest Walker's prison. Knowing that no one was looking he shifted into his ghost half, relishing the feeling of his white cloak over his shoulders. With a wave of his hand he opened another portal that would lead to the area outside Clockwork's tower. Happily he released his hold on gravity and floated through the portal and into the endless green that made up the Ghost Zone.

A playful grin snuck onto Phantom's lips as he soared through the floating cogs that led to Clockwork's realm. He was truly privileged to know the Time Master, so few knew of him as more than a myth. From what he understood it was only the Leaders of the Realms who knew of him as a true being; and fewer still who knew him personally. Cheerfully he soared up to the large front door, carefully knocking on the aged wood. As usual the doors swung open and Phantom proceeded into the main viewing chamber where Clockwork held their lessons.

"Young Phantom," Clockwork said, gliding out of the shadows in his toddler form. "You're late."

Phantom smiled, used to Clockwork's teasing. Having had this exact discussion before, he shrugged it off. Talking with Clockwork for too long about that sort of thing had only ever led him to believe that he was simultaneously on time, too early and too late. Instead he inquired as to what Clockwork had planned for today.

"What do you recall of our last lessons?" Clockwork inquired, gently shifting to his eldest and wisest looking form.

"We were talking about the Magus Wars," Phantom answered quickly "during the twelfth century on Earth. How the two sides did something unprecedented and brought Real World objects into the fight. It was the first and only time in history that objects from the Real World were used, the sheer destruction caused led to the total ban on Real World items in the Zone."

"Good, I am glad to see you have absorbed so much." Clockwork said with a smile. He offered Phantom a seat at the book-strewn table that had appeared between them and shuffled three archaic looking books towards him. "However there is much more to the story. In school you have touched on the works of Albertus Magnus..."

"The Alchemist?" Phantom interrupted, only vaguely recalling that class. The chemistry teacher had wanted to show them a bit about alchemy so they could appreciate how far chemistry had come since the Dark Ages.

"Correct." Clockwork replied with a fond smile. "Magnus was one of the most prominent human Alchemists; his writings are still available today. However, despite the flawed 'science' of Alchemy there were some who touched upon true principles. Usually human witches or sorcerers who better understood the energies of the objects they were working with.

"During this time many interesting human items of power were created; some came close to the fabled Philosopher's Stone, but many of the items suited other purposes. We have already explored some of the human items used by ghosts on ghosts during the war, but in all things a balance is needed.

"Today I wish to explore what the humans of this time learned from the ghosts." Clockwork flicked open one of the oldest books, flipping through the pages until it displayed an image of four gemstones; yellow, green, blue and red. Each one was beautiful in its own right, but something about the image was strangely unsettling.

"These four gemstones" Clockwork explained "Are among the most powerful items created by medieval Alchemy. The Blue Turquoise, the Yellow Calcite, the Green Verdite and the Red Eudialyte all possess considerable power in the human world. Yet the true power comes not from the stones themselves but the dark principles used to forge them. The alchemist who created these bound a ghost to the human plane, and then used dark magic to split his core into four, sealing each inside one of these stones. Thus each stone has a 'core' which allows the wearer to manipulate the energy it provides.

"For this reason each of the stones is able to partially manifest certain ghost powers. For example the Calcite allows the wearer to make themselves and others lighter and more flexible. It is related to our ability to ignore gravity and greatly improves a human's athleticism. The Eudialyte allows the wearer to manipulate how people stand out in a crowd. Akin to our powers of invisibility the wearer can choose when to stand out and when people will ignore them.

"The Verdite gives the wearer greater endurance and strength. It comes from the ability to become intangible, altering the density of Real World objects and making them easier to physically manipulate. Last is the Turquoise, it allows a person greater self conviction and to control those around them. This comes from our ability to overshadow people and objects, and works by putting a suggestive thought in the mind while simultaneously removing inhibitions about it."

Clockwork paused for a moment, brushing his hand against the picture on the book. "Each of these jewels is powerful in their own right, giving a human control over others. Together they would make a human almost unstoppable in the Human World. However, they have limited effect on ghosts. Whether this is due to the origins of their power being from our world or the simple differences in our psychology to that of humans is debatable, and no ghost has wanted to perform the experiment, seeing it as a grave disrespect to the ghost who was destroyed in their creation."

Phantom frowned, looking down at the image of the four gemstones. He could see the good and bad uses for all of them, but their origins were deeply unsettling. He settled into his chair, absorbed in the history of the Alchemists of the twelfth century and what had happened to the four stones. Each had apparently passed down through the ages, but the book didn't say where they were now. Phantom poured over the pages of the books on the table, taking in as much information as he could. The books had the history of all sorts of interesting Alchemical and Magical items created around that era not just on Earth, but also on Krypton. It was fascinating.

Hours passed, and eventually Phantom was interrupted from his study by Clockwork who decided to send him home. However Clockwork insisted that he keep hold of the book of human made Items of Power, which Phantom automatically knew as a bad sign. It was Clockwork's indirect way of saying that something bad was coming and that he needed to be prepared for it. Although he was glad not to have evil ghosts from the future after his skin again, it did sour what had been a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon of study.

Phantom shifted back to his human form, opening a portal home just outside the door to Clockwork's tower. The book clung closely to his chest he started walking back to the house, taking the time to muse over what Clockwork could have possibly have meant by giving him the book in the first place. He was three quarters the way to the house when he heard heart wrenching sobs crackling through the cool night air.

"Lana?" He questioned with wide eyes as he saw the brunette crying just outside the barn door. She looked completely broken, long lines of watery tears trailing down her cheeks. Danny raced over to the young woman, instantly wrapping her in a warm hug. He absently projected his aura, relying on that to help calm her down. He never wanted to see Lana or anyone cry like that again, the pain and loss and betrayal that had torn through her brown eyes were almost tangible.

Lana didn't even try to push him away; she just accepted the small comfort that Danny was offering. Eventually her sobs gave way to soft hiccupping sniffles and she drew back, wiping the tears from her puffy red eyes. Danny laid a hand on her shoulder, almost scared to ask what had happened to hurt Lana like that. But he knew that she needed someone to vent to, otherwise she would just keep tearing herself up inside.

"Lana, what happened?" Danny asked gently, only hoping that she would trust him enough to tell him what was going on. It was silent for several minutes, an intense battle tearing through Lana's eyes. Hurt, betrayal, anger and pain swirled through in a cacophony of painful emotion. Danny was about to give up, believing that she wouldn't let herself trust him enough to tell him.

"Clark." Lana finally croaked, wiping another tear from her eyes. "He... and then he..." she sobbed once more, a deep heart wrenching sob that made Danny wish he could do anything more to help her.

"Lana," Danny whispered "Whatever it is, it'll be alright."

"No," Lana whimpered, her voice crackling slightly. "I don't think it can be. Clark... did you know?"

Danny frowned in confusion. "Know what?"

"He found another girl, Simone. And he..." Lana broke down into tears once more, but Danny's mind was working in leaps and bounds. By how heartbroken Lana was, as well as where she was, Danny guessed that in some way Clark had betrayed her. The way she had said 'Simone' made Danny think that somehow Clark had cheated on Lana for her, but there was no way that Clark would ever do something like that. Not unless he was being forced into it.

"I don't know what to say and I can't defend Clark for hurting you like this. But you are strong; I know that you can figure this out." Danny murmured gently. He would have to have a long talk with Clark very soon, but the important thing was making sure that Lana was okay. He offered to take her back to the dorm in Metropolis, but she decided that she wanted to go to her Aunt Nell's. Danny offered to drive her there, saying that it would be better for her to have some company.

The drive was long and quiet, but for the occasional sobs of Lana. At one point she called Chloe, just to tell her that she wasn't coming back to the dorm tonight. Danny made a mental note to talk to Chloe; she probably knew more of the story than Lana did. Something had to have happened to Clark while Danny was in the Zone. After all, just that morning he had been looking forward to a date with Lana, it just wasn't like him. Danny dropped Lana off at her Aunt Nell's; the elder woman immediately wrapping her niece up in a motherly hug. Danny quietly left, Lana needed the support of her family now and Danny needed to figure out what was happening with Clark.

Danny called Chloe, hoping that she had any additional information. With how Cark had treated Lana he knew that talking to him would be like trying to get blood from a stone.

"Chloe?" Danny asked when the phone was answered.

"_Danny?"_ Came Chloe's slightly exasperated reply. _"Where have you been? Actually, do you know what's going on with Clark?"_

"No" Danny replied shortly "I just dropped Lana off at Nell's. I haven't even seen Clark since this morning. Do you know what's going on?"

"_Not exactly, I'm looking into it." _Chloe replied. _"Regroup in the morning?"_

Danny sighed, knowing this was the best way to deal with the situation. "Sure." He conceded. "I guess I'll see you 'round the farm in the morning?"

"_See you then" _Chloe agreed. Danny ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. He really needed to talk to Clark and sort things out. An icy breath escaped his parted lips and Danny groaned. He shifted into his Phantom form and lifted into the air, soaring off in the moonlight following a spectral trail. He'd have to talk to Clark after he attended to this ghost.

_Line Break_

Lex Luthor smiled from his seat in his private jet. He was flying out to Honduras in South America where there was solid evidence of Milton Fine's presence. Ever since Fine had disappeared Lex had been searching for him. Fine managed to disappear the exact same day as the alien spaceship vanished from Lex's warehouse. Added to the fact that Fine had often been spotted looking around the warehouse more than once, it was too big a coincidence to ignore.

Lex had gone so far as to tell Lana about his discovery, knowing her keen interest in anything related to that spaceship. After all, if it weren't for her Lex wouldn't have found it in the first place. But now he was flying to Honduras to find Fine, not a simple task by any means as he seemed to have gone to great lengths to hide himself. Fortunately he was not perfect in his vanishing act, and there had been some key clues that had led Lex straight to him.

There was one more thing he needed to attend to. Lex switched on his wireless link; he had arranged for a digital video linked meeting between him and his mole. He had sent her in to find out some valuable information, he needed proof and she was the best way to go about it. The digital meeting was more than or his convenience, he had genuine reason not to want to meet this particular young woman in person. He smiled as he turned the link on, watching the blonde prowl into his office over the wireless connection.

"Welcome Simone." Lex said smugly, taking note of her tight clothing. "Don't you look delectable this evening."

Simone seemed to realise she was being watched and turned to face her end of the screen. Almost dejectedly she crossed her arms. _"Do I ever get to meet the billionaire boy wonder face to face?" _She queried sarcastically.

"Well, as much as I'd like to admire you up close and personal, I'd prefer to keep my free will." Lex replied confidently. After all this was the whole reason he had used Simone in the first place. The pretty little pendant strung proudly around her neck was about the best hypnotist's tool on the planet. And Lex had decided to appropriate her particular skills to his own purpose. Although there were many more uses for her than just ferreting out secrets.

"How's your progress?" Lex demanded, leaning back in his chair.

"_Well"_ Simone replied with a cheeky smile _"Let's just say that Lana Lang won't be sending Clark any Valentine's Day cards."_ Lex inwardly grinned, that was one of the key things he had sent Simone in to do.

"And what about the boys? Have you discovered anything interesting about them?" Lex pressed. This was his ultimate goal; he wanted to find out for certain the secrets of the two Kent – and he considered Danny a Kent for all that he was a Fenton – boys. Clark had always been a puzzle to Lex, somehow always appearing just in time to save the day. Lex was sure that Clark there was much more to Clark Kent than met the eyes, and he had invested many hundreds of hours into solving that mystery. Unfortunately none of his investigations had come into fruition.

Then halfway through last year Danny Fenton had appeared, and he somehow seemed to fit into the same mould. However Danny had chosen to pursue something of a friendship with Lex. Danny possessed a keen wit and an interesting perspective on the world. In some ways he ran rings around Clark intellectually, and sometimes even gave Lex the slip. However Danny was always slightly guarded around Lex, and there seemed to be a pattern of truth that he was dancing around if only Lex could find it. That was the most frustrating thing; both 'Kent' boys were entirely elusive, and Lex wanted concrete proof of his suspicions. He took another look at Simone and shook himself of his mental musings.

"_Danny hasn't been home all night and Clark doesn't seem to care. I had a quick look through his room. It's barely lived in, although he had an interesting sketchbook filled with ghosts and a couple of portraits. I haven't met him yet, but I'd say the most unusual thing about him is his interest in ghosts." _Simone answered. Lex frowned, while interesting it was hardly more information than he'd garnered from their weekly sparring sessions.

"And Clark?" Lex pressed.

"_Absolutely." _Simone smirked.

"What is it?" Lex demanded, knowing that this could very well be the breakthrough that he'd been looking for.

"_Clark Kent is the most extraordinary... kisser." _Simone finished with a cheeky smile. Lex wasn't fooled, there was something else there.

"There must be more." He pressed darkly.

"_If he had some secret don't you think I'd know. With Clark Kent what you see is what you get. A corn-fed farm boy. I've done everything you asked me to." Simone shrugged. "So now you can get the hell out of my life and leave me alone."_

"Patience, Simone." Lex dictated. "There's someone else that I'd like you to meet. In Honduras."

"_No way." _Simone uttered over the video feed. _"This was a one-time deal, remember?"_ Lex inwardly grinned at having thrown her off kilter like that.

"You seem to be forgetting that that I have unearthed evidence that could put you away for life." Lex calmly retorted. "Now I believe that the least you could do is one more little favour for me. I'll be back tomorrow night. We'll talk then." Lex finished, shutting off the link and leaving no further room for discussion. Lex smiled, things were certainly playing right into his hands at the moment. Even if he hadn't gotten the information that he wanted off of Simone.

Lex frowned, settling back into his seat as the plane prepared for descent. He had uncovered evidence that suggested that Milton Fine was nowhere near the college professor that he claimed to be, and Lex was determined to figure out exactly what he was planning. The plane slowly descended into a small airport. Lex jumped out and immediately strode over to the vehicle he had arranged. As with most of his excursions he preferred to do things himself, rather than leave things to the underlings. Thus he found his way to the small mestizo village alone, the bright sun much warmer than the Kansan days to which he was accustomed.

Lex picked his way through the tropical forest undergrowth, making his way towards the small tent where he knew Fine was operating out of. He eyed the many wooden sculptures and carvings that Fine had amassed. Most of them appeared tribal wooden masks and carvings of the local animals and plants. However some were outright weird including what Lex inferred was a god, for what else was fully humanoid but had arms and legs laced with spearheads?

"I would have had tea and petit fours waiting. But I didn't expect you so soon." Lex heard over his shoulder and immediately recognised the speaker as Fine. He frowned as he spun around to face him. Fine was dressed in a soft tan jacket, looking far more like an explorer than a college professor. This only further confirmed Lex's hypothesis about him. He was laden with a large, heavy looking backpack and a small orange biohazard sample case.

"You knew I was coming." Lex stated bluntly, careful not to betray any emotion.

"When you leave a trail of breadcrumbs, it's no surprise when the crow comes to call." Fine dismissed, setting down his bags. Lex bristled.

"A simple phone call would have sufficed." Lex shot back, irritated at the thought of having been led into this meeting.

Fine looked back at Lex appraisingly for a moment. "I couldn't reveal the truth about myself until I had proof that you were dedicated to your cause."

"Well I hate to disappoint you," Lex commented darkly as he crossed the small space to the brown haired man. "But I already know what you are." Lex watched with small satisfaction as Fine's eyes quickly flickered with emotion. "And it's not a professor of history, is it? No, it's something much more exciting." Lex paused a moment for dramatic effect, although he could have sworn that Fine's hand moved almost threateningly behind his back, as if he had a blade in his hand.

"Tell me, what is the benefits package of a government operative for the State Department?" Lex queried smugly.

"Very good." Fine acknowledged with the smallest hint of relief on his otherwise stoic face. He nodded once before moving over towards the table strewn with wooden hand carvings. "I see you found that breadcrumb all on your own."

"What I want to know is what you were doing posing as a college professor at a Kansas farm town." Lex demanded.

Fine picked one up, studying it for a moment, but Lex couldn't see the significance in it. "I was investigating the possibility of an extraterrestrial presence." Fine replied, placing the carving down and striding out of the tent. Lex was quick to follow, knowing that they were following the same questions.

"This investigation," Lex pressed "Did it bear any fruit?"

Fine kept walking, but inclined his head so that Lex could follow him. "Well, we believe that a spacecraft of unknown origin touched down during the recent meteor shower. But, an individual with quick reflexes and vast resources was able to get to it before we could." Lex was slightly taken aback; it seemed that Fine knew exactly what he had done after the meteor shower. Lex smoothed his face into a blankly stoic mask before continuing the conversation.

"So that's why you were investigating LuthorCorp." Lex commented.

"Yeah." Fine replied openly "And I admire the remarkable advancements you've made in the field of science. Too bad you couldn't get into that ship when you had a chance." Lex felt his eye twitch in irritation, hating the fact that the ship had proven so impenetrable when he was trying to study it. But the righteous tone that Fine employed suggested that he knew more than he was letting on.

"You know where it is." Lex stated, soliciting the slightest of smiles on Fine's controlled face.

"The ancient Mayans," Fine began, apparently ignoring Lex's question "Believed that they were visited by great beings from the heavens." His eyes lifted expectantly to the sky.

Lex decided to cut to the chase. "You think the ship's in Honduras."

"Well I'm certainly not here for the coffee." Fine replied, leaving Lex's curiosity piqued. "You see, over time there have been many different extraterrestrial sightings. It is difficult to filter which are accurate descriptions of the truth, and which are little more than superstitious ramblings. However, here..." Fine trailed off suggestively.

"You think you have proof." Lex finished.

Fine half smiled before leading Lex towards the small village nearby, barely a two minute walk from Fine's small tent. Fine approached a small boy, asking him "¿Dónde está Jorés?" Lex's Spanish was a little rusty, but he understood enough to know that Fine had just asked where someone was.

"De allí, señor." The boy replied, pointing over to a little dark haired boy sitting in front of a small hut. Fine strode over to the little boy who was holding a small carving close to his chest.

"¿Puedo ver lo que tu padre hizo por favor?" Fine asked and the boy handed the thing over to fine with a small smile. Fine spun around, showing it to Lex. Lex was amazed; it was a tiny carved replica of the exact spacecraft that he had kept in a warehouse all those months ago.

"His father carved it," Fine explained, handing the small carving to Lex who examined it keenly. "After claiming to have seen a _'Carroza de los Dioses'_ fall from the sky."

"A chariot of the gods." Lex stated in wonder. "I want to talk to him." Lex dictated.

"I know you can do many things Mr Luthor." Fine commented, pulling Lex away from the small boy "But I'm not sure that you can communicate with the dead." Lex chose not to retort to that, knowing what Fine had intended in his comment. "Days after that sighting, his wife came home to find his charred remains on the floor."

Lex frowned, throwing the carving back to the little boy. "Despite urban myths, human beings don't spontaneously combust."

"No." Fine replied, anxiously shaking his head. "We believe whoever or whatever was in that ship incinerated that man. In fact, we suspect this alien race poses a great threat to the entire planet."

"Well how do you defend against a threat of that magnitude?" Lex demanded.

Fine sighed, meeting Lex in the eyes. "It presents a great challenge. But we are working on a potential weapon; a weapon that could greatly benefit from LuthorCorp's assistance. We are well aware of your tireless quest for extraterrestrial life, Mr Luthor. Your tenacity is, impressive."

Lex didn't hesitate. He wanted to be at the forefront of any effort to defend the planet, and the creation of such a weapon greatly interested him. "I'll help in any way I can. But I want unrestricted access to all your data."

"That's a bold request." Fine commented frankly.

"Well, without it this conversation is over." Lex replied coldly, turning to leave.

"I'm not sure you understand me, Mr Luthor." Fine edgily interrupted. "If we don't work together, there may not be a LuthorCorp, or a government left. Think about that on your ride home." Fine concluded harshly, stalking off in the direction of his tent. Lex was left standing in the middle of the small village with a lot on his mind. He wanted in on the production of the weapon, but it was perfectly reasonable to want access to Fine's data. Every speck of information was valuable and it was meticulous attention to detail that ensured that things went to plan.

Lex quietly drove back to the airport, contemplating all that he had learned. It was going to be a long flight home.

_Line Break_

Chloe's small red car pulled up to the Kent farm. She had arranged to meet up with Danny this morning to try and figure out what was going on with Clark, but he hadn't answered his cell all morning. Chloe had driven to the farm distracted, planning to spearhead Clark before he had the opportunity to let this go any further. Searching around for a minute she heard the familiar sounds of Clark rummaging around in the barn. Steeling herself for the conversation ahead she strode into the barn. Clark was busy moving around some heavy looking farm equipment, Chloe chose not to look any deeper into it.

"Oh thank God you're fully clothed." Chloe commented "I was worried I'd be walking into some kind of dangerous liaison"

"I take it you talked to Lana." Clark said, ignoring her accusation.

"I could barely hear her through the sobs, but yeah. She called to tell me that she was staying the night at Aunt Nell's." Chloe sucked her teeth, biting down her own anger. "So where's the hottie?"

"If you're talking about Simone, she's in the house." Clark calmly replied, shuffling some gas bottles over into the corner.

Chloe frowned, something wasn't right. "I don't get it." Chloe mused. "I mean, if it was Red K, you wouldn't be doing chores. And if it was Silver K you'd be afraid that pitchfork over there was gonna turn you into a shish kebob." Clark just scoffed, ringing more alarm bells in her mind. Clark was never this blasé, especially not after he'd hurt Lana like he had. "What happened to you Clark?" Chloe demanded, arms crossed firmly across her chest.

"I fell in love." Clark replied.

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "I don't think you fell. I think you were pushed." Chloe retorted coldly. "Off a cliff."

"Chloe," Clark said, his back turned to her "just because you know my secret doesn't mean you know how I feel."

"Yeah," Chloe admitted "but I do know that you'd never intentionally hurt Lana like this."

Clark finally turned to face Chloe, and she couldn't understand the almost angry swirl of emotion in his eyes. "Chloe, you're the one who always said my relationship with Lana would never go anywhere as long as I have to lie about who I really am. And you know what? You were right."

"So how are things gonna be any different with Simone?" Chloe sceptically rebutted.

"I told Simone about my powers." Clark replied simply, turning the alarm bells in Chloe's head into blaring sirens. Clark would never tell anyone about his secret without knowing them for years.

"Okay, wait a minute Clark." Chloe said, now genuinely scared for her blue eyed friend. She walked right up to him to meet him in the eyes. "You may think you're madly in love with this girl, but you need to stay away from her."

"You don't even know who she is." Clark snapped angrily, but Chloe knew she couldn't afford to back down.

"No, but I know you well enough to know when you're being manipulated." Chloe coolly replied, knowing she had struck some chord when Clark turned away from her again and forced himself back to work.

"You're crossing a line here Chloe." Clark warned. "And I've always trusted you. So how about this time you trust me? Let me live my life. Back off" Chloe frowned and watched as Clark strode off into another corner of the barn, burying himself in work. Something about this whole situation felt off and Chloe decided that she was going to go meet Simone for herself. However her attention was distracted by the sight of Danny walking over from the storm cellar.

"Danny?" Chloe called, watching as he approached. He looked to be limping slightly, but he broke into a broad smile at Chloe's call.

"Hey Chlo'" Danny replied as soon as he was within ten feet of her. Chloe frowned; he was definitely limping and the way part of his shirt was clinging to him almost made Chloe think he was bleeding.

"What have you been doing? And why were you in the storm cellar?" Chloe demanded, gesturing towards his sticky dark shirt. Danny blinked twice, before straightening up and sending an off putting smile her way.

"I got caught up on the way home last night, and nobody goes in the storm cellar so it's a good place to teleport into." Danny replied with an easy shrug. Chloe sighed, realising that she wouldn't get anything more from him.

"So have you met Simone yet?" Chloe asked quietly. Danny shook his head and replied in the negative, saying that he hadn't even gotten home last night.

"Not yet. And for what she and Clark did to Lana I'm not sure I want to." Danny replied as they stepped into the house. Chloe couldn't see anyone around, but noticed the black handbag tossed on the kitchen table. She was about to have a peek when a voice came from upstairs.

"Clark, is that you?" there were gentle footsteps as the girl came down the stairs. She was just out of the shower, her hair wet and she wore only a soft blue towel and a necklace. Chloe took a hasty step away from the table.

"Hi, you must be Simone." Chloe said, schooling her face into a friendly smile. "I'm, um... I'm Chloe. I'm Clark's friend. It's really great to finally meet you." Simone paused down the stairs, her hand reaching to the turquoise pendant on her chest.

"Hello." Simone coldly replied before turning her attention to Danny. "You must be Danny, Clark tells me you can fly." Chloe looked over at the younger boy, and was surprised by the look in his eyes. There was something about Simone that he recognised. There was the slightest of frowns on his face, something that Chloe had learned to be wary of. Then her mind froze. Simone had said that Danny could _fly_. She wanted to turn around and hound him about it right then and there, but she had more pressing concerns on her mind right now, like the harlot in a towel on the stairs.

"I'm so glad that Clark hooked up with you." Chloe babbled, hoping to distract her. "I mean he was just miserable with Lana and now, I can honestly say I've never seen him so happy. You two are really perfect for each other. " Chloe was lying through her teeth, but hopefully Simone wouldn't pick up on it.

Simone smiled and her hand dropped from her pendant. Chloe breathed a silent sigh of relief as Simone bought into her babbling. "That's nice to hear. Do you know where he is?" Simone asked with a soft smile.

"I think he's out in the barn." Chloe quickly replied and watched as Simone walked out the back door in nothing but her towel. Chloe shuddered at the thought. Her attention fell to the purse still lying on the kitchen table. Her inquisitive nature took over and Chloe quickly dove into Simone's various ID's. "So what did you think of Blondie?" Chloe asked as she rummaged.

"She's bad news." Danny replied. "She's been corrupted by power, and she's only using Clark. She's a fake." Chloe looked up at him, surprised by the fierceness in his eyes. She could have sworn she saw a swirl of green in his blue eyes, but passed it off as a trick of the light.

"Well, I think it's time to find out a bit more about Simone Charcot." Chloe commented looking over at Danny.

"Good idea, although I suspect I know what's going on." Danny replied with a small frown. "That said I'd still like to check the databases at the _Planet_..." Danny trailed off, a small frown on his lips. "I'm just gonna grab something from upstairs." Chloe nodded, taking a seat in a sofa as she waited for Danny. It wasn't a minute later that he came back downstairs wearing a different t-shirt and his backpack slung over one shoulder. Chloe smiled, noting that the limp had gone already and he didn't seem to be in any pain. She jumped into her car and Danny took the passenger's seat.

"So what _were_ you doing last night if you never got home?" Chloe asked curiously.

"Sorta got sidetracked." Danny shrugged. Chloe frowned, recognising the dodge. The car became silent, and the rest of the trip to the _Planet_ filled with small talk. Chloe felt that Danny was dodging her, in a similar way to the one that Clark used to. But she dismissed that thought. After all he was such an honestly good kid that it was unlikely he was involved in anything bad. There were a lot of confusing facts around Danny, but it was certain that he was a good kid.

They walked into the _Planet_ and Chloe immediately pulled up a search on Simone. While that was processing she called Lois, knowing that she would want to know what was going on. After all it was her that discovered that there was something wrong with Clark in the first place. When she got back to her desk she found Danny at the computer. Looking over his shoulder she found that he was looking into the long history of Simone's family. What stood out most to Chloe was that her father had recently been murdered.

Chloe blinked. Danny didn't seem to have noticed her presence; instead he reached into his backpack and pulled out a book. Chloe struggled not to gasp. It was beautiful, leather bound with delicate etchings in the leather. It had two dark leather bands, binding it closed. If not for the fact that it looked so new Chloe would have imagined it was a genuine medieval age book. But it wasn't worn enough for that. Danny pulled the book open, absently flicking through until he came to an illustrated page. Danny sighed, his eyes flicking between the page and the computer screen.

He frowned, and Chloe finally drew attention to herself. "Where'd you get the book?" Chloe asked. Danny didn't even look up, his eyes tearing through the page and flicking to the next. He didn't answer, but instead just asked how far away Lois was before standing up to grab Chloe a coffee. Chloe immediately took the opportunity to peek at the book, but was shocked when she couldn't read any of it. It was all in beautifully handwritten Latin. Chloe was interested in the picture, there were four polished stones; green, yellow, red and turquoise. Chloe immediately recognised the turquoise one as the one hung on Simone's necklace.

It was then Lois sent the message that she was on the way in, and Chloe raced out to meet her. Lois immediately demanded to know what was going on, Chloe still didn't have the full picture so guided Lois over to her desk. Danny came back carrying two mugs of coffee and handing them over to Chloe and Lois.

"So what's the story?" Lois demanded, sitting on a desk.

"Okay," Chloe began, figuring they could start with what she had figured out by reading through the lines. "So I think Clark's bizarre behaviour could be some form of supercharged hypnotism." Danny nodded in acknowledgement but Lois was sceptical.

"I've heard of hypnotism being used to stop smoking or lose weight, but to reduce Clark to some goo-goo-eyed love slave?" Lois scoffed.

"Believe it." Danny interjected. "It's not your over the counter hypnotism, it's prescription strength. And it never wears off." Danny clicked onto a hypnotism webpage, bringing up a picture of a greying Caucasian man. "This is Edmund Charcot; Simone's father." Chloe leaned over, looking over at the screen.

"Says here he was world renowned for curing his patients all infliction. Everything from cravings to cancer." Chloe continued, reading off the page.

"Maybe I can talk to him about my nail-biting." Lois mused aloud. Danny shook his head.

"It's a bit too late for that." Danny said, flicking from the webpage to a police report. "Last month he died in a botched burglary." Chloe's eyes scanned the page hungrily.

"But there was only one thing stolen." Chloe frowned reading the report. Lois jumped in, recognising the blue Turquoise stone on the picture.

"Wait a second, I've seen that jewel before." Lois commented.

"Yeah." Chloe acknowledged. "So have I, wrapped around Simone's scrawny little neck."

"And that's not good." Danny said, pulling out his book. "It's an ancient family heirloom, dating back to the alchemists in medieval England. This particular... _jewel_ comes from a set of four. The Eudialyte, the Verdite, the Calcite and the Turquoise. None of them are bad in their own right, but like anything can be used for the wrong reasons. It basically gives the wearer complete control over other people."

"Wait a minute, you can read this?" Lois interjected, looking at the Latin on the page before the three of them. Danny blinked confusedly.

"Um, yeah?" Danny replied uncertainly.

"Okay, later you're gonna tell me where you learned to read Latin." Chloe suggested. "But now's not the time. What else do you got?"

"It's powerful," Danny continued. "The Turquoise works by making subtle suggestions, simultaneously removing any inhibitions against them. In other words, you hear what you're told to do, but have no conscience saying no against it. It is a sort of hypnotism, but at the same time completely different. When in the right hands it can be a great tool to help people, like how Edmund used it. But in the wrong hands... it's a devastating weapon."

"So you think Simone is responsible for her own father's death?" Lois queried.

"She wants power." Danny answered with a shrug.

Chloe frowned, realising what Danny was getting at. "If it meant getting her hands on daddy's hyper-hypno powers... maybe."

"I still think it's a tad bit cocky to be wearing it around your neck like a medal." Lois scoffed, picking up the book.

"Not if you have to be able to see the jewel for it to work." Danny shot back. "Besides, if anyone noticed she could just make them believe she's innocent. The beauty of that type of mind control." Danny finished off sadly, and Chloe knew he was thinking of the time recently when he was being controlled, which she still didn't understand fully.

"You got all that from the book?" Chloe asked, her eyebrows creased in annoyance. In this short half hour she'd learned a lot more about Danny. Apparently he could read Latin so fluently that he didn't even realise he was reading it. After all he had seemed genuinely surprised by the question of if he could read it. More than that, he somehow had access to an accurate alchemist's text. That was pretty amazing since the practice was a secretive art. Chloe had tried to get anything like that, but the closest she'd even seen was the spell book of Countess Isabelle Marguerite Theroux, and even that wasn't the same as a true alchemist's workbook like Danny's book appeared to be.

"It's pretty detailed." Danny answered, pulling the book back and snapping it shut. He slid it back into his backpack. Chloe was definitely going to sit Danny down to talk about it later. It seemed like the genuine article, but didn't have the age. It was also interesting that he had just the right book with all the answers for them on the jewel. It made Chloe wonder what else he could pull out of the metaphorical hat just in time for them.

"There's one thing I don't get." Lois frowned. "Of all people, why go after Clark?" Chloe and Danny exchanged a glance, knowing exactly why someone would go after Clark. But neither knew how Simone had figured that out in the first place. After all he was outwardly a pretty plain guy, and obviously off the market what with dating Lana.

"All I know is we gotta snap him out of it soon." Chloe replied with a frown. About the worst thing she could think of was if someone else took complete control of Clark. She couldn't think of much that would bring him down apart from kryptonite.

"And before he does something that he can't ever come back from." Danny said, his eyed distant and he shivered violently.

Lois nodded, clapping her hands together. "Well, what are we waiting for?" Lois asked. "Let's move."

"Yeah," Chloe said frowning. "I'm just gonna grab something. Danny and I'll meet you there."

Lois accepted that without question which made Chloe relieved. Almost regretfully she reached into her desk, pulling out a lead lined box. She opened the lid and took out the green meteor rock that she kept just in case. Danny nodded grimly, but seemed to stay as far as possible away from the rock. Chloe dismissed it as post-traumatic stress. After all he had lost his whole family to a meteor rock. Chloe slid the rock into her pocket and the two of them headed off too. Unfortunately they had to take the car with Lois involved in this, although Chloe could see that Danny was itching to go ahead.

Chloe frowned in frustration. This time Danny had been the one to put most of the puzzle pieces together, and she didn't like the picture she saw. Something told her that Danny knew more about the jewel than he'd told them. There were a growing list of questions around him, and Chloe wasn't sure they could be explained by just having meteor powers. But for now they needed to save Clark from Simone's controlling claws.

_Line Break_

Lois set her shoulders squarely back as she prepared to enter the house. On her way Lois had picked up a pair of dark glasses from a small occult shop. They advertised themselves as being able to make the wearer immune to hypnotism, so Lois thought it was well worth the expenditure. She carefully tucked the glasses into her pocket, just in case she ran into Simone. She took a deep breath and readied herself to storm into the Kent Farmhouse.

The first thing she saw was Clark Kent carrying a brown suitcase, a cheery smile on his face. "Whoa," Lois said with wide eyes. She raised her arms to block his path. "Where do you think you're going, Romeo? A motel with vibrating beds?"

"Simone and I are going to California." Clark replied lightly. "That way I can get away from your running commentary." Lois frowned. Sure she didn't exactly get on with Clark, but she wasn't about to let Clark throw his life away for some cheap bimbo. Not after he'd hurt Lana the way he had. If he wanted to leave, fine, she'd let him. But not when someone else was pulling the strings.

"My running commentary says you're hypnotised." Lois retorted, blocking another attempt to walk past her. "You need to drop your suitcase because you're not going."

"I'm asking you nicely, please step aside." Clark's voice was cool, and Lois almost didn't recognise the dark look his eyes had taken on.

"Look." Lois said, once more blocking him off as he tried to walk around her. "I didn't want to have to do this, but if necessary, I'm gonna have to take you down." She sent him a smug smile, but frowned internally at his patronising grin. Lois had trained hard, Clark may have big bulky muscles, but Lois felt she could easily bring him down with her own extensive knowledge of combat. It was just one of the perks of being an army brat.

Lois frowned as she suddenly heard a feminine voice behind her. "I see we have a visitor."Lois frowned, instantly sliding the dark glasses on and turning to face the newcomer. Simone was now in a tight red top, the pendant still blaringly obvious against her chest. Simone was grinning smugly, making Lois prickle in distaste. Lois set her shoulders and assumed a fierce pose, knowing that now Simone could do very little to stop her.

"I suggest you turn your boy-toy back to normal before I rip out those pearly white teeth." Lois threatened smugly, but Simone didn't seem to care. Instead she just lightly shook her head and sent Lois a smug smile.

"Clark," Simone ordered, glancing over Lois' shoulder towards the dark haired young man "Be a love and knock her out." Lois scoffed, but suddenly felt a sharp prod on her right temple. Lois crumpled, her consciousness rapidly fading from the force of the blow. Her thoughts were muddled, although she could have sworn that she heard Simone order Clark to kill Lex Luthor.

Blearily she heard Clark's sinisterly cheerful reply. "He's a dead man." Lois only registered the briefest moment of fear before her world vanished into blackness.

_Line Break_

Danny squirmed anxiously in the seat next to Chloe. After they had grabbed the kryptonite she had insisted on taking the car. The argument had been short, but Chloe had a pragmatic streak much like Sam and had suggested that showing up before Lois arrived wouldn't do anyone any favours. Danny huffed, looking warily down at Chloe's pocket which currently concealed the lump of kryptonite. He didn't exactly feel like being electrocuted so was irritated at being stuck in a vehicle with the green rock, no matter how necessary Chloe thought it was to keep Clark safe. Danny took a deep breath as they passed under the archway to the Kent Farm.

The closer Chloe drove to the house the more worried Danny got. He could feel that he was needed in the house, something that hadn't happened like this for months. Chloe had barely pulled up but Danny was already out of the car, racing towards the house. There was a screaming pull on his core, but his ghost sense hadn't gone off at all. Danny teleported in, terrified of what he may find when he got inside.

Danny's jaw dropped in stunned silence. His aunt Martha was waving a rifle threateningly in Lois's face. Lois was trying to talk her down, but Danny knew it would do no good. Somehow Simone had gotten to his aunt, and from what he understood of the Turquoise there weren't many ways to get rid of that instruction. Danny wasn't sure which solution could possibly help without getting Lois shot or reveal his secret to someone who couldn't handle it.

"I don't like this any more than you do, Lois." Danny heard his aunt say in a sickly sweet voice. Danny took a deep breath, knowing that in this case there was only one safe course of action. "But it's the only way to keep you here." His aunt finished sinisterly, but Danny wouldn't let it get any further. He pinched the pressure point at the back of her neck, rendering her instantly unconscious and she crumpled limply to the floor. Lois blinked twice at him, obviously surprised at him.

"Thanks for the save." Lois murmured, and Danny just nodded. He knew it was the safest way to make sure Lois was okay, but he hated hurting humans with a passion. Chloe was coming into the house now and mildly freaked out at the crumpled form of Aunt Martha on the living room floor.

"Hello? The woman was about to wallpaper her living room with my brain matter." Lois sarcastically commented. It was her own way of dealing with things, and Danny wasn't about to argue with her over it.

"Do you know where Clark is?" Danny asked, cutting across the two cousins.

"Well," Lois petulantly replied "While I was still seeing stars I think his girlfriend said she wanted to go to the Luthor Mansion or something. So why don't you stay here and keep Mrs Kent occupied, and I'll go save the farm boy from his harlot."

"Not a good idea." Danny answered, plucking an icepack from the freezer and handing it to Lois who was still furiously rubbing her temple. "You're in no condition to fight..." Lois looked like she was about to interrupt, she was too much like Sam to back down from a fight, "And I don't want you any more hurt. Aunt Martha will be out for an hour or so. We should be done by then. Don't argue." Danny finished, cutting her rebuttal off.

Danny turned around to Chloe. "No chance of convincing you to stay here too?"

"If you go I'll follow you, I'm not leaving Clark behind." Chloe replied and Danny nodded. She was loyal in the way Sam and Tuck had been, and he didn't have time for the argument with her, nor the energy. Instead he led her out of the house and instantly teleported to the outskirts of the Mansion. Chloe frowned and Danny knew why. The kryptonite had been left behind; Danny couldn't teleport the ghost repellent rock with him.

"If you want I'll drop you back to grab it, but I think we can do without the rock." Danny whispered quickly, guiding Chloe carefully through the grounds. He broke into a run when his enhanced senses picked up the beginnings of an altercation in Lex's study.

"Well, it's always nice to be welcomed home after a trip but I didn't expect to hear you here." Danny heard Lex say, followed by the sharp sound of breaking glass. Danny guessed that Clark had thrown Lex into his desk and broken it. "Clark you've been hypnotised." Lex grunted. By now Danny had gotten to the driveway. He was unsurprised to find no security guards, but quickened his pace. Chloe followed suit, matching his speed. With all the security cameras at the Luthor Mansion and Chloe beside him, Danny couldn't risk using any supernatural abilities.

Echoing through the night Danny heard Lex attempt to reason with Clark."How else could you throw me across the room like that?"

"I'm done with you Lex." Clark replied coldly, and Danny shuddered to imagine the dark look gracing his cousin's face at that moment.

"You're under Simone's control now." Lex grunted in pain. "The girl's a cold blooded murderer Clark."

"Your lies can't help you now." Clark spat, and Danny's eyes widened at the sheer anger in Lex's voice. Of course the jewel controlled emotions and thoughts to a point, but the venom in Clark's voice reverberated with a frustration that was too sharp to be faked.

Danny flinched as he heard the thud of flesh against cement, knowing that Lex had been slammed into a wall hard. By now Danny and Chloe had reached the front door, but it was still a minute's run at this pace to Lex's office. "Clark," Lex defended piteously. "Before she wore that jewel she was nothing but a petty shoplifter. Her dad never trusted her with the jewel so she murdered him for it. I have the whole thing on surveillance tape."

Danny shivered as he heard Simone's voice echoing throughout the Mansion. By the way Chloe froze slightly he knew she had heard her too. "You don't believe a word he said Clark." Simone's voice was cold and calculated.

Danny heard Lex murmur "My security team's on their way." But he was unsurprised at Simone's cocky reply.

"Oh, I've met your security team." There was a hint of sinister laughter in her velvety voice. "I hope you don't mind, but I gave them all the night off. Finish him off Clark." Simone ordered, "And make him suffer."

It was just then that Chloe and Danny barged into the room. Danny saw Lex, dangling a foot off the ground as Clark held him fast by the neck. Thinking quickly Danny reached out to Clark's back, sending a small wave of energy at Clark. Clark faltered, stumbling back slightly and giving Danny the opportunity to duck in and pull Lex to safety.

From the corner of his eye he caught sight of Chloe pulling Clark away. Subtly Danny took a gamble and released a slightly more powerful blast on Clark's neck, rendering him fully unconscious. Danny hadn't known that it would work but that two second interruption had changed the tide for the battle. Lex hesitatingly stood up, rubbing his neck painfully, before he lunged for his spilled briefcase on the floor. In a second he was upright with a handgun aimed right at Simone.

Smirking, Simone touched her hand to the pendant. Danny barely restrained a growl. The moment he had seen the pendant his core had screamed. This was a foul use for any ghost, and Danny hated the thought of any of his kind being abused like this. Seeing Simone, this woman with one of the most corrupted auras he had ever seen with the Turquoise had left him livid. In any other's hands he could have let it go. After all there was no way to save the ghost whose core had been split like this. But the power of the pendant itself could be put to good use, like Simone's father had. Simone however, she didn't deserve to touch the Turquoise, let alone use it.

"Lex, kill them. And then kill yourself." Simone ordered Lex. Chloe backed up in fear, but Danny wasn't scared. In half a second he had spun around, bending around the bullet Lex fired at his head. A moment later and he had taken the gun off Lex, throwing it to the floor and sliding it as far away from both Simone and Lex as possible. Lex was struggling against Danny's grip, so he lightly touched the pressure point at the back of his neck and felt Lex fall limp in his arms.

Clark was still unconscious, rendered useless by Danny's subtle ectoblast. Chloe was crouched concernedly by Clark's side, but Danny felt Chloe's eyes on the back of his neck as he stood to face Simone. "Chloe, keep your eyes on Clark. Nothing else." Danny called over his shoulder, his own eyes fixed on the blonde haired woman opposite him.

"Danny, it seems you have a few tricks up your sleeve." Simone commented with a lust filled smirk. "But you see, I can't have you taking Clark away from me." Simone's hand reached up to the Turquoise in an obvious attempt to control him.

"Now, I want you to kill Chloe and let Clark and me go." Simone commanded. But Danny laughed. He lightly clapped his hands together, antagonising her with his resistance to the jewel. In this case he was fundamentally a ghost and had a ghost's immunity to the Turquoise.

"Good try." Danny smiled darkly, "But you're gonna need a whole different ballgame if you want to string me along." Simone looked shocked, but Danny just smirked. "And the funny thing is; the Turquoise doesn't belong to you."

"Of course it does." Simone spat. "It's my heritage; it's been in my family for nearly eight hundred years. And it's my power to control."

"No it's not." Danny replied coldly, feeling his eyes flash green. He was grateful that his back was to Chloe, but Simone visibly flinched. "The jewel belongs to the ghosts. That is how it was made, and that is where it belongs. Your ancestor may have created the jewel, but it never belonged to the humans. It was a travesty against the ghosts, and is part of the reason that our worlds have been closed off for so long. The only reason the jewel was tolerated in the possession of humans was when it was being used to help and to heal. You, Simone Charcot have betrayed that trust with your greed."

Danny paused for a moment as he watched the blonde flinch. She clearly hadn't known of the origins of the jewel, and there was no way that Danny was going to tell her of the others. At the moment, everyone else in the room didn't matter. He was a ghost and it was his responsibility to strip this woman of the Turquoise and return the core fragment to the Zone. Danny took a deep breath, feeling his eyes shift from green to the strange shade of silver that they were wont to of late. "You have forfeited the right of your ancestors, and you have forfeited your right to the Turquoise. You will surrender it freely now, or I will make you." Danny finished coldly.

Simone looked at him stunned. Her fingers reached once more to the jewel. "Danny" She tried once more "I want you to forget about this and let me go." Danny just raised his eyebrows in response.

"Simone, you have been warned. The Turquoise was never yours to use. Surrender it now." Danny's voice reverberated through Lex's office with a powerful level of command, but still Simone refused. Danny sighed, there weren't many options open to him now. He jumped forward, propelling himself in a handspring over Simone. As she ducked he easily pulled the necklace off her neck, quickly tucking it into his pocket as he landed. A moment later she was unconscious on the ground.

"Okay, what just happened?" Chloe demanded, her eyes flicking between the three fallen bodies on the floor. Danny blinked, anxiously rubbing the back of his neck as he blinked his eyes back to their normal blue. He felt the Turquoise in his pocket thrumming happily; glad to be back in the presence of ecto-energy. Danny was going to have to take that back to Clockwork. The ghost master of time would know what to do with it.

"Simone abused her power so I took it off her. I'll give the turquoise to the next ghost I see who'll be able to deal with it." Danny replied eventually, walking over to Clark to see how he was doing.

"Do you think he's still hypnotised?" Chloe asked as she looked at Clark.

"Probably." Danny answered with a deep frown. He only knew of two ways to completely remove the hypnotism. The first was to destroy the Turquoise, but as a ghost Danny found that abhorrent. The other way was to kill the person who had given the commands, but Danny physically couldn't let that happen.

Chloe looked up at him anxiously, all her other questions overpowered by her worry for Clark. "So how do we fix him, and your aunt for that matter?"

Danny frowned, pulling out the stone. The core fragment contained inside was no longer sentient and it never would be again, but Danny could tell some things about it. It had once belonged to a low class Norma ghost, that was the only reason they had been trapped in the first place. He knew that no ghost could wield it; the magic used to contain the core fragment ensured that. That gave Danny a couple of ideas to try as soon as they were away from the Mansion and back at the farm.

"I have a couple of ideas, but not here. Keep guard of Clark, he'll be out for a while, I'm gonna call the cops, but I don't think either of us should be here when Lex wakes up. Simone's last instruction was to kill us." Danny finally said, ignoring the scowl on Chloe's face. He knew she didn't like being kept in the dark, but he couldn't risk saying much with Lex and his security cameras around. Chloe wouldn't be fully happy until Clark was safe, and Danny couldn't promise that yet.

Danny tied Simone up with Lex's tie, knowing that it would hold her until the cops got there. Thinking quickly Danny made a replica of the Turquoise out of ice, putting that on the setting of Simone's necklace before shooting it. Hopefully Lex would believe that the Turquoise had been destroyed completely. For now Danny pointedly ignored Chloe's glares and elected instead to help his cousin get home safely.

Danny sighed as he lifted Clark's unconscious form onto his shoulders and dragged him out of the Mansion. Chloe trailed behind him until they hit the edge of the Luthor property. Danny flinched under her intense gaze, hoping that he could get out of this with his Phantom secret intact. He didn't want to risk the GIW or any of his other enemies going after Chloe.

"You have a lot of explaining to do." Chloe scowled before she grabbed onto Clark. Danny teleported them all into the barn loft, and Chloe instantly ran down the steps and back towards the house. Rubbing his temples Danny followed Chloe, knowing that he needed to check on Lois and Aunt Martha before he could try to solve this mess. Danny sighed, unsure of whether his rapidly growing headache was from teleporting a Kryptonian or from the severe amount of pressure he was under.

* * *

><p>AN: I am really sorry; this chapter didn't want to be written at <em>all.<em> That's why I couldn't even finish the episode in one chapter.

In the episode the jewel gets shot, releasing everyone and killing Simone. From the beginning I knew that Danny _couldn't_ let her die, so I had to figure out some reason why he would have to take possession of the Jewel, and the rest just kind of happened...

Oh, well. The conclusion of this episode and its aftermath will come in time.

'Till then,

Bluerose


	22. Restrained

Chapter 21

Restrained

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

"_You have a lot of explaining to do." Chloe dictated before she grabbed onto Clark. Danny teleported them all into the barn loft, and Chloe instantly ran down the steps and back towards the house. Rubbing his temples Danny followed Chloe, knowing that he needed to check on Lois and Aunt Martha before he could try to solve this mess. Danny sighed, unsure of whether his rapidly growing headache was from teleporting a Kryptonian or from the severe amount of pressure he was under._

_Line Break_

Chloe eyed the dark haired boy in the Kent kitchen. Lois was warily watching the unconscious forms of both Clark and Mrs Kent from the opposite side of the kitchen counter. Danny had laid the two out in the living room on the sofa, but Lois didn't want to be around Mrs Kent any longer than she had to be. Chloe was worried; both Mrs K and Clark were still hypnotised, and both had been given instructions to kill. Then there was Lex Luthor, who was probably still unconscious at the Mansion. He had been given the instruction to kill her and Danny specifically. Chloe was genuinely scared of any of them waking up. It wasn't as if any of them were bulletproof.

"Okay, so what are we gonna do?" Lois asked, finally breaking the silence that had mounted in the house.

"'_We_' are gonna do nothing." Danny replied firmly. "_You_ are going home. I can't promise that this'll be fixed by the time Aunt Martha wakes up, and you are not staying here with that risk." Danny looked Lois firmly in the eye. To Chloe it looked like Lois was about to argue, but instead she sent a furtive glance towards Mrs K before nodding. Lois set the ice pack aside and headed out the front door. Chloe heard the crunch of gravel as her car pulled away.

Chloe was more than a little frustrated with Danny at the moment. He had done so many confusing things in the past day that it left Chloe's head spinning. But there were bigger concerns just now. Snapping to face him she demanded "What's the plan then?"

Chloe was shocked as she saw Danny just give up, banging his head against the tabletop. A muffled "I don't know" came up from the wood. It was the first time she'd seen Danny look so... tired. As if the weight on his shoulders had suddenly become too much to bear. She was instantly reminded of Clark just a few months ago when Jon had died. Before he became angry he had seemed like this. Chloe was about to reach out to comfort him when he sat up, rubbing his temples. He shook his head in clear frustration before he teleported out.

Chloe was about to call out to him, since it really wasn't a good time for a game of Marco Polo, but he came back with the old leather bound book in his hands. He sat back at the table, flicking through the pages to the one with the picture of the turquoise on it. Danny's eyes scanned through the Latin on the page and he frowned again. "I hate this." Danny murmured, more to himself than anything else.

"What's wrong?" Chloe asked.

Danny slammed the book shut. "There's only two ways that I can see to get rid of the hypnotism. First is kill Simone, second is destroying the Turquoise."

"No problem then; we just destroy the Turquoise." Chloe replied with an easy shrug.

"No." Danny stated firmly. "That's not an option. Not for me."

"Okay, I'll bite. Why isn't that an option for you?" Chloe demanded. She thought she heard something about being sentenced to the 'Phantom Zone' if he did.

Louder Danny replied. "The Turquoise isn't just a pretty piece of jewellery. It was made by an alchemist over eight hundred years ago, but he used dark magic to do it. Long story short to make the stone the alchemist split the... _soul_ of a ghost into four." The way Danny said 'soul' was strained. "One of the fragments went into the Turquoise. That's the part that is linked to overshadowing, which is why the Turquoise in essence controls people." Danny paused for a moment, pulling the Turquoise out from his pocket and put it on the table. Chloe was beginning to see why he was so reticent to destroy it. From the first time Chloe had met Phantom it was obvious that Danny was at least sympathetic towards ghosts.

"I won't just destroy it." Danny finished, looking between Chloe and the book. His eyes were pleading, as though he was begging her for understanding. Chloe sighed, conceding the point.

"That still leaves us with the problem of how to get Clark, Martha and Lex all de-hypno'd." Chloe frowned at the younger boy. Danny groaned, running his fingers through his hair. He once more pulled the book towards him.

"I wish I had a proper spell book." Danny murmured eventually, still slowly flicking through the pages.

"Why?" Chloe asked, remembering all the trouble the spell book of Lana's ancestor had caused. It had nearly gotten all of them killed last year when the spirit of Isabelle came back and possessed Lana.

"This book has _part_ of the original spell used to bind the ghost. But I don't know if it was the one to bind the ghost to the Real... to Earth," Danny said a bit quickly; as if he was covering up something he shouldn't have said. "Or it could be the spell that bound the soul fragments to the jewels themselves." Danny flicked a page, reading the script with such intensity that Chloe almost felt bad interrupting him.

"And how would a proper spell book help?" Chloe pressed, pulling the book away from him and trying to make anything out.

"I don't know, could help with the phrasings. I have half an idea, but I'm not at all convinced that it would work..." Danny trailed off and pulled a piece of paper out of one of the kitchen drawers. Chloe sent another glance at Clark and Martha's still unconscious forms. There was another question for Danny; how had he even managed to knock Clark Kent, man of steel out cold? But she was happy enough to sit on that for now. It wasn't as if Danny would give her an answer at the moment.

Danny spent a minute, copying out about twenty lines of Latin onto the piece of paper. With each line he wrote he became more and more disgusted. Once finished he scowled at the page before sighing deeply, taking a quick look over at Clark and Martha.

"Okay, this is the original spell, which is one of the nastiest things I've ever read. Really, you don't want to know what it says." Danny said eventually, looking down at the page. "The thing is, if we were to break the spell completely all the hypnosis would break, including the good things Simone's dad used it for."

"Fair point," Chloe conceded, after all he had been reported to have cured cancer. It would be terrible if that were taken away from his patients. "But how're we gonna stop them from being Trilby O'Farrell?"

"Can I phone a friend on that?" Danny asked sarcastically before shaking his head once more. "The Turquoise is a combination of ghost energy and the type of magic that hasn't been used since before the Salem Witch Trials. Getting a ghost to overshadow them briefly could maybe nullify the effect, but it depends how talented the original ghost was at overshadowing... it could just make it permanent. Not worth the risk..." Danny trailed off. He seemed to be musing aloud, rather than trying to engage her in discussion.

"So countering it that way wouldn't work." Danny continued, picking through the book once more. "So what about using the Turquoise itself? If the focus was on... it might work. Maybe..." Danny said, trailing off. He pulled out another piece of paper and began writing, eyes flicking between the twenty lines Latin and his new page. After five minutes of watching him write, scratch out and start again Chloe became anxious.

"Okay, I give up, what are you working on?" Chloe finally asked. Danny frowned, looking up at Chloe.

"I'm trying to come up with a counter spell that would remove Simone's orders, but not destroy the good that her dad did. The problem is that... well I can't use magic." Danny answered simply. "I understand some of the basic principles, but I can't cast spells." Danny ran his fingers through his hair, taking another look over at Clark and Martha. It looked like the two were close to coming to, and Chloe was worried that they wouldn't have a solution by the time they did.

"This is useless!" Danny exclaimed exasperated as he took another look at the paper. "_Clockwork._ I do ghosts, not magic. I don't get it, what am I supposed to be looking for?" Danny abruptly stood up from the table and marched upstairs with one more glance down at Clark and Mrs K. Cautiously Chloe sent them a look herself before heading up the stairs behind him. He was in his room now shuffling through a couple of books that Chloe was sure weren't school issue.

Danny pulled two books off his bookshelf and proceeded to teleport back downstairs. Chloe herself was getting annoyed at the boy, but didn't have a solution herself. She was half tempted to just go and destroy the jewel herself, but got the feeling that Danny wouldn't forgive her for it. That in itself was unusual since he had grown up with two ghost hunters. But it was not a concern for now. Chloe trudged back down the stairs to see Danny pouring over the three books and his little scrap of paper.

He smiled, his cerulean eyes becoming bright and he quickly wrote out four lines. "Figured something out?" Chloe asked curiously.

"I think so." Danny replied, his eyes darting to the oldest looking book. "The thing is I can't do magic, but because of the nature of the jewel I presumed that it had to be a magical solution. But the jewel isn't just magic, it's ghost as well. And ghosts I _can_ deal with.

"Gonna clue me in on your Einstein moment?" Chloe asked, looking over to the two people still sprawled on the couch.

Danny beamed. "It's about control. I think if you just tell the Turquoise to release them it'll work."

"So you're telling me that all we have to do is to pick up the jewel and say 'let my people go?'" Chloe sceptically retorted.

"More like liberum meus populum" Danny answered. "And we're gonna have to be specific. I think this'll need something precise, similar to a spell. Something like this." Danny proclaimed, handing the piece of paper over to her. There were only four lines written on it, the writing was neat when compared to the scrawl on the other pages he had written.

"_Abrogare ad ordines de Simone Charcot  
>Facere postulat inutilis<br>Tollere horrenda contagio  
>A animos victimas"<em>

"Basically that translates as _'Repeal the orders of Simone Charcot, make her demands useless, remove the horrible infection, of the victims' minds.'_ Best I could manage, spells really aren't my thing. The only actual one I know is _'So you have wished it, so shall it be.' _And the mantra of a sadistic ghost genie hardly counts." Chloe grimaced at his attempt to ease the tension that had built between them. But hopefully this was a solution that would work. Chloe looked over at the sofa in the living room just as Danny paled. Chloe watched as Clark's eyes flickered open, and by the looks of things he wasn't in a good mood.

"Where's Simone?" Clark demanded looking over at them. His eyes burned with fierce anger and Chloe struggled to keep herself calm under Clark's intense glare.

"She's gone out." Danny quickly replied, and Clark's attention snapped to him.

"You did something to her, didn't you?" Clark spat.

"No, we didn't Clark, calm down." Chloe soothed, trying to keep things from escalating, but it didn't seem to be working. Danny and Chloe shared a glance, and Danny quickly tossed Chloe the jewel.

"I'll distract Clark. Say the spell, tell the jewel what you want." Danny advised before taking Clark's wrist and teleporting away. Chloe stared at the jewel for a moment, unable to believe the trouble that it had caused. She looked over the four lines that Danny had written, they seemed almost useless when she looked at the scrappy page. But Danny was counting on her, and Clark needed her. It was worth Chloe risking making a fool out of herself to keep Clark safe. Hesitatingly she focused on the Turquoise, desperately hoping that this would work.

_Line Break_

Clark was livid. Danny had seen fit not only to knock him out when he was doing something for Simone, but he had gone out of his way to keep Clark from her. Part of him knew that he normally wouldn't respond this way, but he also knew that he felt freer with Simone than he ever had before in his life, and he wasn't willing to let Danny take that away from him. Danny had teleported them out into the forest, but had instantly collapsed as soon as they arrived.

Danny exhaustedly stood up, he looked bone weary. But all Clark saw was someone standing in his way from doing what Simone wanted him to. He knew that Danny's stupid obsession wouldn't let him stand aside so that Clark could kill Lex, but Clark knew that it had to be done. Simone had ordered it, and he wanted to do what Simone ordered him to do. So Clark knew that he had to get Danny out of the way. Thinking quickly he sent a blast of his heat vision at the blue eyed boy, but it never hit. Danny had raised a green shield around himself just in time to block the fiery blast.

Clark growled, punching at the shield and watching in satisfaction as Danny strained against the force. He could see that Danny was already weakened, and found himself glad that Danny had teleported him out here. By doing that Danny had sacrificed his usual advantage and given Clark a good chance of beating him. Clark pounded the shield one more time, watching as it cracked and crumbled against his fist.

Clark lunged forward, throwing Danny hard against a tree. The tree groaned, tipping over with an almighty crash as roots were torn out of the ground. Danny stood up, shaking his head dazedly. Clark surged forward once more, grabbing Danny's leg and in another burst of speed threw him down hard into the earth leaving a four foot deep crater. Without a second thought he jumped in, pulling his arm back to deliver a final punch to Danny's chest area. If he hit hard enough Clark knew that he would disrupt Danny's core and that would probably render him at least unconscious.

Danny's body was battered; his leg bent at an unusual angle that suggested that it had been broken. A purpling bruise was on his face from where Clark had punched him. His lip was split, and a stream of crimson oozed from the open wound. Clark didn't care all he saw was a threat to Simone's request that had to be taken out. He pulled his arm back, cocking it just over his shoulder to deliver the final blow.

Suddenly an almighty flood of conscience made him freeze. His mind was screaming at him, Lana's heartbroken face jumped unbidden to his mind, followed by a stream of voices yelling at him, screaming for him to stop and think. He saw consequences, the horrible results of blindly following Simone's orders. He'd hurt Lana, the pure betrayal on her face tore through Clark's heart like an arrow. He'd lashed out at Chloe, accusing her of all but betraying him. He'd just about abandoned his mom, had been prepared to kill Lex. All at the command of some blonde puppeteer. And here he stood, hand poised over Danny's chest all but prepared to kill for some wanton desire to be with that floozy.

He watched as Danny breathed a sigh of relief, coughing once and standing up. He said nothing, but somehow Clark saw with the glint in Danny's eyes that he was almost forgiven. Not entirely, but almost. They walked back to the house in silence, Clark constantly looking over his shoulder to check that the younger boy was still alright. His leg looked pretty bad, and he had resorted to floating instead of walking. Clark wasn't sure if it was a conscious action or not.

The two ascended the steps to the porch, and Clark's heart was heavy. Unfortunately this whole situation made him come to one conclusion. He had hurt Lana for the last time and he wasn't about to let it continue. Not anymore. It was time to take responsibility for himself instead of relying on those around him to keep him on track. Simone may have made him do it, but Clark had still been the one doing all those terrible things.

He stepped into the house, hoping to at least get to see Chloe. He dimly recalled that she had been there. But there was no sign of her. She had left a note on the kitchen table saying that she had gone as soon as she realised that his mom was okay, apparently Lois had called and wanted her to come over right away, but she wanted to talk to both of them at the _Planet_ tomorrow. Clark sighed, his gut squirming in guilt. He eyed the blue stone sitting innocently on the table. He was about to pick it up when it was snatched up by Danny.

"Sorry Clark, I'm taking this into the Zone where it belongs." Danny said as he pushed the jewel into his pocket. His eyes flashed silver and Clark knew to back down. Danny didn't even bother leaving the house; he simply opened a portal to the Zone and stepped through. Clark sighed heavily before heading up to his own bedroom. He heard the soft tones of his mom's breathing and registered dimly that she must have fallen asleep.

Clark flopped onto his bed staring at the ceiling. So this is what it felt like to be controlled. He didn't blame Danny for being so upset about it all those weeks ago. The emotional upheaval was terrible. He couldn't believe what he'd done to Lana. And he had been prepared to kill. Had Danny not stepped in when he had there was a very real possibility that he would have had Lex's blood on his hands. Clark frowned, rolling over onto his side. He hated what he had been forced to do, and he hadn't even put up a fight. He hated that he had partially enjoyed it, the feeling of liberty he'd gotten from it. He hated what he could have done if Danny hadn't stepped in to save him from himself _again_. But most of all he hated the fact that he had betrayed Lana. He had hurt her, and he couldn't bring himself to ever do that again.

It was a long time before Clark fell to sleep, his guilty thoughts still rampaging a mile a minute. But when he did it barely felt like a minute later that he woke up. He took a deep breath as he rose from the bed, knowing what he needed to do. Even if it killed him inside to do it he had to steel himself to do the right thing by Lana. He dialled her number, each ring clanging painfully in synchronisation with the gut wrenching guilt surging through his stomach. On the fourth ring she picked up, and Clark asked if she could come to the barn. He needed to do this somewhere private.

Half an hour later he was staring out the barn window. In the distance the cows were grazing, the grass shifting gently in the wind. But somehow it all seemed cold. The sun was hidden behind the clouds, casting the farm in a cool steely light. Clark sighed deeply, he spent so much time up here but this time felt so different. He hated the way this had turned out. Part of him would always love Lana; he couldn't imagine that ever changing. But that love meant sacrifice, and the most important thing in the world was keeping Lana safe. Even from him.

"I've climbed these stairs so many times before," Clark heard Lana's voice from behind him "Why do they seem steeper than ever?" Clark turned, his stomach writhing for what he knew he had to do.

"Thanks for coming." Clark replied as evenly as he could. "I didn't wanna bother you at school."

"Clark," Lana interrupted, a soft smile playing on her lips. In her eyes Clark saw that he was forgiven, but he wasn't sure that he deserved it. "You can spare me the speech about how sorry you are. I know you were hypnotised and I know that you weren't in control of your actions."

Clark looked up to meet her in the eyes, squelching down the guilt that wormed its way into his stomach at that last comment. "I have to be honest with you." Clark said steadily.

"That would be refreshing." Lana acknowledged with a small smile that only hurt Clark more. He couldn't meet her eyes. But he had to do this.

"I don't know any other way to say it." Clark squeezed out, walking past her to lean over the railing of the stairs, far easier than meeting Lana in the eyes. "But the truth is... my feelings for you have changed." Clark fought to hold back the stinging in his eyes. It was a lie, he still loved her and he probably always would. But he had to keep her safe, and if that meant letting her go he would do it. He had to.

Lana stepped around him, turning him slightly so they were facing each other. Her brown eyes, usually so carefree were creased in confusion and hurt. "Clark, I want you to look me in the eye and tell me that you don't love me."

Clark steeled himself, freezing his face in a cool mask so he could do what had to be done. He looked at her, meeting her firmly in the eyes and knowing that he was as good as saying goodbye forever. "I don't love you." Clark heard himself say, and felt his own heart break as he watched the pain flood into Lana's eyes. She stepped back, as though wounded, settling herself gently into the worn sofa that sat in the barn loft.

"I have waited for you to grow up." Lana murmured; her voice quiet and steady as though she too was forcing herself into a mask. "To get over whatever hang-ups you may have."

Clark leaned down, knowing it was far too little and far too late. Nothing he could say would be enough and she deserved so much more, so much better than he could ever hope to give him. "I never meant to hurt you." Clark whispered, his eyes as soft as he could make them while he tried to hide the pain tearing through his own heart.

"I don't want another Clark Kent apology." Lana retorted vehemently. Her lips steeled, her eyes becoming cold. "It's over." Lana said coldly. "Forever."

Clark watched her retreating back as she stalked quietly out of the barn. He had never felt as cold as he did right then. Not when he was lost in the Arctic Circle before the fortress was founded. Not when he was trudging through the Far Frozen with an unconscious Danny limp in his arms. The pain and anger and hate in Lana's eyes had frozen his blood, making him desperately wish that he could help her, save her from the pain. But this time he had to leave it, he had to let her go. And that chilled him to the core.

Tears stung in his eyes as he stared at the place she had just left. He stood there frozen, blearily watching the world pass as he silently wished that just once his powers, his Kryptonian Heritage, hadn't given him such a heavy burden to bear.

_Line Break_

Phantom frowned as he soared through the infinite green spirals of the Ghost Zone. When he had opened the portal he had originally planned to go straight to Clockwork's tower. Instead he found himself drifting several miles off, closer to the door of a certain fiery haired singer. Phantom sighed, looking down at the Turquoise that lay curled between his fingers. The original silver setting and chain had been left in the Luthor Mansion, along with a now destroyed ice replica of the jewel. Hopefully that would convince Lex not to go looking for it.

But the blue jewel and its cousins were a conundrum in and of themselves. By all rights Phantom should have done the easy thing and just destroyed the Turquoise, it would have solved all his problems. But he couldn't bring himself to destroy it, not when he knew that it contained a part of a ghost's core. The idea sounded abhorrent to him, like he would be destroying his own kin. Therein lay the problem. Lately he didn't know who he identified with more, the ghosts or the humans.

When Sam, Tuck and his family had been around it was simple, he was human. Sure he had cool ghost powers but he drew his strength from his family. But now they were gone. Now he had more ties to the world of ghosts. Now he was thinking more like a ghost than he ever had before. And he didn't know what to make of that. After all, if he'd just acted like a normal living human he would have destroyed the Turquoise rather than try to preserve the last vestiges of an ended ghost's core.

He came to a sudden halt just outside Ember's door, hesitating to knock. He could have floated there for minutes or hours, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that she pulled the door open and let him in, guiding him towards her small kitchenette. Before he really knew what was happening he was seated in her red sofa with a mug of ghost coffee in front of him.

"You look dead on your feet, babypop." Ember finally commented, pink lipstick staining the rim of her own coffee mug as she stared at him. "What have those humans been doing to you?"

Phantom sighed, looking into the dark liquid as if hit could solve all his problems. "Guess I'm just...tired." He eventually answered. "It's been a rough couple of days."

"Yeah?" Ember pressed.

"Well, it kinda started, what was it, two days ago?" Phantom began. "I'd just come back from the Zone..."

"You were in the Zone and you didn't visit!?" Ember interjected with light hearted aggression. Phantom rolled his eyes, grateful for her attempt to lighten the mood.

"It was a purely educational visit. Anyway, when I got back I found Lana outside the barn, crying." Phantom paused, recalling the pure agony, of betrayal that had been written on Lana's face. Some ghosts may gain strength from making people miserable, but seeing and feeling Lana's pain like that had shaken him to the core. "Clark hurt her, it wasn't his fault, but she was in pain.

"I took her to her Aunt's place in the city for safety, but then I got distracted by... well your ex and a couple of his friends. So I didn't get any sleep. Then it kinda got a bit crazy." Phantom pulled out the Turquoise and set it on the coffee table between them.

"What's that?" Ember demanded, prodding at the jewel. She gasped when her fingers slipped through. "That's a Real World item! Phantom I don't want that in my home!"

"It's not." Phantom quickly replied "Not entirely." Ember crossed her arms stiffly.

"You have one minute to explain before I kick you out. I do not want Real World contraband in my lair." Ember coldly ordered, her fiery hair flicking wildly.

Phantom stared at the jewel. "It needs more than a minute to explain. But the short version is that it's a real world item fused with a fragment of a ghost's core by a dark alchemist back in the thirteenth century. So yes, it's a Real World item, but there was no way in hell I was gonna leave it in the Real World."

"Okay." Ember replied softly, clearly taken aback. "I'll buy it. What's it do?"

Phantom sighed. "It's one of four jewels. See way back when we were having the Magus wars the alchemists and sorcerers on Earth were experimenting. One of them kidnapped a ghost, and bound them to Earth. I read the spell he used and it wasn't nice at all." Ember's blue skin paled and Phantom knew why. To bind a full ghost to Earth was a sure path to its end, they all needed access to the Zone, even if it was just the comforting ambient energy that pervaded the Earth. But to bind a ghost was to cut them off from that energy permanently. At best the ghost would be driven mad before it was ended, at worst... well that wasn't worth consideration.

"Clockwork, even your parents didn't take things that far." Ember murmured.

"None of the modern 'Hunters could, we're safe in that respect. Humans don't believe in magic like they used to; even I was sceptical of human magic until I was sat down and told differently. But that wasn't the worst the alchemist did. He basically split the ghost's core into four and sealed it into four jewels; the Turquoise here and three others. Each of them sort of gave the humans a ghost like power. The Turquoise here essentially allows a human to control others."

"Like when Freakshow...?" Ember queried.

"No." Phantom stopped her coldly. Clark had gotten off lucky. While Danny didn't envy him being controlled, his own experiences with Freakshow and more recently Rosaline were on a whole different level. "Nothing like that. With that stone ghosts have no control, barely any consciousness unless our obsession is threatened. With that thing..."Phantom gestured the stone. "The person controlled _knows_ what's going on. If they had a strong enough will they could fight it, but it's more like their inhibitions get taken away. It's closer to hypnotism than pure control."

"Okay, I get it. No need to bite my head off babypop." Ember said, holding her hands up between them. "So what exactly happened?"

"This girl, Simone," Phantom explained "The descendant of the alchemist, thought that Clark was good boyfriend material. So she told him to break up with Lana. After that the girl decided to go after Lex Luthor, I'm not entirely sure why... then again he's that much like Vlad that it's _possible_ that he put her onto Clark in the first place." Phantom shook his head, musings like that were for another time. "Simone told Clark to kill Lex, and then when Chloe and I got there and knocked Clark out, she told Lex to kill us."

"I'm guessing that you stopped her before any of that could happen." Ember deduced accurately.

Phantom frowned. "Yeah, but the thing is I almost didn't." That was the real problem. "I mean, I chose this over the lives of four humans. Chloe and Lex could have been killed. Lois could have been killed. Hecate, Simone probably would've died if I hadn't been there and just let things play out."

"But you were there." Ember interjected bluntly. "Phantom we both know that you physically _couldn't_ let any of them die. Even if that chick did the wrong thing it's not like you were just gonna kill her to make things easier."

"But I chose to preserve the Turquoise; it would've been so much easier if I'd just destroyed it. Instead I spend an hour trying to figure out how to break the spell, almost getting Chloe killed again in the process." Phantom argued, upset with himself and his own poor decisions.

"Phantom stop." Ember said, cutting him off from his self loathing. "Now you're gonna listen to me. I don't care what anyone else tells you, but you're as much one of us as you are human. In that room, you protected all of us, both human and ghost. I'm not gonna listen to you kick yourself for protecting one of your own. You did the best thing you could in a tough situation. Sure a human could've got hurt, but whatever. With you around no one's gotta worry about being killed or ended, so just stop beating yourself up about it. 'Kay dipstick?"

"Sure Ember," Phantom replied. While he was heartened by her words they felt hollow. There was more to it than that; he just didn't know what it was. "Guess I'm gonna have to figure some stuff out on my own is all."

"We all do sometimes babypop. I may not have been around long but even I know that." Ember paused briefly, setting her own coffee mug aside on the table. "But for now, I wanna meet some of these new human pets of yours."

"They're not pets." Phantom sputtered indignantly, sufficiently distracted. "You've been spending too much time with Skulker."

"What can I say," Ember shrugged with a nonchalant smile, and Phantom realised she had just been trying to change the subject. "Just 'cos we aren't together anymore doesn't mean I can't hang around with him. 'Sides, they're just humans."

Phantom shook his head as he rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Sure. Half human here, Ember."

"Yes, but you're half ghost, that's an entirely different thing. So can I come back with you for a little while?" Ember practically begged. Phantom sighed knowing that she wouldn't let up until he said yes, and really he didn't mind spending a bit of time with the blue-haired ghost.

"Fine." Phantom replied with a light huff, pocketing the Turquoise once more. He could return it to Clockwork later, but for now he spending a bit of time in the Real World with Ember didn't sound like a bad idea. Without another thought he opened a portal back to the storm cellar, reverting to his human form as soon as they got there.

"You live here?" Ember asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nah, this is the storm cellar. I usually open a portal here since nobody ever comes down." Danny replied as he led her up the stairs.

"Wow, never expected you to live somewhere normal." Ember commented as soon as she saw the house. Danny smiled, it had been nearly nine months since he moved in here, and the cosy yellow farmhouse almost felt like home. Danny frowned as he remembered the image of Lana, crouched down and broken just outside the barn. But he forced himself to wave it off. Clark was the one who had to sort that mess out, Danny couldn't do anything for him. He just hoped that Clark would do the right thing by Lana.

He plastered a smile on his face and turned to face the blue-haired ghost. "Ha, ha, very funny." Danny replied rolling his eyes. "And living in an auditorium is perfectly normal."

"It's a lair, dipstick." Ember replied. "You know, where all the normal ghosts go home to after a nice long day of terrorising the villagers."

"Okay, fine. Whatever you say." Danny replied, shaking his head. "Where do you want to go? I'd say let's head into Smallville, but something tells me you'd prefer Metropolis."

"Wherever babypop, you're officially my escort so you get to decide where we're going." Danny nodded, taking her arm and teleporting them straight into Metropolis. Ember's green eyes brightened at the bustle of the city. Danny could tell how much she loved being in the crowds. Sure she liked being noticed, but part of her just loved being a part of the buzz of the human world. That was one thing that was always absent in the Zone, the sheer mass of people that gathered in cities was always lacking in the infinity of the green world.

They spent a little while just walking through the streets. One of the good things about Ember was that she was humanoid enough to pass as fully human. That was how she'd picked up her first record deal and been able to go on tour. She even managed to dim down her hair a bit, it was still blue, but passed as a windblown pony tail rather than a wild live flame.

They picked through some of the smaller streets towards the shopping district. The tall office buildings gave way to smaller businesses. Small bookshops and clothes stores took the place of corporate signs as the two walked through the city.

"How long till your deathday?" Ember asked.

"Well that was random." Danny commented, looking confusedly towards her. "Um... August the seventeenth, so four months away. Why do you ask?"

"We were talking about lairs," Ember answered. "I was wondering how long it'd be before you lined up with the proper ghosts."

Danny paused mid-step. That was something he hadn't really been thinking about, didn't really want to think about. For all that he had accepted his ghost powers, for all the time he had spent with Victor, telling him not to reject what had happened to him, Danny was still downright terrified of his ghost half. The idea of his third deathday, of somehow _coming into _his powers... he couldn't help but shudder as a pair of blood red eyes and a desolate wasteland swam before his eyes. White flaming hair and a terrible cry as the Wailing of the Damned destroyed what little of civilisation is left.

He looked to the female ghost next to him, and his eyes stung as he recalled the vision of Ember from that future. Her dulcet voice reduced to a harsh rasp and her vibrant personality reduced to hate and loathing. He had promised never to let that happen, never to let himself fall into that darkness. But he was scared. Maybe that was why he hadn't let himself make many human friends, that way if he fell there would be no one to hurt. And if he ever let go then... he could hope Clark would stop him.

That was the other terrifying thing. In that world no one had been able to stop him. Lana, the Kents, Lois and Chloe had all been dead and gone. Lex, the strong man who in so many ways was like Vlad was gone. He didn't know whether Victor would have had the opportunity to get his powers, but he too had been destroyed. And worst was Clark, the small farm boy who in so many ways Danny identified with had been dead. Despite all his powers Danny's evil alternate had destroyed Clark. And that terrified Danny. If that was what his third deathday would entail... he wanted nothing of it.

"Babypop?" Ember said, snapping her fingers in front of his face. "You there?" Danny shook his head, trying to shake the fear that had pushed its way into his gut and pounded through his core. _'Everything will be fine' _Danny told himself. _'It'll be okay.' _Danny just hoped that it would be. He didn't like the idea of being ended on his third deathday, but that was preferable to the thought of him ending the world.

"Sorry" Danny apologised, forcing a smile onto his face. "Guess I just spaced out a little there." He forced all of those thoughts aside. That was something to worry about another day and a discussion best kept between him and Clockwork. Nobody else ever needed to know. Even Sam, Tuck and Jazz had only known the bare basics. "So, where would you like to go from here? I'd offer to get you dinner but..."

"It'd kinda be pointless since we don't really eat human food? Pretty much. Then again, just for flavour's sake..." Ember paused, a curious look in her eye. "When was the last time you actually ate?"

"Day before yesterday, or was it the day before?" Danny paused for a moment. By now it had probably been two, maybe three days since he'd last eaten, or slept for that matter.

"Okay, you need to eat." Ember ordered "And I kinda want to try human food again. Haven't had any since I was on tour..." She sent him a half hearted evil eye. Danny was happy that she hadn't read anything out of his strange silence, or was happy to blatantly ignore it. Either worked for him. She was just...being nice, trying to cheer him up like a friend would. Like Sam and Tuck once did.

Danny's face brightened. It was just after midday now and the lunchtime rush would have slowed down. "I know exactly where to go." Danny said and promptly dragged her through an arcade and down into a little food hall. It was still busy, but Danny had been in here when there were so many people you could barely breathe. It was filled with tiny little shops; a delicatessen, a cupcake shop, fresh fruit. There was one shop that specialised in chocolate coated strawberries and fruits. There were exotic flavours, all stashed together in a hall under the city. It wasn't your typical burgers and chips place; it was a bit classier than that. But it was almost unique as far as Danny was concerned. He'd never seen a place like it in Amity Park.

Ember immediately picked her way over to a salad bar, choosing an exotic looking couscous salad. Danny paid seeing as how the only currency Ember had on her wasn't even valid in this world. After picking himself up a fresh sub sandwich Danny guided her over towards the secluded dining area. Most people tended to buy something and then take it back to their office, but there was some seating provided. Although Danny did disappear for a minute to bring something back to the table.

"Chocolate coated cherries?" Ember asked, a strange look in her eye. It was almost as if Danny had done something that surprised her. "Since when do they even sell those?" Danny just smiled and pushed the box over to the blue haired ghost. The good thing about the city was that it was very difficult to stand out. No one even gave her a second glance, probably assuming that she was just a Punk Goth. Then again, Ember obviously knew how to blend well with humans since she had gone on tour in the human world for over a year before she arrived in Amity Park.

"Surprise. You said you hadn't had human food in a while, so I figured you might like to try some of the stuff here." Danny answered smiling softly

Ember beamed. "Well I gotta admit, I haven't had couscous this good since I was in LA three years ago. You know..." Ember aimlessly waved her fork at Danny "You're lucky that you live here. Our food just doesn't taste the same."

"Oh, so you admit there's one thing that Earth has over the Zone." Danny scoffed, raising an eyebrow over his half eaten sandwich. He hadn't really noticed just how hungry he was, but he wasn't going to go skipping meals again for a while.

"Well, babypop there had to be some redeeming qualities." Ember mused "Although I'm not convinced that the whole having four seasons thing is cool. Or the traffic. I mean, in New York if you catch a cab it takes ten minutes to go a block. What's the point?"

"Oh woe; poor little people who aren't able to float above the ground. You know us humans have to walk, and... really ten minutes?" Danny trailed off distractedly, his blue eyes blinking.

"Yep." Ember happily replied, popping the 'P'. "And don't even get me started on the tour bus. The fans love you, but _Clockwork_ they have no idea how to get out of the way."

Danny laughed. It was surreal in a way talking to her about fans. He certainly had his own following, and it was... slightly disturbing in school to realise that half the students were emblazoned with his symbol. Even Jay had a black and white Phantom t-shirt under his letterman jacket. Danny shook his head and relaxed, enjoying the company of the blue haired ghost. He was glad that he had found a friend in her since she was sort of around his age. Not that it mattered with ghosts, but... it was just nice to have a friend.

_Line Break_

Chloe smiled as she walked through the front doors of the _Planet_. Yesterday had been an emotionally exhausting day what with Simone's hypnotic pendant that turned out to be some kind of almost ghostly artefact. Chloe had been surprised more than once at Danny and now wanted to take the opportunity to get into some research. Hopefully both Clark and Danny would stop by later to talk, but for now she was keen to find some things out.

Firstly there was that book; it seemed strange that just when it was needed Danny somehow magically had the exact book with all the answers. But for its age it had looked like a genuine alchemical book, handwritten in the middle ages. However the book was perfectly preserved, it was well loved, but didn't look like something nearly a millennium old. Therefore it had to be a copy, the problem was who was the source and how on Earth did Danny Fenton get a hold of them?

Half an hour digging in that regard gave her no results. There were modern copies of alchemical books, but without a working knowledge of how to read Latin Chloe hadn't even been able to successfully glean the title. For now she would have to set that problem aside. Maybe later she could convince Danny to just tell her where he'd gotten it. After all, it wasn't exactly possible that he had just gone back in time to somehow get it from the source.

The next question was how Danny had come to even read Latin. Sure it could be taught, but there weren't very many schools that had it on the curriculum, and certainly didn't teach it to the proficiency to which Danny had read it. It was _possible_ that he had learned it from his parent's research; after all many official looking texts on ghosts were almost entirely written in Latin. But that didn't sit right. With what Chloe understood of Danny's parents they wouldn't trust those for being too unscientific and delving too much into mysticism and magic. No, Danny had been far too proficient in Latin for it to simply come from his parents. He hadn't even noticed that it was a different language at first.

Chloe sighed, absently looking at the build up in her 'to do' pile. There were a couple of obits that needed typing up, but they did not take very long to get out of the way. As she typed her mind wandered, flitting to something that Simone had mentioned in passing. She had suggested that Danny could fly. Chloe had no proof of that, but somehow with Danny the notion didn't seem too absurd. He did have meteor powers after all, and the Kents had suggested that he had more than one power. Sure, Chloe had never seen a Meteor Freak with the ability to fly, but that hardly meant it was impossible. New powers seemed to show up all the time and Chloe had seen hundreds of different varieties over the years.

The only question was how did flying fit in with Danny's near death experience with the meteor? The power always seemed to somehow relate to a near death experience in contact with kryptonite. For example an old woman blinded in the fallout from the first shower gained the ability to see the future, or a football coach who almost dies from heat in a sauna gaining the ability to generate and control fire. They all connected in some strange tangential way.

Chloe thought of what she knew about the meteor that hit Amity Park. It had been an offshoot from their own shower, which was unusual in and of itself. There was no real reason for it to have gone so far off course. But it had landed on Danny's house, vaporising the building instantaneously. From the police report there had been little left, there were no bodies to be found aside from Danny who was lying miraculously on the crater line unconscious. He hadn't roused at all when he was rushed to hospital, but he had barely arrived before he had been transferred into the private care of Vlad Masters.

It was _possible_ that a piece of active kryptonite had been lodged in Danny's skin somewhere while he was in transit, thereby assimilating the power of flight as he moved in the helicopter. His ability to heal was obviously an instantaneous effect and saved him from being destroyed with his family, and probably teleporting played a part too. The question was, if there had been a piece of active kryptonite with him the whole time, what had happened to it after he got into Vlad's care? And had Danny picked up any other meteor powers while it was on him? And did that somehow play into his ability to read Latin?

Chloe didn't want to think about it, but there was a genuine possibility that Danny's meteor powers would eventually drive him insane. It happened to most of them who had strong meteor powers. If it was something inane they were generally okay, but the stronger the power and the more it was relied on the faster they descended into madness. But... there was another inconsistency. Danny used his powers almost daily by the sounds of it. He often teleported into and out of Metropolis to visit her, but he had shown no signs of mental instability at all. It was as if there was another piece of the puzzle that she was just missing, but she couldn't fathom what it could be.

Unbidden memory of Danny leapt to mind, sitting by her bedside as she fought off her inner demons when the kryptonite powered spirit wrought havoc. He had given her the kindest of smiles as he held her hand. There was something about him in that instant that was so comforting, so kind and protective that she felt safe. Then there was the bright smile he had sent her on Christmas Eve as the two of them finished sorting gifts out. That warm infectious smile beneath his bright blue eyes was something precious. Danny was one of the most paradoxical people she had ever met, and that included Clark. But somehow there was a level of honesty about him that just made him seem innocently trustworthy. It was strange, but there it was.

Chloe's phone rang at two as Clark asked if she would mind an interruption. Chloe had finished most of her day's work while she mused, so didn't think a visit from Clark would go too far amiss. However she was hungry and the sound of a late lunch didn't sound too bad. They decided to meet up outside the _Planet_ and then head on out to get lunch from there. Chloe shut down the computer and headed on out, her smile brightening when she saw the broad shouldered blue eyed young man.

"Hey, so how are you faring?" Chloe asked, curious to see how everything had played out. They started walking off, winding through the streets towards a smallish underground food court. It had healthier fare than most places and by this time of day usually quietened down.

"I feel like I just woke up from a bad dream, except I remember all the gory details." Clark replied. His tone was light, but there was a dark undertone that Chloe couldn't quite decipher.

Chloe couldn't help her own dark curiosity and soon found herself awkwardly asking "Yeah. Um, did you and Simone ever actually...?"

"No." Clark cut her off, thankfully saving her from asking that. "Thank God." The relief in his tone was obvious and Chloe quietly applauded his self control. Even when he was hypnotised Clark had managed to avoid compromising his own set of morals.

"Okay." Chloe commented, leading Clark down the wide staircase "So then the moral of the story is just never gaze into the eyes of a seductive woman wearing a sparkly gemstone around her neck. Unless of course her name is Lana Lang." Chloe smiled at him, joining a line in front of a sushi shop. "Have you talked to her yet? You guys kiss and make up?" Chloe asked, sneaking a glance at Clark's blue eyes. Despite her confusion and curiosity she was in a remarkably good mood. It seemed that Danny's makeshift 'spell' had done exactly what he'd wanted. Everyone who Simone had hypnotised was free, and Chloe had a couple of new leads into the mystery of Danny Fenton. Chloe paid for her sushi before looking back to her blue eyed friend.

Clark looked away guiltily, and Chloe saw a pained look in his eye. He sighed deeply, and Chloe's positive mood came crashing down. "No." Clark replied sadly. "See, as horrible as all this was, it did accomplish one thing that I didn't have the guts to do myself. It broke me and Lana up."

Chloe scoffed disbelievingly. "What? Wait a minute, are you still hypno'd?" Chloe grabbed his arm and dragged him around the corner to the small eating area. She was surprised to see Danny there with a blue haired girl. Successfully distracted the two walked over to the table where Danny and the girl were seated. Danny looked up, but his smile dropped when he saw the pain in Clark's eyes.

"You broke up with her, didn't you?" Danny asked gently. His way of immediately cutting to the point was probably for the best in this case. Clark nodded tersely, his arms crossed across his broad chest. Chloe eyed the girl Danny was with; there was something off about her. Her skin was slightly too pale and Chloe would never have imagined Danny to spend time with someone with such a blatant Punk Goth attire.

"Okay babypop, you gonna introduce me to your friends this time, or am I gonna have to introduce myself?" The girl asked almost presumptuously.

"Chloe, Clark, this is Ember. Ember, Clark and Chloe." Danny quickly introduced. Chloe reached out to shake the girl's hand, and was surprised by how bright Ember's green eyes were. They were almost reminiscent of Phantom's, but didn't have the same other-worldly hue. "Okay, this time please don't play games with my friends." Danny added, looking at Ember almost accusingly.

"Fine, fine." Ember dismissed, waving her hand at Danny. "Glad to finally meet you. Babypop here has been talking about you for ages." Ember said, extending her hand to Clark to shake.

"So you knew Danny in Amity Park?" Chloe asked confused. After all Danny hadn't spoken about any friends that he'd made here in Smallville, and had reported very few from his home town.

"You could say that." Ember replied, nudging Danny's shoulder. Chloe half smiled at that, it seemed that maybe Danny wasn't so alone as he'd once thought. That said there was an odd twinge in Chloe's heart when she saw how freely Ember was acting around Danny. Danny shook his head at Ember with an indulgent smile.

"Ember." Danny warned, looking sternly at the girl.

"Relax, babypop. I don't care, it's not like they're gonna tell anyone about it." Ember dismissed. "I'm Ember McLain, punk diva extraordinaire and best singer this side of the Ghost Zone." Chloe blinked as realisation crashed in. Ember was a ghost; that was why she looked so pale and had such vivid green eyes. More than that, Chloe vaguely recalled her as a singer. She'd been popular a couple of years back, and her song _'You Will Remember My Name'_ had even played at their Senior Prom.

Danny rolled his eyes as Ember's unashamed boasting. "Yes, and you remember exactly _why_ you have to stay _this side of the Zone_. Don't you?"

Ember raised her hands in mock surrender. "Look, no guitar, no love spells, no sonic hypnotism. Nothing, babypop. I promised I'd be on good behaviour and I am." Chloe raised an eyebrow at the display.

"What do you think...?" Chloe whispered to Clark.

"I'm guessing that Danny and Ember got off on the wrong foot, and she's on temporary leave from the Ghost Zone until next time Phantom shows up to take her home. Right Danny?" Clark answered, raising his voice at the end to interrupt the shoving war that Danny and Ember had started. Danny looked up innocently at them, his blue eyes sparkling with a delight that Chloe hadn't seen before.

"Yeah, sure." Danny replied to Clark's stern voice. "Phantom. Got it. So, um, what actually brought you two out here?" Danny pressed, abruptly changing the subject.

"I wanted to get away from the farm." Clark replied sadly, and the light mood shattered instantly. The atmosphere became heavy and sombre in an instant. Ember seemed to pick up on it, deciding that she'd head off for an hour or so.

Chloe watched as Ember stood up, her eyes meeting Danny's shining blue. "I'll meet you at the clock tower later, okay dipstick?" Ember nudged his shoulder one more time as she headed out, disappearing into the crowd.

Danny sighed, looking between Clark and Chloe. Chloe frowned, storing the fact that Danny is apparently friends with a ghost away for a more appropriate moment. For now Clark needed someone to talk to. "So why did you...?" Chloe began, pressing for an answer to their earlier conversation. Clark loved Lana, there was no way that he'd just break up with her.

"Chloe, how many times can I break someone's heart before it crumbles to pieces?" Clark retorted, Chloe flinched at the depressed anger that cut through his voice like a knife.

"Yeah," Chloe admitted. "But it wasn't your fault. You were hypnotised." Chloe implored. She noted that Danny was staying pointedly silent.

"Lana wasn't." Clark answered sadly, as if it physically pained him to admit it. "Her feelings were real. The look of pain in her eye when she walked in on Simone and I, it made me realise that my power to hurt Lana is stronger than all my powers put together."

Chloe shook her head vehemently; it wasn't like Clark to just give like this. "But it's not like meeting a girl with hocus-pocus jewellery is an everyday occurrence."

"But hurting Lana has become one." Clark returned sadly. "And as long as I have to lie to her about who I am, I'm only gonna cause her pain."

"And as long as you don't set the record straight, she's gonna hate you." Chloe shot back. "Tell him Danny."

Danny looked up slowly, briefly meeting Danny's eyes before turning to Clark. "We all make our choices. Sometimes things work out, other times we wish we could have a second chance. Are you really prepared for her to not be with you? To let go of her forever? For her to look you in the eye and for you to only see hate?"

"Maybe that won't be such a bad thing." Clark shrugged. "Maybe it'll help her move on with her life, forget I ever existed and find someone who can actually give her what she deserves. Either way it's done."

Chloe looked at him sadly, knowing exactly what he was giving up. If he followed through, she'd do her best to support him. But she needed to make sure that he knew exactly what he was setting himself up for. "You just need to know that if you do this, that's it. Game over, there's no more quarters left. I mean, you're saying goodbye _forever_. This will crush her Clark, please tell me you've thought long and hard before you let her go for good."

"I have Chloe. I really have." Clark answered, his shoulders slumping over. "I can't do this to her anymore, it's not fair on her. On either of us."

"Clark, we'll support you." Danny murmured softly. "And if I said it would be an easy choice I'd be lying. But I can at least understand your decision." Danny nodded to him, and Chloe got the feeling that the cousins had discussed this before, gone over the arguments and the possible results. In the look Danny sent Clark Chloe saw empathy, as though Danny had been forced into a similar situation and could understand what Clark was going through.

"Thanks." Clark eventually replied, his voice soft and as weak as Chloe had ever heard it. "The hard thing is... I've never seen her so hurt. So angry." He paused, looking down to the clenched fists in his lap. "Saying those words, it was the hardest thing that I've ever had to do."

"I know." Danny said softly "these things rarely end the way we want them to." Chloe looked on with sympathy. Clark may just have broken up with Lana, but Danny was still mourning the loss of Sam Manson. By the way he spoke of her they had been at least as close as Lana and Clark. The pain in his voice was telling, and Chloe quietened, trying not to impose on what was a private moment between the dark haired boys.

"I just didn't know what else to do." Clark murmured more to himself than anyone else. "It was either make a clean break or tell her my secret."

Danny nodded in acknowledgement. "I know you didn't tell her the truth because you wanted to protect her. I think... I would have made the same choice. Some of the things I've seen... they're not safe." Danny shook his head "But maybe there was more to it than that, maybe deep down you didn't think she was the one."

"I don't understand. I'll always love Lana." Clark scoffed.

Danny smiled grimly, his blue eyes lit with sympathy. "I know, and I'll always love Sam. But the truth is you both deserve someone who is your equal. You loved Lana, but part of you would always be held back by the need to stay and keep her safe. You need someone who can let you go, and can support you when you come back. I don't think Lana was ready for that."

Chloe was surprised at the depth of that last statement, but it made sense. Even she herself was guilty of wanting to hold Clark back. Sure she pushed him to use his powers, but at the same time she tied him down with responsibilities. She always tried to be level headed, but in retrospect some of the things she had advised had turned out to be wrong. Maybe Danny had a better handle on things than Chloe had ever thought to presume. But still, she was concerned for Lana. For what this could do to her.

"I just hope," Chloe mused aloud, incidentally drawing the attention of the two dark haired boys. "I hope that her anger doesn't drive her to do something we'll all regret." All three of them sat silent after that, a sort of quiet understanding that focused the sombre mood. It was a scary thought, but with how hurt Lana was, how angry Chloe knew she would be with this turn of events. She just hoped that she didn't seek solace in the wrong people.

_Line Break_

Lex smiled as he looked into the fire. While things had gone a little askew he had found out a lot. The night prior he had woken up on the floor of his office alone but for Simone, who was tied up but equally unconscious. The police had arrived and taken her away, but not before Lex found her pendant destroyed. The blue stone fragments were cool to the touch, and it was disappointing to have lost that power, he would have liked to have acquisitioned it. But that was no matter in the long run.

He had discovered numerous things in the past two days and all of which were particularly interesting. Simone, in her hesitation had implied that there was in fact something truly exceptional about Clark. While that was far from proof it warranted renewed investigation. The second interesting thing was that Danny was far more knowledgeable in martial arts that he let on. He had known the exact pressure point to knock Clark out with a single blow, and Lex himself had been unconscious for exactly one hour.

The most interesting piece of information he had garnered from the surveillance tapes was Danny's speech to Simone. Unfortunately there was no audio, it had been knocked out by Simone earlier in the evening, and Danny had managed to position himself exactly so that his face could not be seen. But the expressions in Simone's face were telling, and he had clearly known something devastating about the jewel by the way Simone protectively clutched at it. And then there was the easy way he had taken it off her, jumping over her and removing it while she ducked. It was quite a feat in acrobatics.

Unfortunately he had almost immediately dropped the jewel to the floor and shot it, destroying it forever. Lex would have to lecture him about items of power and the need to preserve them, both for protection and for use in the future. Then again, Danny was quite vocal about responsibility and weapons of power winding up in the wrong person's hands. It was an unfortunate loss for the jewel to have been destroyed, but the knowledge he had garnered from that half hour worth of surveillance was worth it.

Then there were the discoveries he had made on his trip to Honduras. He was keen to share that with Lana, given her keen interest in the spaceship and anything relating to the second meteor shower. He was almost certain that this was the key to ensuring that Lana stayed as a constant part of his life. Fine's suggestion of a potential extraterrestrial invasion was discomforting, but Lex was sure that Lana would be interested in involving herself in the process of the planet's protection. Yes, Lex was very happy with the information he had gathered in the last few days.

There was a clicking noise as the office door swung open. Lex turned to face the person who had intruded on his musings, but beamed as he realised that it was Lana. "Oh," He commented with wide open arms as he welcomed Lana into his presence. "Just the woman that I wanted to see."

Lana walked in, coming to join him as he stood in front of the fire. She looked upset, but Lex was keen to tell her the news. "So it turns out that everyone's favourite academic, Milton Fine, isn't an academic at all."

"Lex," Lana interrupted. "I'm not here to talk about Milton Fine." Lex frowned as he looked at Lana, truly looked. Her eyes were dark and haunted and she looked so sad, so empty. Lex wanted then to reach out and pull her into a warm embrace, just to alleviate some of the hurt from her beautiful brown eyes. "I actually wanted you to be the first to know." She continued, looking past his shoulder and into the distance.

"Is everything okay?" Lex asked, realising from the way she stood that her world must be collapsing around her. What else could put such pain into the proud, fierce and strong Lana Lang?

Lana looked at him, her eyes glistening with tears. "Clark and I broke up. For real." Lex was shocked... he would never have believed that of Clark. While the two of them may have parted ways, he had always been loyal to Lana. From the beginning Clark had spoken of how much he loved Lana, how much he needed her in his life. For him to have just pushed that all away; rejected her like this. Well it was no wonder that Lana looked like her world was collapsing.

"Lana, I'm" he stammered, fumbling to find the right words. Words that could help and words that could heal. "I'm sorry."

"No," Lana interrupted quickly "It's okay. Don't be." She stepped away, taking an opportunity to vent aloud. "I actually do feel like a hundred tons of secrets and lies have been lifted off my shoulders. You know what it's like, being friends with Clark." Lex watched sadly as she took a seat on his black leather sofa, staring aimlessly off into the aether. "No matter what he tells you, you don't know if it's the truth. You can't ever trust him."

Lex sighed, taking the seat next to her. "Lana," he murmured softly, hoping to console her. "I know Clark's probably not the easiest guy to be in a relationship with. But I don't think..." Lex paused as Lana raised her hand in a silent signal for him to stop.

"Please, don't defend him Lex." Lana whispered sadly. "How could I have been so stupid?"

Lex leaned in, gently resting his hand on her shoulder and trying to take some of the pain away. "You're not stupid." Lex said, putting as much strength into that simple statement as he could. Lana looked at him, demanding an explanation, so Lex expanded. "You just put your trust into the wrong person."

Lana fell silent, her brown eyes strangely vacant. Lex watched her go, worried that perhaps he had said the wrong thing. But Lana had a lot to think about, and she knew that he was always going to be there for her. Part of him was glad that she'd come to him first, after all there were other people in her life that she could have turned to for support, and yet she'd come to him.

Lex knew that Lana would be devastated for quite some time, but couldn't help but think that this turn of events played to his favour. After all, Lana was now free of Clark. She was safe from the web of lies that he spun so artlessly out from him. Now Lex could protect her, keep her safe. He had a dim flash of the strange future he had half dreamt on Christmas Eve. In that world Lana had been his wife. Perhaps it was still possible for him to have that, to have a life equally shared with love and power.

However things played out he would be there for Lana. He would catch her this time where Clark had let her fall. He would be the one to help Lana pick up the pieces, and the one to give Lana something to look forward to. After all, what could be a more worthwhile pursuit for both of them than the continuation of their investigation on the spaceship and their fledgling alliance with Milton Fine? Something in his chest purred possessively at the thought that Lana had come to _him_. That she had sought him out for comfort and solace.

Lex leaned back in the sofa, staring thoughtfully at the flickering flames in the fireplace. Much had changed in the past few days. He was glad that he had _invited_ Simone to come to Smallville. Without her he would have no further proof into Clark's abnormalities. Without Simone he would never have found out so much more about Danny. Without Simone Clark would never have been forced to break up with Lana properly, rather than continue hurting her the way he was. Yes, Lex owed quite a bit to Simone. It was such a pity that she would never see the light of day again, after all murder is not an excusable offense.

For Lex things had just taken a definite turn for the better, and he was quietly looking forward to witnessing how the next few months turned out. Perhaps for once things would turn out his way.

* * *

><p>AN: Well... um, it's finished. I hadn't originally wanted to use this episode, but then I realised that it was a fundamental part of the Clark and Lana breakup and I couldn't think of a good enough alternative to break them up.<p>

Plus now Clark has (sort of) another way to empathise with Danny.

Danny is being friendlier with Ember, and both Chloe and Clark have met one of Danny's ghost friends.

As to the jewel, well that's maybe a story for another day. I did take a bit of creative liberty on it, but this way Danny has a legitimate reason not to destroy it.

Oh well, that's enough excuses. 'Till next we meet again,

Bluerose


	23. Inquisition

Chapter 22

Inquisition

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Danny woke early, blinking dazedly into the early spring sunlight. It had been two weeks since the debacle with Simone and her hypnotic ghost cored jewel. After dropping Ember back at her lair he had gone straight to Clockwork's tower to finally get rid of the stupid thing. Clockwork of course had smiled enigmatically and suggested that it would not be the last time he encountered the jewel. Of course that _was_ reading between the lines, but how else was he supposed to interpret things when Clockwork started speaking riddles about the circularity of time and strange vessels. To save himself a headache he'd just thanked his ghostly mentor and headed home.

Unfortunately for Danny his dreams had been haunted by the lasting image of Clark's murderous gaze, his fist tightly drawn back over his shoulder as he held his hand poised menacingly ready to pound Danny into oblivion. While Danny was used to brushing those looks off – he'd received them from most of the ghosts he knew as well as a good few meteor infected people now – it didn't mean he liked it. Seeing that unrestrained rage in his cousin's eyes had scared him, not just because Clark had been pushed into that by Simone, but also because of the fact that Clark was one of the very few living people that could end him fully, and Clark had been prepared to do just that.

It made Danny glad that he had never told Clark some things about himself. Clark knew of his various escalades with Freakshow; but knew nothing of Vlad Plasmius or of Danny's evil alternate future self. If he could avoid it he planned on never telling Clark about either. Vlad was dangerous, and Clark was safest kept well away from his poisonous web. And his evil alternate future self, Dark Dan, was a mistake, something that Danny had learned his lesson from and the story never needed repeating to anyone other than himself.

Danny pulled himself out of bed, glancing sidelong at the alarm clock on his bedside table as he went. It was past nine which meant he was running late for school. Ruefully he forced himself into the bathroom, it had been so long since late night ghostly escapades had made him late for school that he'd almost forgotten what it was like. Almost. He had been running almost flat out since the day he had left the Zone, barely getting two hours sleep a night. He had had very little time to think about what had happened, especially considering the hypnotic harpy from hell that had almost taken Clark away from them. Really, Danny wondered where she'd picked up the idea that it would be entertaining to string Clark along in the first place.

Still, that wasn't a concern for now. Danny rushed to finish his morning ablutions before teleporting straight to school. Clark had told him that he used to super-speed to school when he was running late, which only proved that it was possible to get away with having strange powers here in Smallville too. Danny quietly snuck into his biology class, choosing to ignore the exasperated look the teacher sent him as he found his way to a seat up the back. The class seemed to drag on forever, but Danny was happy to just sit and take notes like a normal high school kid.

It was lunchtime when his phone rang. Chloe had apparently been sitting on her curiosity for too long and he had been practically ordered to go to her college dorm after school let out. Danny sighed knowing that he was fast running out of options. Clark may have broken up with Lana two weeks ago, but that was not enough to distract Chloe when she let curiosity get hold of her. If Danny wasn't careful he knew she'd copy his sister and follow him into a back alley just when he changed form. That would be bad.

While Clark may have broken up with Lana for the fear that it could be unsafe for her to know his secret, Danny had substantial proof that knowledge of his ghost half was deadly. That was mostly thanks to Vlad; he had infected his friends with ecto-acne just so Danny would be forced to find a cure, and had almost killed Jazz in a modern day gladiatorial battle. He wished that he still had them to talk to, Sam and Tuck always managed to point him in the right direction. Without any of them he felt like he was wading through fog and didn't know if he'd made any of the right decisions.

Danny knew he couldn't afford for Chloe to find out that he was Phantom. The only reason it had been okay when Jazz found out was that she was a blood relation to his mom. Without that security Vlad, or any of his other enemies, would quite happily have killed her. Danny had long since decided to keep his identity safe from anyone who couldn't defend themself, and Chloe fell firmly in that category. Unfortunately that meant that Danny was going to have to dance around the truth a lot when she put him through her personal version of the Hot Seat.

Danny sighed heavily as the final bell rang, bracing himself for Chloe's interrogation. He shut his books, carefully sliding them into his backpack alongside his sketchbook. The heavy tome Clockwork had given was now hidden beneath the floorboards of his bed; no one would find it unless they were to literally tear up the floorboards. Pulling the zip Danny swung the bag onto his back, mentally preparing himself as he slipped into an alleyway before he teleported to Chloe's dorm.

He stepped out from the shadows making Chloe jump away from her computer. Danny tended to do that sort of subtle appearance if she asked him to visit the dorm, just in case Lana was around.

"God!" Chloe exclaimed in her surprise at his sudden arrival "You're almost as bad as Clark."

Danny shook his head lightly and sent her a broad grin. "If we didn't keep you on your toes you'd get bored." Danny joked, trying to calm his own nerves. The one thing he had was that Chloe _didn't_ know that he was Phantom, and she wouldn't find out. But that didn't make it any easier to lie to her, especially considering how recently Clark and Lana had broken up for exactly the same reason. "Besides," Danny shrugged, taking a seat on her bed "You told me to come over straight after school."

Chloe's mouth creased, and she spun around on her office chair to face him properly. The computer was busy, apparently processing a picture. The picture on screen was green and leafy, with two men in orange bio-hazard suits walking, but Danny saw a progress bar trying to clear up the image. Danny blinked once as Chloe began talking. "I think I've waited long enough. I spent four years trying to figure out your cousin and now it's your turn. Talk."

"What no cloak and dagger, just straight to the inquisition?" Danny shot back lightly.

Chloe scowled. "Yes. See today I got an anonymous tip about... well an epidemic in Honduras with connections to Milton Fine, and that got me thinking about how much you _know_ that you really have no right to. So talk. How did you know about Fine way back then? And how much do you know about him now? How did you know about Simone's jewel and where did you get the book? And while we're on that subject what sort of meteor freak are you having so many powers?"

Danny blinked for a moment then slouched over, running his fingers through his hair. "I'd almost prefer if Clark was here." He mused quietly before looking up to Chloe. "After the accident I sort of pick up things a lot more easily. If I am given the time, I can... process stuff a lot more easily than I used to be able to." Danny hesitatingly explained, Chloe would presume that it was the meteor strike, but Danny was referring to the first time he stepped into the Ghost Portal. And it was true, he didn't know how to explain it but he had become a much faster study since that day, the main reason for his academic failings was being denied time.

"As for Milton Fine, well I think I explained about touching that crystal back in the Fortress..." Danny continued hoping that Chloe would buy the explanation a second time around. "It sort of gave me a bit of additional information. All of the crystals were designed for Clark's benefit; Jor-El wanted his son to have a full understanding of Krypton so he could be a good leader here on Earth." Danny shook his head, allowing himself to be distracted.

"I know Clark has little love for his birth father, but Jor-El really did want the best for him." Danny smiled softly.

"You know Clark wouldn't agree with that." Chloe interjected, seemingly happy to follow him on this tangent which Danny was grateful for. "He told me about a message sent with his spaceship; that Jor-El sent him to 'Rule over us with strength'. Not exactly a friendly message."

Danny ruffled his hair; the Kryptonian language was not the most explicit of languages the society was very different to that on Earth, more stoic. And the glyph for 'rule' was synonymous with half a dozen other words, but Danny couldn't exactly say that. "Clark learned the language literally from a cave wall." Danny eventually commented. "But when you consider the Kryptonians that have come to Earth, they weren't exactly the most compassionate of races. I think it's possible that in this case 'rule' could be more interpreted as 'guide' or something similar. I'm not a linguist, but you as a writer should know that a word can have more than one meaning."

Chloe frowned considering his answer, sending him a calculating look that did little to help Danny's unease. "Fair point." She eventually accepted with a slow nod. "Next question; how did you know about the jewel and what did you do with it?" Danny sighed; Chloe was persistent if nothing else.

"After living in a town that was being attacked by ghosts every day, I figured it would be useful to pick up a bit of ghost lore. Really it's a by-product of being friends with a Goth that I know what I know at all." Danny answered with a purposefully dismissive shrug. It wasn't a lie, but it was quite a big half-truth. "As for the jewel, well I gave it to a ghost who can hopefully keep it safe. It doesn't belong on Earth, none of those gemstones do. Not anymore."

Chloe frowned, "Ember?" She guessed with one eyebrow raised.

"No." Danny couldn't help but scoff. As much as he liked Ember she was able to hypnotise people easily enough without a mystical gemstone.

"Phantom?" Chloe guessed. Danny shook his head to hide his amusement.

"A ghost you haven't met yet, and no, I'm not telling you who they are. You won't find him on the internet anyway." Danny didn't stop smiling as her frown switched to mild annoyance. She looked like she was about to say something more when the computer pinged. The photo that Chloe had been trying to improve when he arrived had an image of Milton Fine's head concealed in leafy green foliage.

"What's he doing mucking around behind the biohazard team?" Danny mused aloud.

"I don't know, but I think we should call Clark in on this." Chloe responded, all previous light that had been in her eyes banished to a distant corner. The thought that Fine – Brainiac – was back was not a good thing, and Danny didn't know what he would be doing in Honduras. It wasn't the best place to hide from Clark since technically Clark could run there if he wanted to. If he wanted to _hide_ then he would be better off on another continent. That meant there was something specific in Honduras that he needed.

Chloe called Clark, and a minute later there was a knock on the dorm door. "Fast, but oddly formal." Chloe commented with a confused eyebrow. "Usually when I say it's urgent you rip in here without the least regard for my privacy. Danny and I were just saying..."

"Yeah, well I didn't want to disturb you." Clark interrupted quietly. Danny frowned; he knew how much Clark was hurting. It had gotten to the point where he was constantly blocking Clark's aura for the sake of his own protection. Danny hated seeing how torn up both Clark and Lana were. He hadn't seen much o Lana since the breakup other than a brief pass by at the Luthor Mansion a week before. It was hard to see everything caving down around them, Clark felt he'd had no choice, Lana was broken hearted and it was all Chloe and Danny could do to try and pick up the pieces and avoid the painful minefield between the two.

"Don't worry, Lana's not here." Chloe commented quietly as she noticed the furtive way Clark's eyes searched the room. Danny saw the flash of guilt that washed through the crystalline cerulean as Clark's eyes drifted over Lana's bed. But it was hidden in a moment as Chloe continued speaking. "Actually, she didn't come home at all last night."

"Did she say why?" Danny asked, he hadn't really seen Lana for two weeks, and when he saw her at the Mansion she had seemed anxious, but she'd left before Danny got to ask her about it.

Chloe sent Clark a meaningful glare. "It's not another guy. She's started hanging out with a couple o med students and they keep really wicked hours."

Danny frowned, looking over at Lana's side of the room. There was her usual slew of astronomy textbooks, as well as a couple of philosophy texts. But the books on anatomy were new, and there were several books about exploring the afterlife and one about 'The Other Side' which he recognised from Sam's old bookshelf. Danny frowned, while it was _possible_ that she was looking into ghosts after their sudden appearance in Smallville, it just seemed unlikely. But it didn't sound like she was getting herself into trouble and med students as a generalisation weren't too interested in dealing with superstitious nonsense. Danny decided to set it aside for now.

Clark cautiously came in, taking a seat next to Danny on Chloe's bed rather than rolling Lana's desk chair over. Chloe looked over at Clark, her green eyes creased sadly. "You know Clark, it will happen. Eventually she will find someone else."

Clark gulped, and Danny could practically feel the thinly veiled tension dripping off his cousin. "She deserves to be happy. So what's the problem?" Chloe and Danny both frowned at Clark's obvious attempt to change the subject. Danny himself had done the same thing with Tuck and Sam, focusing on his _job_ rather than his own emotional issues. It never really helped, but it put the hurt away until it could be dealt with properly, in isolation.

Chloe picked up on Clark's dismissive mood and quickly turned her attention back to her computer. "Mass destruction and death in Central America." Chloe answered, pulling up the original news article that the photo of Fine had come from. It was talking about an epidemic rampaging through Honduras. But Danny couldn't figure out what Fine would be doing around an infectious disease.

"And the possibility that our old friend Milton Fine is involved." Danny tacked on, his attention focused on the screen.

"No," Clark denied. "He's dead."

"I know we thought we saw him die." Danny heard Chloe reply "But the only thing we're really sure of is that he disappeared, and so did that ship."

"He didn't die." Danny interjected distractedly; his attention still on the screen. He was reading the article for any hints of what fine was up to. It was written in Spanish, but between his knowledge of dead languages and his understanding of Esperanto he was able to piece together the article. But it didn't really explain anything more than the fact that a few blood samples seemed to have gone missing and a warning for the locals not to touch anything that looked like it might be infected.

"He died; he was speared through by those crystals on the console." Clark stiffly retorted. Danny sighed, looking between Chloe and his cousin.

"That version of Fine died, sure. But he doesn't work like that." Danny explained. "He's an AI construct, sort of like... a character in a video game. If one gets killed he can still come back so long as the original programming is still running."

Chloe frowned. "So he's still around? What's running the original programming?"

"Probably the ship." Danny shrugged.

"But the ship vanished too." Clark dismissed.

Danny shook his head. "Probably a defence mechanism. If sufficient damage were done to the currently operating construct the ship would relocate and reset. It's still out there." Danny affirmed. "The question is; why is the current construct mucking around in Honduras, and where is the ship now?"

Chloe scowled at him. "Someday you're gonna tell me exactly where you picked all this information up."

"Maybe." Danny replied with a disarming smile. "But for now I'm guessing you want Clark and I to go check out Honduras near the biohazard site?"

"It would be good to know what he's up to." Chloe answered. "How does your teleporting work again?"

"I'm not gonna teleport Clark there." Danny replied adamantly. "It was bad enough going from Metropolis to the farm; I'm not crossing half a continent with a Kryptonian. Besides, I don't know the area well enough to be able to teleport in." And that was true enough; he needed to have more on the location than a grainy picture. If he knew someone who was there he could teleport to their energy signature, but he needed something he recognised to ground him.

"We'll run." Clark supplied, his eyes fixed on the grainy picture of Fine displayed on the screen. "Just tell us where the photo was taken." Chloe nodded, fixing her attention to the screen and pulling up a couple of records.

"It's a small village, a couple of miles north of the capitol." Chloe eventually answered, biting her lip. "The biohazard team was only there for a day, but there are a couple of other villages nearby. Most have closed off, but I think the photo was taken within twenty miles of Sierra de la Botija."

Chloe printed off the page, including the zoomed in photo of Fine. Clark picked it up from the printer and sent her a piercing gaze. "How'd you find this anyway?"

Chloe bit her lip and Danny frowned, knowing the answer was not going to be satisfying. Sure enough the simple "A source tipped me off." didn't give any clue as to where the trail came from. Danny pressed his lips; the inadequate dodge as well as the swell of guilt in Chloe's green eyes suggested that neither of them would like the source. But Danny knew that with how many secrets he was keeping from Chloe he was in no real position to demand a better answer.

Sighing, Danny nodded once, but was interrupted before he could say anything further by the dorm door swinging open. Lana stood in the doorway, her eyes bloodshot as though she hadn't gotten any sleep the night before. Well, at least Chloe's story seemed to check out. But Lana was nothing to the blonde girl behind her. She was a Goth, no doubt about it. Her long blonde hair had streaks of vivid red, and her red rimmed eyes were coated in a layer of thick eyeliner. But there was something more to it than that.

Danny's eyes creased as he looked in between the two girls; where Lana looked exhausted, the blonde was sick. There was something deeply wrong with her aura. It was weak, as though she were lethargic but... Danny didn't know what exactly it was. As Phantom he'd come across sick people in hospitals, dying people who couldn't be saved. Their auras tended to be weak, dimming and flickering before flaring back as they fought death back for a while longer. The blonde's aura was similar to that, but had an added... something that Danny just couldn't figure out. He looked between Lana and the girl, eyes widening as he realised that Lana had the same touch of that _something_, and he didn't like it one bit.

He closed his eyes tightly as he felt them flare, silver or green he didn't know, but he knew that his eyes had shifted colour in the presence of the almost death-kissed auras of the two girls. He heard the blonde say goodbye, her voice hoarse and scratchy like she had a bad sore throat. Danny immediately cut himself off, repressing his ability to feel auras at all. He didn't want to feel that sickness coming off of Lana, and with Clark in the room too it was just easier to put it aside. Silently he counted to ten, feeling his eyes return to human as he forcibly calmed himself down. He heard Lana shuffle over to her side of the room, and opened his eyes when Clark edgily tapped his arm, signifying that it was time to go.

Danny unhesitatingly followed him out, allowing Clark to lead him through the winding corridors of the dorms until the two were standing in the sun outside. Danny took a moment to sit on the steps, watching as the various students milled around. He took a deep, shaky breath, trying to shirk off the last remains of the strange auras and making a careful mental note to do some private investigation when Clark wasn't around. It would be better if he had all the facts before he forced Clark onto Lana again. Although the mental picture he was building wasn't a particularly good one.

"So what's the plan?" Danny eventually asked, squinting his eyes since Clark was standing directly in the sun.

"We head south." Clark answered flatly. "We need to figure out what Fine's plans are."

Danny nodded once, getting his mind back into that frame. He mulled over everything he knew about Fine or Brainiac, but couldn't come up with a good reason for why he would be clinging around a biohazard team. It was strange. Brainiac had been designed to infiltrate Zod's ranks and investigate his troops for weaknesses. When Zod corrupted him, he still had the same general purpose, even if his loyalties had changed. The problem was his high intelligence. Brainiac processed the world a lot like a computer, meaning that the connections Danny and Clark made probably weren't the same as the logical leaps that Brainiac would make.

The two of them set off at a run, the scenes of the city almost stilling around them as Clark and Danny sped down the highway. Danny knew Clark was slowing himself down slightly; Clark was still able to run just that bit faster when there were no obstructions in the way. They ran in silence, Clark was still probably avoiding on his Lana avoidance techniques, and Danny was quietly musing over all the different scenarios they could run into when they got to Honduras. Danny didn't want to meet up with Brainiac until he knew exactly what he was up to, but he was prepared to fight him if he needed to.

Danny knew that this time around he probably wouldn't be as lucky the last time he confronted Brainiac. The first time he had been able to intimidate the android, simply because he was an unknown element. That was his only protection; Danny didn't think Fine would ever be able to process what he was. While humans may be better able to accept the impossible, Brainiac would never be able to comprehend his existence. He was in essence a highly intelligent, reactive programme. While Brainiac knew what to do with humans, and may even know how to deal with Kryptonian ghosts, he wouldn't be programmed to deal with a halfa. Danny hoped that would be enough to give him a continued advantage against Zod's follower.

_Line Break_

Clark ran; the skyline of Metropolis long since vanished into the sun kissed countryside of rural Kansas. It was never a long run between Smallville and the city, but it took slightly longer when Clark had to match pace with Danny. Danny could move very fast, but Clark had noticed that he was just that bit faster when it came to running on the flat. Clark looked over to his dark haired cousin, an intense look of concentration on his face as he ran. "What do you think he's planning?" Clark asked as the landscape continued to blur around them. The scenery shifted from the soft yellows of Kansas to a more sandy brown as they crossed the border into Texas.

"I don't know." Danny replied with a frown. And Clark could guess what was going through his cousin's mind. From what Danny had explained, with ghosts their motives tended to be obvious; everything related back to their obsession in some fairly obvious way. But Milton Fine wasn't like Danny's usual enemies. He was intelligent in a way that Clark wasn't sure Danny could deal with. Clark knew that Danny had been taught about Fine, but the fact of the matter was that Danny may be too used to ghosts to withstand a confrontation with Fine.

"Brainiac is complex in a way I'm not familiar with." Danny mused aloud, confirming Clark's suspicions. Danny didn't know what he was up against. "But, he's definitely in Honduras for _something_. After all, if he were purely hiding from you he would have been better off in Antarctica or somewhere you can't run to." Clark frowned, there was an element of truth to that, but at the same time Danny had powers that Clark didn't.

"Good point, although you could probably fly us there if you wanted." Clark replied.

"But he doesn't know that." Danny rebuffed "He doesn't know I'm Phantom, he knows I'm something... other than human, but I don't think that he would make the leap to halfa. Scientific impossibility and all." Clark frowned, conceding the point. He didn't like Fine knowing about Danny's powers, and neither of them knew exactly how much Fine was aware of. Danny seemed to rely on being underestimated a lot, but that could only get either of them so far.

"So that means that he'll believe the only way you could find them is on your own steam." Danny continued, oblivious to Clark's thoughts. "He's here looking for _something_. Now that article was going on about how insidious and strange this particular disease is. It's sort of like the bubonic plague, except that it weakens the outer layer of skin to the point where the small pressure from the pulsing veins is enough to break the surface. It's not pleasant."

Clark shivered at the disturbing mental image, but focused back on the main point. "But why would he be investigating a disease in the first place?" Clark asked.

"I'm not sure. I know it's oversimplifying by a lot, but let's assume this is all some elaborate way for him to get back to General Zod." Danny suggested with half a glance towards Clark. "We know that you closed him off from access through the portal in the Fortress, so now he's gotta find another way."

Clark frowned, looking back at Danny and slowing down slightly. Danny matched his pace. "You think he's trying to bring back Zod?" Clark pressed.

"I'm not sure." Danny answered. "I'm not exactly an expert in Kryptonian AI, but I think it's a safe bet to assume so. It still leaves us with the problem of why he's looking into a disease in the first place. The ones here aren't the same as the ones I've read about from Krypton. Probably Jor-El would know more..." Danny trailed off seeing the strained look in Clark's eyes. Clark didn't want to think about his birth father at all. It would take a lot to convince him that Jor-El was anything other than a manipulator who liked to play god with human life.

"If we were on Krypton," Danny eventually continued, seeming now to be thinking aloud than talking to Clark. "I'd say he was going into biological warfare so that he could gain access to a portal to the Phantom Zone. But we aren't. I don't think he knows that..." Danny stopped himself abruptly, making Clark wonder what he was hiding.

"You don't think he knows...?" Clark pressed, stopping at the roadside. By now they had passed through Mexico and were about halfway through Guatemala judging by the hilly green terrain.

Danny rumpled his hair aggressively, his eyes showing an inner debate before he quietly gave Clark an answer. "I don't think he knows that there are more ways to access the Phantom Zone than through your Fortress."

"That's the second time you've called it the Phantom Zone, what happened to calling it the Ghost Zone?" Clark asked with creased brows as they started running again. He was curious, usually Danny wouldn't make a mental slip like that, after all surely the Phantom Zone and the Ghost Zone were names for the same place. A place that Clark himself had visited with an unconscious Danny in his arms, bitten by freezing winds and an icy blue sky.

Danny avidly shook his head. "No, they're different. Very different. The Phantom Zone was sort of like a prison for the worst of the worst on Krypton. Your... Jor-El helped create it to keep the rest of Krypton safe. It's a _bad_ place." Danny stopped speaking, and in his eyes Clark saw _fear_. There was very little Clark had seen that made Danny scared, but if the idea of the Phantom Zone had traumatised Danny to the point where he couldn't talk about it... Clark instantly knew that he never wanted to experience the Ghost Zone's judicial system.

Clark and Danny slowed down. Danny had become eerily silent, a dark look circling through his eyes. By now the jungle had become a lot thicker and the road had long since vanished into a hard packed dirt trail. Clark took his eyes off Danny and looked towards the village that had appeared through the undergrowth. It was small, perhaps only twenty small wood huts all up. The people were bustling busy, and there were a few small carts selling wares along the main street. However, lively as the children were, the adults all looked worn. The epidemic must have taken a lot out of them, and it was clear that there were one or two huts that had been abandoned.

Clark led the way into the village, hearing Danny following a couple of steps behind him. He pulled out the photo of Fine that Chloe had given him, his brown head of hair apparent despite the graininess of the image. Taking a deep breath he led the way over to a young woman who had just finished bartering with a merchant. Unfortunately Clark's Spanish was pretty much limited to 'gracias' which wasn't going to get them very far. The woman looked confusedly between the photo and Clark before shaking her head. Clark was about to give up when Danny tapped his shoulder before stepping forward to talk to the young woman himself.

"Perdone, señora, mi amigo y yo estamos en busca de un caballero llamado Milton Fine. ¿Serías tan amable de concederme el honor de conocer si usted ha puesto los ojos sobre su rostro?" Danny said, and while Clark couldn't make out what he had asked he did understand the badly concealed giggles that the young woman hid behind her hand.

"No lo he hecho, pero creo que Jorés pueda tener." She replied, her eyes sparkling with silent mirth as she gestured off towards a small boy sitting happily in the dirt outside a hut. He held something in his hands and was gently smiling as he moved it through the air.

"Gracias, señora." Danny said, grabbing Clark's arm and tugging him towards the boy. He was young, maybe five or six. Like many of the villagers he was clothed in a well worn t-shirt. Its soft grey was baggy on his small frame, but was clearly well loved.

"What was that about?" Clark asked in a soft whisper, gesturing back to the now openly laughing young woman.

Danny sighed, shaking his head. "I'm guessing that she's laughing at what I just said. I think it translates to the English equivalent of 'Excuse me, milady, my friend and I are currently looking for a gentleman called Milton Fine. Would you kindly bestow upon me the honour of knowing whether you have laid eyes upon his countenance?'"

Clark didn't even bother to hide his laughter. "Great translator you are, next thing you'll be asking where the next jousting tournament is." Clark rubbed Danny's hair affectionately, even as Danny batted him away.

"Excuse me, but I'll have you know I _am_ an active knight. Besides, it's not my fault that I'm limited to dead languages. At least she understood what I was trying to say which is better than you just waving a picture around." Danny replied, trying to redeem himself, but Clark was still happily snickering at Danny's language skills. It was better than nothing, but it was pretty hilarious to think that the best Danny could manage was so old fashioned.

The two of them made their way over to the boy, and Clark's eyes widened as he saw exactly what his toy was. It was small and made of carved wood, but looked exactly like Fine's spacecraft, and the boy was moving it like a toy airplane through the sky. "Can you ask him if he's actually seen the ship?" Clark asked, nudging Danny with his elbow.

Danny nodded and crouched down in front of the young boy. "¿Perdón, pero has visto el barco del cielo?" Danny asked gently, gesturing towards the small toy.

The boy looked askance at Danny, and Clark could only assume that Danny was messing up the translation again. "¿Carroza de los dioses? ¿Quieres que te muestre allí?" The boy said, and Clark looked to Danny for any indication of what the boy was saying.

Danny just smiled at the boy. "Si, por favour." he answered before looking back to Clark. "He asked if I meant the 'Chariot of the gods' since I asked for a 'sky ship', and if we'd like him to show it to us." Danny whispered to Clark as the little boy stood up, leading them out of the village and through the trees. There was no clear path, but the boy was happily talking to Danny as they went. There was a moment's pause before Danny gave a small laugh, his eyes briefly landing on Clark before he spoke once more.

Danny apparently felt Clark's gaze because he looked briefly to Clark "The boy asked if you're mute, since you're leaving all the speaking to, well, me. But he also said we're not the first people to ask about the ship. A couple of weeks ago Fine and a 'tall, thin bald man' came by, asking to be shown the spaceship. I think Lex is on the same trail as we are."

"Naturally." Clark replied with no small amount of venom. Of course Lex was investigating the spaceship; he couldn't leave anything to do with Krypton alone.

"Not naturally." Danny replied quickly, but before Clark was able to mount an argument Danny was talking again. "I know you don't like Lex, but in this case I think he's being toyed with. The only reason we're here is because Chloe happened to see a photo with Fine in it. I'd bet Fine laid a trail to pull Lex in; otherwise Lex would have talked to Jorés by himself. My question is, what does Fine want with Lex?"

Clark frowned, but was saved having to reply when the boy gestured towards a clearing in the forest. Clark stepped through first and was both shocked and dismayed to see a large pentagonal scorch mark in the forest floor. There was no doubt that the ship had been here, nothing else had the same dimensions as the spaceship, nor did Clark know of anything that could leave such a mark without touching anything else.

Clark looked over to Danny who was surveying the scene keenly. The little boy who had led them there was already disappearing back into the jungle. Clark was about to call out a thankyou when the ground trembled. Clark's attention immediately turned to his cousin, just in time to notice a small sliver of blue escape from his mouth, like the small fug of breath on a cold day. Clark watched as Danny's eyes widened, jumping between a space in the forest and the trail where the boy had walked off to.

"Clark, find Jorés and take him back to the village." Danny barked, his eyes set on the forest at the far side of the clearing. "Now!" Clark blinked once at Danny's sudden urgency, but realised that something in the forest must have spooked him. The only thing that put Danny on alert like that was ghosts, so that probably meant there was a dangerous ghost in the area. Clark didn't need another second, he raced back along the path, scooping Jorés up in his arms and running him back to the relative safety of the village.

As Clark set the boy down there was a tremor, the whole village shook violently as the ground beneath them trembled. Clark spared a glance to the forest in the direction he'd just come from where a cloud of birds erupted fearfully from the treetops. The earth continued to shake, sending the villagers running into the relative safety of their huts. The main street was abandoned, the wares from the shopkeepers spread messily across the ground. It was then that Clark noticed the foul scent that had mixed with the soft smell of the forest. The air became foul, a strange mixture of rotting flesh and damp decay which was undercut by the disgusting stench of rotten eggs. Jorés tugged at Clark's wrist, pulling him towards his hut.

"¡Tenemos que correr! ¡Es Cizin! ¡Date prisa!" The boy exclaimed, tugging fearfully at Clark in an attempt to force him inside. "¡Es Cizin!" Clark pulled his hand away, now determined to find out exactly what was going on. He tried to comfort the little boy as he left, but needed to find Danny and whatever it was that had found them in the jungle. They had come here to try to find Milton Fine, and Clark had been convinced by the black scorch mark that Fine had long since gone.

But he was now stuck in an earthquake, and the scent of perverted death hung rank in the air. And suddenly the possibility of Fine still being around didn't seem so unlikely. The villagers had all hidden screaming '_Cizin'_ in fear, Clark didn't know who or what that was, but if it was in some way connected to Fine then Clark knew he had a responsibility to find out what was going on and to stop him.

Clark dove back into the jungle, retracing the path through the leafy green foliage as he attempted to find his way back to the clearing. But when he got back he gasped. The pentagonal scorch mark had been completely decimated leaving only a smoking crater in the ground. Some of the trees nearby had been smashed to splinters and a couple had blackened scorch marks, still steaming from the heat. The trail led away from the village, a pathway of raw destruction piecing its way through the leafy jungle. Clark followed the path, knowing that he'd find Danny at the end.

Clark ran through the forest, slowing himself down so that he didn't trip over the various rocks and fallen, uprooted trees that were in the way. The rancid smell that had surfaced in the village had intensified, forcing Clark to bite down his gag reflex as the smell clawed through his nostrils. He was getting closer if the power of the foul odour and the constant quivering of the trees was anything to go by.

Then there was an almighty crash as one of the trees shattered to splinters and a black and white blur flew past him, coming to a skidding halt twenty feet back where Clark had just come from. Clark ran over, but the blur was back in action. Clark saw Phantom's white Cloak fluttering in the breeze as he picked himself up, his white head shaking quickly as Phantom pushed himself into a defensive stance.

The ground shuddered once more, settling into a steady rhythm that felt like footsteps. Clark's eyes followed Phantom's deep into the jungle foliage, and Clark couldn't help but gape as he saw the glowing figure easily picking its way through the foliage. Tall trees fell heavily behind it with every earth moving step, and the stench that followed him buried itself in Clark's lungs, burning him from the inside. Stinging tears leapt to Clark's eyes at the noxious scent, and he envied Phantom's ability to hold his breath since he certainly wasn't breathing now.

The figure stepped out of the shadowed undergrowth and into the limited sunlight of the clearing Phantom had created with his crash landing. Clark froze. The figure had green skin, marred by countless scars. The green skin was contrasted against pitch black tribal tattoos, stretching down his arms and all the way up his neck to encircle his vivid red eyes. His flesh was gaunt, clinging in close to his skeleton making him look emaciated. The only clothing he wore was a loincloth, accentuated with sticks and bones hanging loose like a skirt. He had a large headdress on, decorated with blackened bones and spindly black feathers. Around his neck swung a necklace laced with human eyeballs, all tied together in a long string woven from the optic nerves. Clark repressed a shudder at the sight of the man; he looked like death incarnate, ready for some tribal war.

The figure – ghost – roared loud, his eyes fixed firmly on Phantom. There was a blast of green and brown and Phantom was thrown back once more. Clark didn't know what else to do, so he employed the tactic Danny had advised months ago to deal with the Box Ghost. Clark sent a blast of heat directly towards the green ghost's skeletal frame, but the ghost just laughed.

Clark gasped as the bright crimson eyes turned to him. Before he could move he was thrown back, a powerful green blast pounding into his chest and sending him flying into the ground. He groaned as he pulled himself up, throwing himself out of the way as a second blast landed right where his head had been a moment before. Clark's eyes searched the clearing for any sign of his cousin, but saw nothing before he found himself having to duck again. A sharp exhale passed his lips, he wasn't prepared for this. None of the meteor freaks had been able to blast him with energy, and Clark's chest still stung from the first attack.

Thinking fast he raced over to the ghost, landing a swift uppercut to his jaw just as Phantom appeared beside the ghost delivering a spinning kick to his stomach. The ghost was thrown back, crashing heavily through the trees, but he got back up quickly. He spoke, but Clark couldn't even recognise the language. His voice was ethereal and cruel, the rasping caw of crows and the scraping of cold rocks. Phantom took a staggering step back, his eyes wide with fear. But it was hidden a moment later as he steeled himself, his white cloak fluttering over his shoulders like a lone knight on a battlefield.

Phantom stared the ghost down, replying coldly in that same strange tongue. The ghost barked a reply, baring his sharp spiked teeth before he sent an explosion of green towards Phantom. Phantom easily dodged, but the charge from the ghost's other hand came straight towards Clark. Clark smelled the sharp tang of energy in the air, cutting through the scent of death that oozed off the ghost. He closed himself, readying himself for impact, but felt nothing. There was a loud gasp in front of him, and Clark opened his eyes to see Phantom take the charge of energy straight to his chest.

Clark gasped as Phantom's eyes flared silver, and somehow, even though there was a trace of green oozing from his lips he grinned.

_Line Break_

Danny stared off into the forest undergrowth searching, something _big_ had set off his ghost sense and he didn't know what. He heard the shuffling of Clark's feet as he ran Jorés away to the village. Danny needed to make sure the area was clear, this ghost was powerful and he couldn't afford for the boy or Clark to get hurt. Danny was happy to help Clark deal with Milton Fine, and the trail they had been set on was informative in the clues Fine had left, but Clark didn't know what to do with ghosts. He wasn't like Sam or Tuck, hadn't lived through the worst that ghosts could give. So Danny had decided to protect Clark from them. He had enough going on between Brainiac and the meteor freaks.

The problem was that Danny was exhausted. He wasn't used to long runs, hadn't been when he was fourteen and failing at the President's Fitness Test and still wasn't nearly three years later. That said, not many people could claim to have run two and a half thousand miles in just over an hour. But he had to set that aside at the approaching danger. The ghost was still a long way off, but Danny suspected that the ghost was the cause of the constant tremors shaking the earth beneath his feet. There was a crash, the sound of splintering wood, and Danny felt the ghost come closer.

Danny gasped, it was _powerful_. The ghost's aura signalled violence, the sharp pain of cut stone and brutal massacre. And it was still half a mile off. Phantom didn't know what exactly had brought the ghost out, but knowing his intent was more than enough. If this ghost wasn't sent back to the Zone, no, if he wasn't hand delivered to Clockwork, then he would happily massacre the village, and the next one, until everything in his path was dead. Danny couldn't let that happen, but with his energy as low as it felt he didn't know how long he could last against this new threat.

It was then Danny noticed the smell, the rancid odour of burnt ectoplasm mixed with the insidious edge of rotting flesh. Danny gagged once before shifting into his ghost form. The cool rings slid over him and removed completely the need to breathe. He could focus now with the pervasive scent set at bay. Phantom sighed, feeling the slight shifting as his cloak floated in the breeze, the tension mounting as a pre-battle surge of energy whipped through his core. He half smiled; it had been a long time since he'd faced a challenge.

There was an almighty clamour as the ghost finally surged forth into the clearing. Phantom took an involuntary step back. He knew very little of Earthly mythology, only what had been lectured to him by Sam and Clockwork. What he did know was the many cultures that ghosts sprang from. This one was clearly Ancient Mayan, probably a warrior. But his outfit was still wrong, and his body was worse. The green skin meant little to Phantom, it was common among ghosts. But the dark tribal tattooing stretching up his arms and down his chest, encircling his eyes, they marked him as a fierce fighter. But his ghostly skin was stretched taught across his skeletal frame, and his costume was decorated with bones rather than soft feathers. And the eyeball necklace strung around his neck made Phantom shiver.

The ghost eyed Phantom, evaluating him with his darkened crimson gaze. Like so many powerful ghosts he had no pupils, no whites; only deep pools of blackened red that held cold contempt for anything living. "I am Cizin." The ghost announced proudly, his voice setting off tremors in the air with the resonance of grating stones. "God of earthquakes, Great Tepal of death. I am the bane of Chac, the keeper of lost souls. For millennia I have reaped in the blood of weak and pitiful mortals. And you, xiipal have encroached upon my territory."

Phantom didn't react. He wouldn't let himself. This ghost had been in the real world for so long, done so much harm, and yet no one had sought to stop him. It seemed ridiculous, Undergrowth had been in hiding for nearly four hundred years before he came to Smallville, but this ghost had been committing atrocities unchecked. Phantom's jaw set, and he felt his eyes flare bright. He wouldn't let this stand, wouldn't let this ghost continue taking human life, even as tired as he already was. Not while there was still energy in his core.

"I think it's more you've _encroached_ on real world territory. Go back to the Zone." Phantom shot back, gauging the ghost's snarled reaction.

"I am a god," Cizin shot back, his teeth grating angrily as his red eyes flared the colour of fire. "And you, chan koxol, can do nothing. My domain is here, and I will not return to Xibalbá until Kukulcan himself defeats me in battle."

"I don't care." Phantom replied hotly. "I'm not gonna let you hurt anyone else, and if that means doing _Kukulkan's_ job for him, then I say bring it."

The ghost blinked for a moment, but Phantom wasn't going to give him an opportunity to press his advantage. Phantom shot a warning ectoblast at Cizin, a small attempt to try and get him to back off. But it did nothing but aggravate the ghost. Danny felt himself being thrown back as the earth beneath him shifted, sending him hurtling backwards. His back slammed into a tree and a shower of splinters burst around him.

Phantom stood up, briefly turning intangible and sinking through the ground. It was a good technique for surprise attacks, and worked effectively this time. Phantom zeroed in on the ghost's aura, bringing himself up to full speed in the earth and surging forth to deliver an ectoplasm charged hit to Cizin's stomach. The skeletal ghost was sent flying, several trees collapsing in his trajectory. Phantom followed quickly, dodging under the bright green jet of Cizin's return fire. Trusting his instincts he flickered out of visibility just long enough to sweep the feet out from under the ghost.

Cizin had obviously been on Earth too long if he relied on gravity the way he did, he came crashing down to the ground with a feral growl. But this seemed to draw out the more bestial instincts in the ghost. Phantom soon found himself weaving through a veritable minefield of not just bursts of ectoplasm, but the ghost's own telekinetically charged boulders. He was ducking around trees as they attempted to collapse on him. He was distracted by the near constant fire, unable to land many blows of his own as the ghost circled back around him.

Phantom was struck heavily in the back, sending him sprawling in the muddy jungle floor. He slid along the forest track for a moment, until he came to a screeching halt against a boulder. He felt his neck crack, an injury that would have broken his neck if he were fully human. But he couldn't afford to let himself be distracted anymore. He pulled himself up, straightening his neck and throwing himself out of the path of the next fiery blast. He coughed once, knowing that the last blow had dealt more lasting damage than just to his neck, but he had bigger problems.

The ghost was right on him, his teeth flashing wildly, thin sharpened spikes that were more reminiscent of a jaguar than a human. Phantom felt the ghost's long skeletal fingers press into his chest, the bony claws digging deep to press against his core. Phantom let out an anguished cry, that morphed briefly into a primal version of the Ghostly Wail. The sonic blast sent the ghost flying backwards, soaring off into the trees.

Phantom collapsed to his knees, his hands pressed against his chest as he felt his core fluctuate. For a moment he felt nothing as the world distorted. He saw green, he saw red, he saw blackness and stars all swirling together as his core attempted to stabilise itself from that vicious physical assault. Then he was flying, the heavy blow delivered straight to his gut coming out of the darkness and sending him soaring. He felt himself skidding through the forest, his back impacting once more against a tree. But there was someone else near now. And that mere presence was enough to bring him back from the bleariness that had been overtaking him.

Phantom looked up, feeling more than seeing the approach of the ghost. What he hadn't been expecting was for Clark to be back, and it was a mixed blessing that he was. Clark was not in the best of moods, but there was a small sliver of positive emotion that Phantom clung to like a lifeline, that small bit of Kryptonian strength was enough to pull him back to something like full consciousness. The bad thing was that Clark was now in the sights of a powerful ghost. One which Danny knew Clark couldn't handle.

That became painfully obvious when Clark sent a heat blast at the ghost. But Cizin was too strong for that to do anything more than sting. It would take temperatures closer to the searing heat needed to melt carbon to do any damage to that ghost, and if Clark could manage that Phantom didn't know. The ghost just laughed it off, focusing his attention now on Clark. Before Clark could do anything he was being shot by a searing burst of ectoplasm, and Phantom felt the powerful energy radiate out from the blast itself.

But Phantom wasn't going to let an opportunity like this go to waste. He didn't like Clark playing decoy, so as soon as he could he flew up and delivered a charged spinning kick to the ghost's stomach. Clark seemed to have a similar idea as he dealt a heavy punch to the ghost's jaw. Their combined attack sent the ghost flying through the forest, several trees collapsing to splinters in his wake. But it wasn't enough, and Phantom was coming to realise how very few ideas he had to combat this ghost. His powers weren't even particularly unique, they were just so strong, and Phantom hadn't been in peak fighting position to begin with.

"You can't stop me, xiipal." The ghost's cruel voice cut through the clearing. "You can't stop death, I am ever present, immortal, the darkness that waits at the end for all who live. Humans must fear me, and tremble in the knowledge that there is nothing they can do to escape. But you, xiipal. You are new to me." The ghost paused for a moment, studying him with his cold red eyes. "You have the powers of a god, you are one of us. And yet you live. Join me; with your strength you would have the world at your feet. The mortal humans would fear you, and you are young to our kind yet. Let me teach you our ways. Or..."

The ghost paused for a terrible moment "You can watch as I bring the world to its knees. You cannot stop me, there is nothing that can. I have been lenient for over a thousand years, but it is time to see the rise of a new age. One where all mortals bow to their rightful ruler, the true face of Xibalbá, Cizin."

Phantom froze for a minute, and the offers of Vlad and his own evil alternate self echoed loudly in his head. He stepped back, before finding his own resolution and meeting the ghost firmly in the eyes. He had not bowed to their whims, and he was not going to subject himself to the whims of some Mayan ghost who presumed himself the god of death.

"You are not the first to ask me to join them." Phantom answered coldly, feeling bile rise in the back of his throat. "I doubt you will be the last. But I don't care what power you offer, how strong you think you will be with me by your side. I will not bow to you, and I will stop you." Cizin stared at him for a moment before he retaliated. Cizin's hands burst to light with emerald energy, and Phantom swooped around the blow Cizin threw at him. What he wasn't prepared for was the second, much stronger blast, instead of being a painful follow up shot, flying straight towards Clark who _wasn't moving out of the way_.

Phantom didn't think. His core was still aching, he could feel green ooze seeping through his own dormant lungs, felt the misalignment of the bones in his neck. But the pain was nothing. Through a darkened blur he slid in front of his cousin, protecting him from the blast. It hurt, _Hecate_ did it hurt. He felt like every pore of him was aflame, and he knew that this was the ghost's true power. It was instant death, plain and simple. If any truly living being were touched by that then that was the end. But Danny had taken it; he could take it because he had already _died_ once. He'd already survived his death. And because of that he could protect. He had kept Clark safe from harm.

Phantom felt a wave of energy wash through him, cleansing him, restoring him. A wave of energy that had nothing to do with the relief Clark had for his own safety and everything to do with fulfilling his own obsession. Phantom couldn't help it. He smiled.

"You don't get it, do you Cizin. I won't give up. I won't give in, and I'm not gonna let you harm anyone. You say you are the god of death, that mortals should fear you? You are nothing. You say you are the awaiting darkness? Then I will be the light. I am Danny Phantom, and I will stop you."

From then it was quick. Having tasted Cizin's true power he knew what he was. He knew his own power, his obsession, his own strength of will, could overcome this overconfident ghost. Phantom felt his eyes flare, and he released a blast of arctic ice, instantly freezing Cizin to the forest floor. Without a second thought he pulled out his old Thermos, tugging the ghost inside and containing him until Danny could take Cizin to Clockwork. Phantom may not like dealing with the Observant's, but Clockwork would take care of the murderous ghost properly.

Phantom allowed himself a small laugh as he collapsed boneless to his knees. The aches that he had set aside until he had captured Cizin coming back full force. He felt the cool white rings slide over him, shifting him back to his human form without his own violation. The forest swam around him, and he dimly heard Clark saying something before he faded into the calming embrace of unconsciousness.

_Line Break_

Clark raced over to the unconscious form of his now human cousin. Danny had defeated the ghost, entrapping him in the Thermos and away from harm. But Clark was troubled. During the whole fight it felt like Danny was blocking him off, standing like a protective shield between Clark and the ghost. Danny was always so keen to help Clark with his meteor freak problems or with Milton Fine, that Clark had assumed that he would be fine to let Clark help out with the ghosts.

Leaving aside the fact that this ghost had been a lot tougher than the Box Ghost, Clark wasn't sure what to make of such a barrier. Had it always been there, and this was the first time he had gotten to see it? Surely not. Danny had let Chloe come along to fight Undergrowth, and all she had was an ecto-gun. But then again, Danny hadn't really let her into the fight either, he'd let her have a couple of pot-shots at the minions, but kept the big villain almost to himself. Chloe had had to force her way into the fight herself.

But Danny knew about Clark's powers. Surely Danny would be happy to let him help out. Clark wanted to help, and after all the training that Danny had put him through Clark felt that he was ready to prove himself. But Danny had blocked him off. Had jumped in front of many of the attacks Cizin sent his way. Had sent Clark away, to the village, rather than let him stay to help. The question was why. And Clark wanted answers.

A bush rustled nearby, and Clark jumped to attention, focusing on the source of the noise. It was that little boy, Jorés, who had shown them to the sight of Fine's ship; the same boy who Clark had run back to the village to keep safe. He was staring wide eyed between Danny and Clark. His brown eyes glittering brown in the sunlight as he surveyed the clearing. There was a brief pause, filled with tension before the boy broke out into a strange smile. It was a mixture of awe, fear and unmitigated excitement.

"Tú eres los dioses!" The boy declared, and Clark's heart sunk. He didn't need to be an expert in Spanish to realise that Danny and maybe himself had just been compared to gods. He frowned, looking at Danny's unconscious form before walking over to pick him up. He was light, too light. And Clark didn't know whether that was normal or if something was wrong. There was no way he could risk running him back to the farm just now, it had been over an hour to run, and that was when both of them had been unencumbered by anything. He would have to go drastically slower if he had to carry Danny, and Clark didn't know how extensive Danny's injuries were.

He came to a decision. Danny would probably be mad at him, but he had no way of getting into contact with anyone who could help. There was no phone reception within a ten mile radius. And there was no way he was going to leave Danny alone like this. So he shifted Danny until he was slung limply across Clark's back and did his best job of asking Jorés for help back in the village. The boy nodded excitedly, eagerly guiding Clark back through the undergrowth and back towards the village.

On the way Danny seemed to rouse slightly, but he was in some form of muddled delirium and spoke nonsensical phrases. Clark wasn't sure what language he was speaking, or if it even was a language at all, but the note of terror in his voice told him that Danny was trapped deep within a nightmare. The little boy was happily leading the way, jumping across stones and happily talking in Spanish. He said the name Cizin several times, often sneaking an awed look back at Danny before continuing his easygoing prattle.

They got to the village as the sun started to dip into the horizon. The boy happily pulled Clark into what he assumed was his home, gesturing towards the single bed for Danny. He ran outside, shouting to the whole village. Clark didn't take much notice. He was too caught up in his own musings. He didn't know what was wrong with Danny, he didn't know much about first aid and still didn't really know how to help treat ghosts, other than that maybe giving Danny chocolate could help. A call to Vlad Masters would probably help, but there was still the problem of limited reception and also how to explain that both of them were in Honduras in the first place.

Clark watched over Danny's unconscious form, seeing the soft breathing and hearing the way his breath rattled in his chest. There was still a trace of blood on his lip, although the cut itself seemed to have healed. Clark wasn't sure when it had happened, but the tips of Danny's hair had taken on a distinctly white hue. The black strands ending in stark white that framed his unconscious face. Clark hated not knowing, and he hated that there was no one he could talk to ask for help. He groaned, settling himself further into the chair as he continued his silent vigil.

There was a knock at the door, breaking Clark out of his reverie. Jorés opened the front door, happily leading two women in, judging by their ages one of them was probably his mother. They were soon followed by an older man, his dark hair greying. The man looked straight at Clark. "Jorés tells us that you and the boy are gods, that you beat Cizin himself." The man said, his English was faltering, but it was better than fumbling between translations.

Clark frowned, but the man didn't really seem to notice. The two women walked over to Danny, and automatically assumed care of him as they gently nudged Clark out of the way. One laid a wet cloth on Danny's brow as the other gently felt for Danny's pulse. Jorés took a seat at the end of the bed, eagerly watching all the adults and smiling brightly at Danny's still unconscious form. "I'm Humberto," The man introduced himself warily.

"Clark." Clark replied, gently shaking the man's hand.

Humberto nodded before continuing. "There aren't many here that speak English, most of us spend our whole lives here. The first many of the village met English speakers was when the sickness started. Jorés didn't know where you came from, he said that your... friend... there spoke Spanish, but it was as if he was talking to the ancestors. He heard the two of you speaking as he guided you through the forest, and then thought that I could be some help."

"Thanks." Clark replied shortly. He wasn't sure what to think of the man. He was being warily respectful, as though he was almost scared of Clark. Clark didn't like the idea of being compared to a god, not when that was how his birth father treated humans. The two women sent the man a concerned look, gesturing towards Danny with worry in their eyes. Before one of them told the man something, her soft voice was worried and there was fear in her eyes.

The man sent Clark a sharp look. "Pame is asking if a low pulse is normal for your friend."

"Cousin, actually and yes." Clark replied, hoping that Danny wouldn't be too upset with him. At the moment Clark was more concerned with getting him better than with his secret. "His pulse is usually about thirty five beats a minute. He has a lower temperature too, he doesn't have a chill. His name is Danny."

The man nodded warily, before quickly replying to the two women. "You and the boy are gods then, aren't you? That would explain why _Danny_ spoke with the tongue of the ancestors. Why are you here?" Clark's frown deepened at the man's question. He had never been called a god before this and didn't like it. It became more grating as the man persisted.

"We're not gods." Clark tersely replied. "But we were here looking for a man. He's gone now, but I, we need to find out what his plans are. Milton Fine."

Humberto raised an eyebrow sceptically. "We may be a humble people, but we are not foolish. The ways of the modern world are not our own, and we still recognise the signs of the old world. You and your cousin may have taken human form, but we see you for what you are. Please, unless you are trickster gods, don't try to fool us into dismissing you." The man paused, his eyes becoming more reflective.

"You said you were looking for the man, Milton Fine. He came to look into the illness that has been spreading through the villages. He arrived soon after the Charriot of the Gods came to the forest, after Cizin became active once more. If Milton Fine is gone I am unaware, but he was very interested in the disease. He claimed he was from a University, and set up a tent not far out from the village. Cizin on the other hand has been more active, his powers stretching out more often. I do not know if the two are linked, but it seems that you and Danny there were the ones to defeat Cizin.

"The modern world may have forgotten gods, but here we still see the signs. There is no need to hide what you are here, not after Jorés saw Danny change his form. There are many stories of gods walking among men, disguising their true nature. I think all we can do is thank the two of you for saving us from Cizin." He man finished with a small smile, still wary, but in acceptance.

Clark was still unsure, off balance from the unfamiliar situation. He was sitting in a small hut in Honduras, talking to a man who insisted that he and Danny were gods, after Danny had defeated a ghost that apparently _was_ a god in their culture; adding that to the fact that they had only come here on the trail of Milton Fine in the first place, Clark wasn't sure to make of the situation. He needed to talk to Danny, and he was still annoyed at having been so thoroughly left out of the fight.

There was a soft cough from the bed and Danny jerkily shot up. In an instant Clark was next to him, holding his head as Danny blearily looked around with bright silver eyes. The three adults in the room jerked back, but the little boy, Jorés, eagerly approached Danny. Jorés threw his arms around Danny in a tight hug, prattling off in Spanish a cheerful thank you. Danny took a moment to reorient himself, those silver eyes fixing on Clark for a moment before he looked to the other three occupants of the small hut.

"Gracias, le agradezco su hospitalidad." Danny whispered, sending the three a weak smile.

"It was no problem," Humberto replied, thankfully in English and Danny gave a relieved smile, sinking back against the wall for support. "You and Clark seem to have saved our village from a great evil. You have our thanks. But we are aware of the legends; if it please you it would be best if you were to continue your journey."

"I understand." Danny acknowledged. And Clark was surprised to see Danny pulling himself up. He still looked weak, but maybe that was only because Clark had become a lot better at reading Danny since he had arrived on the farm. Clark was reluctant to move Danny away from safety, to give him time to recover. But Danny was already moving. "Thank you again, we won't stay any longer. Just know that Cizin will not be a problem any longer, he will stand trial in... Xibalbá, his crimes are inexcusable and he will be punished." Danny stood himself up on shaky legs, but rejected Clark's support. He shifted into intangibility when Clark tried.

"I think we should head off now." Danny suggested quietly, guiding Clark towards the door.

"They think we're gods." Clark whispered back, noting Danny's brief freeze before he continued walking. Jorés seemed to be following them closely, racing happily around them as they walked through the village. Clark was concerned by the whispers and unhidden glances that the villagers were sending his way.

"I'm not entirely surprised." Danny eventually replied, and Clark heard the pained strain to his voice. "I think, in places like this they will always be more superstitious than where we live. In legends it is only gods that can defeat gods, so if they thought Cizin was a god then it only makes sense. Some people are gonna see you like that Clark; think you're the most powerful thingbeing on Earth. And you're gonna have to live with that, earn their trust for who you are, not just respect for your powers. If you ever want to be a public figure that is." Danny broke off, looking down to Jorés for a moment.

"I can understand why they don't want us to stay. In any culture the places where gods stay, where any supernatural being stays, they end up bringing trouble for the humans who are around them. The people here just want to keep themselves safe." Danny shook his head, crouching down to look Jorés in the eye. He whispered something to the little boy that Clark somehow missed, but the little boy broke into a wide smile before once more throwing his arms around Danny.

"Gracias!" The boy exclaimed, before disappearing back into the middle of the village. Clark looked back to see that the villagers were all waving them off cheerfully. It looked peaceful, and in the darkness of twilight everything looked normal. It felt surreal that there was a place that could just accept the supernatural like this. The villagers had just welcomed Danny into the village, even though he obviously wasn't human. Jorés had seen something of what both of them could do, but it didn't mean anything compared to the fact that they had contributed to keeping the village safe from Cizin.

Danny stopped on the outskirts of the village, looking back at the villagers. There was a pained look in his eye, and Clark saw an ocean of emotions swirl through Danny's bright silver eyes. With the hair and the eyes being the way they were Clark was sure there was something wrong. Usually the silver only lasted a minute, if that. And the last time Danny had two tonal hair had been Halloween, but he was in his ghost form then. The white tips in Danny's black hair had stayed, but they didn't look particularly ghostly at the moment.

"I can't run back." Danny murmured to Clark. Clark had figured that out, while he was doing his best to hide it from the villagers it was obvious that Danny was still in pain. Clark watched as he absently pressed his hand over his heart, a strangely protective gesture as if he had been badly wounded there.

"I figured that." Clark replied quickly. "How will you get home? I could carry you if you want." Clark offered, and that would give Clark an opportunity to lecture Danny about blocking him out of the fight. But Danny was already shaking his head."

"I'm not gonna go back to the farm tonight I think." Danny replied, his voice was strained now that they were out of hearing for the village. It was as if he felt he didn't need to hide his pain as much anymore. "I need... I need to be in the Zone for a while. I'll probably be back tomorrow, but I need to recover. Cizin attacked my core, and... I need to be in the Zone." Danny broke off. It was only then Clark noticed how diluted Danny's pupils were, how much pain he was in. He seemed half delirious with the effort to maintain conversation, so Clark nodded once. He didn't like it; there was a lot that he needed to discuss with Danny. But Danny looked like he was in bad shape.

Clark didn't even know if Vlad could help with Danny's core problem. He seemed to think that Danny wouldn't have a core, so wouldn't know how to help Danny heal. If Danny thought that he needed to be in the Zone then Clark wasn't going to deny him that. Reluctantly Clark acquiesced, watching as Danny opened a portal to the Zone. The villagers gasped as the circle of spiralling green opened in front of them, but Clark only saw his cousin feebly falling through into the mass of green as the portal closed behind him.

He shook his head, watching as the last traces of the portal vanished into the night. He took a deep breath, steeling himself for the long run home. He had a lot to think about, between Milton Fine and what fragments he was learning of ghost culture. But his biggest concern was his cousin, who had purposefully stopped Clark from fighting and ended up badly wounded because of it. Clark set of on his run, the night blurring around him as he sped under the cool night sky, pacing himself as he raced across the continent. There was so much going on, and Clark just hoped that he didn't let anything slip through his fingers.

_Line Break_

Lana gasped, breathing heavily as the world swirled into resolution around her. Her heart was throbbing painfully in her chest, but she fought through the pain. She focused on the bright white light hanging over her head, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Nearly there." She gasped heavily, looking blearily as her two companions fussed over her. "I almost found them."

* * *

><p>AN: Just so you know, I don't speak Spanish. At all. I do however have access to Google Translate, which probably explains any bad grammar. I tried to research this adequately, but if you're confused...<p>

Cizin is a real Mayan God, also known as the 'Stinking One'. He is the antithesis to the god Chac, who plants the trees and brings the rain. I was just playing around a bit with the idea of Danny up against a _god_. 'Tepal' is the Mayan word for 'ruler' or 'king'. 'Xiipal' means boy. 'Chan koxol' means mosquito. 'Xibalbá' is the Mayan form of hell. Kukulcan was essentially king of the gods.

Just quickly, Cizin is a god of death, so he would be more in tune with what is alive and what isn't. Most of the other ghosts can't instinctively tell that Danny is a halfa.

Okay, so we know that Fine is planning something, Smallville fans will know what...

And it is apparent how much Danny is keeping Clark out of his life, despite knowing each other's secrets.

Fare the well,

Bluerose


	24. Purgatory

Chapter 23

Purgatory

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

_Tap. Tap, tap. Tap._

Lana's toe tapped anxiously against the headboard of her bed. It was late. Very late, and she was late. She stared at the darkened dorm room ceiling, listening to the sounds of the night as it deepened around her.

_Tap, tap, tap. Tap. Tap. Tap._

Her foot kept beating an unsteady rhythm as Lana listened to the sounds of Chloe. Chloe shutting her computer down as the clock by her bedside flashed 10.32. Chloe rustling in her sheets as she pulled the covers tightly over, whispering a soft goodnight. Chloe still shifting uncomfortably at 11.03. Lana spared a nervous glance at the clock as it blinked another minute. There was a deep sigh from across the room and Lana heard a sigh as Chloe's breathing finally settled into the deep steady rhythm of sleep.

Lana jumped off the bed, fully clothed. Making use of the moonlight piercing through the small part in the curtain she threw the door to her closet open, frantically searching. It took a minute, but she finally pulled it out. The stack of hundred dollar bills that were her ticket to seeing _them_. She was quiet as she stole out of the dorm room, ghosting her way through the darkened hallways as she made her way out of the dorm.

She quickly paced her way across campus, past the newer buildings and straight to an old run down building on the edge of campus. Despite her nerves she confidently pushed her way in. Her boots clicking loudly against the cold red tiles of the building. Overhead the white lights flickered, but she paid no heed. She had been here before, and this time she knew it was going to work.

She pushed her way through the building. It used to be a research building, but many of the researchers had abandoned it for better appointed facilities. But that didn't matter in the slightest. _He _was here, and he was the one offering this particular little miracle. The lasting jitters, the cold and hot flashes. Even the near constant pain in her heart. It was all worth it. She knew. And tonight was the night that she was finally going to find them.

"You're late." The masculine voice cut through the darkness as Lana pushed her way into the room. _He_ was standing there, and the beautiful green liquid in his hands held all the promise in the world. It glowed bright neon green, and Lana's heart gave an excited throb at the sight of it. "Was there a problem with the cash?" He asked coldly.

"No," Lana assured. "The money wasn't a problem. I had to ditch my roommate." He shifted an eyebrow sceptically. "You don't know my roommate." Lana rambled, feeling anxious. She dug deep into the bottom of her purse, pulling out the wad of notes and handing it to him. "Here. Two thousand dollars, the rest of my savings." Lana offered, sending him a small grateful smile. After all, what he was offering was worth so much more than just this.

"No worries, Lana." The soft, slightly husky voice of Alley penetrated through the darkness. "We're just about fixed for your fix." Lana's lips quirked in a small smile. Alley was pushing a small IV cradle through the room, the plastic wheels clicking slightly against the tiles. She stumbled to a stop, banging against the small instrument table. That was one of the unfortunate side effects; jitteriness, slight loss of balance, prolonged out of body experiences... but it was all worth it. It was worth so much more. And Lana was so very close that the side effects didn't matter.

"This is not a drug trip." _He _rebuked, his eyes sparkling as he picked up a single glowing syringe.

"Relax, Lance." Alley retorted sarcastically, "Just a little syringe-speak humour. I wasn't implying that it's a hallucination."

"Damn straight." Lance declared, his attention fixed on the glowing green liquid in the syringe chamber. "This little cocktail is my lock on the Nobel Prize."

"And a big fat deal with the pharmaceutical company." Alley added on tactlessly. There was silence for a moment, but the anxiety was getting to Lana.

"I want to stay down longer this time." Lana said, her heart racing a thousand miles a minute in anticipation. "Two minutes."

Lance snapped around to face her, his dark green eyes cold in the darkness. "Forget it." His voice was steady, but cold as ice. "It's too dangerous."

"Come on, Lance" Lana begged, "It's only twenty seconds longer than last time, and I almost found them."

"What could it hurt?" Alley interjected, and Lana just hoped that anxiously keen edge to her voice helped persuade Lance. She needed to find them, needed to talk to them. "I've been down almost as long, and you know you can bring her back." Alley picked up the small brownish amber vial. It didn't glow, didn't look like anything special, but it was the real miracle. And Lana knew this. All she needed was for Lance to agree. Lana put the most beseeching look on her face that she could, she didn't know whether it actually convinced him, but he eventually nodded his assent.

"Fine, but _only_ two minutes. That's it." Lance stated. He flicked the syringe in his hand once before gesturing over to the operation chair in the centre of the room. Eagerly Lana pulled off her jacket, handing it and her bag to Alley as she fussed around her, making sure she was ready for her 'fix'.

The chair was uncomfortable, more so the bindings that Alley tightened around her wrists and ankles. They were necessary; the cocktail was never painless, but it was still worth it. Lana relaxed, breathing deeply as Lance plunged his green cocktail into the crook of her elbow. She felt the cold liquid push into her veins, racing through her system with a cool numbing sensation. She knew the instant it went into her heart, she could feel the strange way the liquid reacted with the heat of her heart. She felt the inner battle as her heart briefly sped up, gradually slowing as the liquid forced its way deeper.

Lana's eyes fixed pointedly on the huge lamp overhanging her head. With a deep breath, and a quick nod of acknowledgement from Alley it switched on, and Lana's world turned white.

Lana smiled, the warm scent of lilacs wafted through the air, and she was walking through a long hallway of flowers. It was beautiful, and she felt so very safe. Everything had a golden hue, it felt soft and fuzzy. Comfortable. Lana couldn't feel her arms or legs, not really, everything seemed so very loose. It was as if she didn't really have a body at all, but she still knew to walk forward. She brushed her fingers against the wall of flowers, enjoying the way the floral scent wafted through the air. She felt light as she walked forward, but somehow everything was perfect. Safe.

The hall of flowers thinned, but gave way to something she recognised. It was her Aunt Nell's old flower shop, the way it used to be before she sold it to move to Metropolis. Lana smiled, running her fingers easily across the small table where she used to sit and do homework while her aunt put together glorious bouquets. It was so peaceful here, and part of Lana wanted to just stay here forever, where it felt so safe and warm. There was a small change behind her, Lana didn't know what but she spun around to see what was different.

"Mom?" Lana asked, barely daring to believe as tears prickled in her eyes. "Dad, Oh my God." She broke into a broad smile at the sight of them. "I never thought I'd see you again." But they were here, they were real. Her dad stood there smiling her, brown eyes radiating so much pride and love. And her mom, her mom was here and so very beautiful. Her long brown hair perfectly framed her face, loving blue eyes sparkling with care and love and safety and warmth. Everything she'd ever hoped for from her and everything she'd needed so desperately all of these years.

"I've missed you so much." Lana proclaimed, stepping forward further into their circle of love.

"Oh, we've missed you too, honey." Her mom said, smiling gently.

"I've just been so confused." Lana admitted, she needed to talk to them, and she had never been given the opportunity before. But her parents were here, and she knew that they loved her, that they'd be there for her. And she just needed to tell them everything that she had never been able to before. "I didn't know where to turn."

"We know how hard it's been." Her father consoled.

"I loved him so much." Lana admitted, and she somehow knew that they could understand. That they _knew_.

"We're here for you Lana." Her mom comforted, a smile gracing her lips. Lana smiled, knowing that she was finally here, with a family that loved her, just like she was meant to be. Free from all the troubles of the world, free from the meteor showers and alien threats. Free from the emotional rollercoaster that was Clark Kent. Here she could be happy and safe, forever living with the love of her parents. Here everything seemed so peaceful and comforting and she felt truly loved as she never had been before. Lana leaned forward, hoping to finally get a comforting hug from her mom, her arms spread so easily. There was a familiarity to the action that she couldn't understand. And she was almost able to feel the warmth of her mom's embrace, for the first time since she was three years old.

Suddenly there was a sharp tug, wrapping around her waist and forcefully pulling her back. She screamed, desperate to stay here, in the safety of her family, but she was being yanked away so easily. The snare around her waist tightened, drawing her in with heat so hot it seared. It pulled and burned and she was aching, thrashing in her bonds as she tried to stay to move, to be free of the agony. There was a flash of white light, cold in its brightness somewhere above her eyes.

Dimly she heard voices, but she couldn't place them. There was one, female, but definitely not her mom. "Back... among the living." Lana heard; the voice drifting in and out as she tried to process what was real.

"Gone to long..." Lana heard a man say, and that man's voice was so cold and nothing like her dad's. "Almost didn't get you back."

Lana gasped deeply, the searing heat finally fading as she felt her heart forced to start again. It was slow at first, weak, but it gradually picked up as Lana managed to make sense of the world around her. She was in the lab, at the Uni. And Lance and... Alley... were both there. She was back, pulled forcibly back from the other side, but back. But everything was cold, so much colder than before. She had finally seen them, finally found them. Finally felt that love and safety that she so desperately craved. And she wanted more.

Clutching desperately to Lance's shirt she looked at him, begged him. "It wasn't long enough. I have to go back."

_Line Break_

Clark sighed as he paced along the upstairs hallway of the farmhouse. He had lived her for as long as he could remember, but it had somehow never felt so empty. His mom was off in Topeka attending to her duties as senator. Although she was scheduled to be back later in the day before she headed off to the Governor's Ball in Metropolis later in the evening. It was so quiet, it was times like these that Clark missed the soft tapping as his Dad rummaged around downstairs, or patiently working out in the barn as the soft tapping of hammer on wood echoed up to Clark's room.

Clark sighed, pausing in the doorway of the last room on the hall. The bed was neatly made, but the only sign that anyone actually _lived_ in the room was the small pile of textbooks stacked on the desk. Clark absently crossed the threshold, moving over to the desk and picking up Danny's sketchbook. He slowly flicked through the pages, eyeing the careful detail that Danny had put into all of his sketches.

The pictures of Danny's ghostly enemies had thinned, replaced by detailed aerial maps of Smallville, Metropolis, even Edge City and the Star City Bay. There were fewer pages dedicated to actual people, there were one or two of the ghost girl Danny had introduced them to, Ember. But other than that the beautiful sketches of his friends and family seemed to have vanished. Clark frowned as he continued his pursuit, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. He came to the last used page, his frown deepening. It was the ghost Cizin. The image was meticulously perfect. Clark could almost imagine him jumping of the page to cause more trouble.

But that was the thing; Cizin had already caused so much havoc in Clark's life. He had hurt his cousin badly, but more than that had brought to attention an issue that Clark hadn't even realised was there. Since the fight with Cizin Danny had barely talked to him, and being in Danny's exquisitely tidy bedroom made Clark realise just how much Danny lived like a stereotypical ghost. He simply didn't seem to be there. Clark's mind drifted, his thoughts stuck on a day nearly two weeks before as he caught sight of Danny coming back from the Ghost Zone.

_Flashback_

_Clark sat in the warm sunlight of the barn loft, absently fiddling with the necklace in his hands. It had once been Lana's, a tiny piece from the meteor that had killed her parents swung on the silvery chain. But Clark had borrowed it, and his spaceship had neutralised the kryptonite in it to save him. Now it was just a memory, a small reminder of Lana and how he would always love her. A tiny token when he had been forced to let the real Lana go. She didn't know about it, didn't know he still had it. But it meant the world to him, and having the necklace made him feel as if everything was going to be okay. _

_He sighed, putting the necklace back in its box and setting it aside. It had only been a day since Danny had disappeared into the Ghost Zone, but he was getting worried. Danny hadn't been in the best health when he'd left, and Clark still needed to talk to Danny about purposefully blocking him out of the fight. The more he thought about it, the more obvious it became. Danny may have taught Clark how to defend against ghosts, maybe even stop a weaker one, but Clark still didn't know how to stop a more powerful one. And that fact could have gotten both of them killed._

_Clark frowned, pulling himself up from the sofa and moving to lean against the window. The afternoon light kissed the early spring fields, and the scent of promised rain hung in the air. It wasn't cold, and they had barely needed the woodpile the last few nights. The onset of spring making everything start to feel new, life continued on around him as it always did. Clark's eyes shifted out across one of the fields to the storm cellar. When Danny came back he would climb up those steps and out into the sunlight. Clark knew that. Everything was going to be fine._

_A short while later he found himself walking back to the house, the small necklace box clutched tightly in his hand. He passed through the kitchen door; the papers his mom had been studying before she headed into town that morning were still scattered across the table. Hoping to make himself useful Clark moved over to the table, gathering the reports into a neat pile. He was about to put the kettle on, thinking that a cup of coffee would go down well, when he heard a soft thump coming from upstairs. _

_Clark loped up the stairs two at a time, wary of whoever was in the house. As far as he knew he was home alone, and he hadn't heard anyone come in either. He paused a moment on the landing, he couldn't hear anything anymore, and the only door closed in the hall was Danny's. He paused a moment before pushing open the door, his eyes widening when he saw Danny asleep on the bed. Somehow the halfa had snuck in without Clark's knowledge._

_Clark frowned, slightly annoyed at that. However he couldn't begrudge the sixteen-year old. He looked exhausted. His skin was a sickly shade of pale and dark circles surrounded his closed eyes. He was flopped out on the bed belly down, a thick book having slid out of his hands to the floor. Clark moved to pick the book up, but that small movement was enough to jar the dark haired boy into awareness. _

_Danny sprung up, blue eyes blinking dazedly. He barely even seemed to realise where he was. Clark patiently waited, giving Danny a minute to catch up while taking his own observations. Danny's eyes were blue, mostly. But the flecks of silver that occasionally came into his irises were more prominent than usual. His hair was still white tipped, as it had been when Danny allowed himself to fall through the portal into the Zone. He looked tired, feeble even. Almost as if the injuries he had sustained hadn't healed up, but Clark couldn't see anything physically wrong with him._

_Clark pulled out the desk chair, welcoming himself to a seat as Danny pulled back in the bed till his back hit the wall. Danny rumpled his hair dazedly before his gaze fixed almost sheepishly at Clark._

"_Hey" Danny said, his voice was slightly hoarse, but quiet and demure._

"_Hey yourself." Clark replied, sending Danny a small smile in hopes of calming him down. "What happened to Cizin?"_

_Danny blinked once. "I released him to my... mentor's care." Danny eventually replied. "He'll be held for a while and then go on trial." _

"_And how are you?" Clark asked._

"_I'm fine." Danny was quick to reply, but the small flinch as he moved said otherwise. Clark raised an eyebrow. "Or I will be fine." Danny relented._

"_What happened?" Clark pushed. He hoped that he could get Danny to see how foolish he was, blocking Clark out of the fight and then the two of them could get on to some proper training._

"_Cizin attacked my core." Danny replied almost too quickly. "It'll heal in a few days. I'll be fine." Clark frowned. There was no way news like that was good, if Danny's core had been attacked directly then he was probably in a lot more pain than he was letting on. _

"_Why didn't you let me help?" Clark asked, meeting Danny firmly in the eyes. _

_Danny was the first to look away. "I had to keep you safe." Danny replied in a whisper._

"_I could have helped," Clark pressed. "You know that, and then you wouldn't have been hurt at all."_

"_I'm not hurt." Danny defended._

"_You can barely move without flinching. I could have helped." Clark returned. He was annoyed, and Danny didn't seem to want to listen._

"_I couldn't risk it." Danny shot back, his voice stronger now._

_Clark stood up, pushing the chair forcefully away. "I could have handled it. I've faced down meteor freaks and Kryptonians. I'm the one who took down Fine in the Fortress. I've gone up against witches and meteor rocks and who knows what else. You don't get to tell me that you couldn't risk it against a ghost."_

_Danny glared at him, and suddenly Clark was faced with a pair of bright green eyes. "You don't get it Clark! You couldn't have faced that ghost, you would have died. He was the god of death for a reason and you cannot tell me you've battled that. I have, and worse. I am not going to let you or anyone risk themselves for that!"_

"_You're not listening!" Clark shot back, his own anger coming to the front. "I can handle it, damn it, Danny, you could have been killed! I don't care what powers you have, you could have died because you wouldn't let me help!"_

_Danny's green eyes flared brighter, silvery flecks sparking electrically in their emerald depths. "In case you haven't noticed I _died_ long before you met me, there's nothing that ghost could have done that I haven't faced before. I don't need you to prove yourself against them. You can take meteor freaks, fine. But ghosts are mine, my fault, my problem. And. I. Will. Not. Risk. You. Fighting. Them!"_

_Then he was gone, vanished in a swirl of mist that Clark's hands snatched meaninglessly at. The adrenaline of his anger faded from his system and Clark frowned, sitting himself on the bed in the silence of the vacated room. He sighed deeply, staring at the ceiling as he wondered how exactly things had gotten to this point. Danny shouldn't be doing this. He didn't have to fight alone, he never used to. Back when he was in Amity Park. But he had never asked for help from Clark. And now it was blatantly clear that he didn't want it. Clark just wondered how on Earth he was going to make Danny see that he wasn't alone._

_End Flashback_

That had been the start of nearly two weeks of avoidance. Danny had barely spoken to Clark other than during breakfast, and even then it was only if Clark's mom was around. Danny would vanish to school for the day, come back past midnight night and then give his mom a broad smile at breakfast the next morning. But Clark got the impression that Danny wasn't angry, not really. In fact, often it seemed like he was desperately sad. Clark just didn't know why or how to help his dark haired cousin.

Clark sighed, closing the sketchbook and carefully placing it back where he had found it. He felt he was floundering himself, and he didn't know who to turn to for help. He couldn't turn to Lana anymore, the month apart had done little to ease the sting and Clark hated to have hurt her so badly. Chloe too was out of the question; even though she knew part of Danny's secret she didn't know the whole truth. He couldn't talk to her about his worries for Danny when it wasn't his secret to tell. And where he would usually turn to his mom, he found that he couldn't put any more pressure on her, not when she was still grieving over his dad.

It was all too hard, and Clark found himself wishing that he had someone to talk to, more than that, he wished for his dad. But that was not going to happen anytime soon, and feeling sorry for himself wasn't going to help anything. Letting out a deep sigh Clark left the room. If nothing else he could get a bit of work done out in the barn before the day was done.

_Line Break_

Lex thumbed through the many letters that he had brought back from work, tension riding stiffly between his shoulder blades. . He had just arrived home after a late meeting in Metropolis and had been looking forward to taking a break and relaxing. It had been a tiring day and the PR department were insisting on making things far more difficult than they had any right to. At the moment the only thing keeping him going was the regular meetings with Danny, and even then the last two weeks he had seemed more on edge than usual. All that Lex could think was that Danny too was beginning to become disillusioned by Clark.

But there was something in the air, the feeling of the calm before the storm that five years of living in Smallville had taught him to pay attention to. His own home had been invaded so many times that the slightest thing tended to bring him to full alert. There was a soft clunk followed by the sound of shattering glass coming from Lex's office and he didn't think. He put his mail down and barely thought as his hand felt for the hidden compartment in the wall where a small silver handgun resided.

He cocked the gun, feeling the cold metal resting comfortably against his hand as he silently drew his way to the side entrance. Passing through the shadow of the narrow archway he pushed the door open, quickly analysing the room. There was someone there, dressed solely in thick black. A dark hoodie concealed their face, but it was for the best. If he couldn't see their face he wouldn't have to see their eyes if he have to hurt them. Whoever it was had a single flashlight in hand, the golden light flickering as the torch shifted. They were rummaging through his desk, carelessly looking for something.

Lex saw red; he knew that there were several valuable cheques as well as some loose cash that he usually kept close by. More than that, there were private documents concealed in his office, and whatever this _thief_ was doing could only bring either private or corporate damages. Stepping out of the shadows Lex drew the gun, aiming it directly at the thief.

"Don't move." Lex commanded, but was unsurprised when the thief tried to run. A moment later he had the thief pressed against the wall, gun aimed dangerously close to their head. The hood fell down and Lex pulled the gun back. In the pooling light of the hallway stood Lana; her eyes wide and frantic. Fearful. Lex took a disbelieving step backwards and the large bag in her hands fell open to display large wads of cash.

The more of Lana he took in, the more he noticed was wrong. She looked sick, almost feverish. Part of Lex was tempted to rest his hand on her forehead just to check, but he knew he couldn't. Suddenly the gun felt heavy in his hand and he quickly locked it safe in a box. He could return it to its hiding place later. But his attention quickly slid back onto Lana. She stood still, frozen against the wall.

Lex's car keys dropped heavily onto the desk as he let out an exasperated sigh. "My God, Lana. I... I had no idea it was you. I could have killed you." Lex said as he gestured for her to take a seat on the sofa by the fire. She automatically folded herself up, drawing her legs right up against her chest drawing herself into a tiny ball. Frustrated, Lex sat down opposite her, taking in every aspect of her appearance. She looked tired and jittery and a thin sheen of sweat covered her entire face.

"If you needed money," Lex offered, taking an exasperated seat opposite her. "You could have just asked."

"I know, Lex." Lana rambled, determinedly not meeting his eyes. "I'm sorry. I just didn't wanna have to lie to you."

"Just tell me what's wrong." Lex requested calmly, not voicing his own silent plea for her to trust him.

"There's nothing wrong with me." Lana rejected defensively.

Lex looked up at her, finally catching her eyes. "You didn't want to lie to me, but you broke into my house and tried to steal from me." Lex shook his head, despite his best efforts to remain neutral or comforting it was difficult when he saw Lana like this. "You're acting like a junkie trying to find her next fix." Lex observed.

Lana looked away first, her eyes dancing in the firelight. "There's this guy, at school." Lana replied slowly. "And he's got these chemicals."

"So it is drugs?" Lex pressed.

"No." Lana defended, her brown eyes lifting to meet his. "It's not what you think. They kill you, and then they bring you back. Lex, I died. I died and then I came back." There was a sick gleam in her eye. The sort of excited glimmer that Lex had only ever seen in addicts so far gone that no amount of therapy was enough. She was practically vibrating with excitement at the idea. And it was insane, some hallucinogenic drug trip. Lex looked away.

"I'm telling the truth." Lana persevered. "I went to the other side... and I saw my parents. Lex, it was so beautiful." She broke off, her eyes flicking back to the fire in the grate. Lex frowned and stood up, moving so that he could take the seat next to her. Gently, cautiously he laid a hand on her shoulder.

"No one understands the death of a parent more than I do." Lex empathised. "And for you, growing up without a mother or a father... I can even understand taking whatever chance you did to see them again." Lex watched as she nodded in acknowledgement, but she still wouldn't meet his eyes. Lex shifted his hand, softly comforting her slim fingers.

"But you have to look at yourself." Lex pressed. "Look at what you've become. This isn't what your parents would have wanted for you." Lana's eyes finally met his, and they were full of regret.

"Lex," Lana whispered "I'm sorry, I just... I wanted to see them so badly. I'm so alone." And Lex hated the way her voice cracked; her eyes were sparkling as she fought back tears.

Lex squeezed her hand once. "I think maybe, it's time we both stop trying to hold onto the people we've lost, and start turning to the ones that we still have in our lives." Lex suggested, giving those delicate fingers one more squeeze, his heart lifting at the slight pressure she gave in return.

Lana gave a small smile, and nodded. "Yeah, I think you're right." That small smile made Lex's heart lift. It made him feel as though, if he had Lana in his life, then everything would be alright. He blinked once, realising what was wrong with Lana's grip. Her fingers were ice cold.

"You're freezing." Lex commented, standing up from the sofa.

"No," Lana disagreed. "I'm fine."

"No, I'm gonna get you a blanket." Lex pressed, pulling away and out of the room towards the small antechamber off to the side. It was the fastest way to the closest bedroom, where Lex knew he would be able to find a suitable blanket. As he walked he spent a moment musing as to what he could do. Lana was still hurting from her breakup with Clark; Lex couldn't think of anything else that could make her resort to drugs. But there was so much more to it than that.

She needed help; that was blatantly obvious. The banknotes that she had taken from him added up to nearly five thousand dollars, and Lex couldn't fathom what sort of dealer could demand such a high price. It was insane, in just a month since her breakup Lana had been reduced to this, and Lex couldn't help the seething anger at the fact that Clark was responsible.

Clark was the one that had driven Lana to this extreme. Clark was the one who had hurt her, pushed her away, made Lana feel as though she had no one to turn to. And in that moment Lex hated Clark. He spun a web of deceit around himself, shoving everyone away. Years of friendship had been thrown away through Clark's constant lies, and Lex had been content to let things go. But now Lana was hurt, and Lex was the one left behind to pick up the pieces. He would do that and more. He could prove to Lana that he was the one person she could rely on. He would be there for her where no one else had been. He would be her saviour, and maybe together they could move on from the damage that Clark's deception wrought.

Lex nodded to himself as he pulled the bedroom door open. It was one of his many spares, appointed very comfortably. Lex pulled the soft quilted blanket off the foot of the bed. It was soft and warm and with any luck it would be perfect for helping Lana back on the road to recovery. She would probably need therapy, Lex would pay for the psychologist of course, but the next few hours would probably be the hardest. It was clear that her body was demanding another fix of whatever it was, but she needed to get off it if there was any chance of her coming out of this safely.

The door to his office clicked open, and Lex paused in the doorway. Lana was gone, vanished into the night. Lex frowned, his immediate thought was to run after her, but he had no idea where she could have gone. He sighed, throwing the blanket carelessly onto the sofa. He sat down heavily at his desk, thinking of the best people to call to find her. Once he would have called Clark, but that was definitely not an option now. But perhaps Danny would be of use, he seemed to have picked up a habit of noticing things that even Lex missed. And Chloe too, after all Chloe lived with Lana.

Lex sat down heavily at his desk, rubbing his temples. He was tempted to pour himself a glass of scotch, but Lana came first. Lex picked up his private phone, pulling up Danny's contact. The phone was on the third ring when Lex noticed something amiss on the desktop. The keys for his Porsche were missing. His lips pulled down into a tight frown, but the sound of a slightly confused voice on the other end of the phone interrupted his musing.

"_Lex, what's wrong?"_ Danny's soft tenor voice asked.

"Danny," Lex breathed, trying to conceal his anxiety from the younger boy. He hated asking favours from people, he didn't like being in debt. But this was far more important. Lana was at stake and he wasn't about to risk anything happening to her. His resolution set firm and he coolly allowed himself to deliver his single request.

"I need your help."

_Line Break_

Chloe was worried. Not her usual worry, which always seemed to revolve around Clark, and had somehow branched out into worry for Danny as well. But this was something else. For the past three weeks she had been watching Lana as she got worse and worse. Lana didn't seem to think she noticed it, but the constant jitters, Lana's pale skin and the deep dark circles around her eyes had Chloe severely worried. Just the night before Lana had snuck out near midnight and it was scaring her.

Lana had made friends with a couple of med students, but Chloe had only met the one; Alley. She seemed even worse off than Lana. If Chloe didn't know better she'd have said that Lana had gotten into drugs, but Lana simply wouldn't do that. So Chloe had watched, hoping that Lana would pull herself out of her slump before she ended up going too far with whatever it was she was doing. But she hadn't and Chloe was getting to the point of desperation.

The late nights were bad enough, she'd often hear Lana shifting uncomfortably in her bed late at night and she only seemed to get to sleep just before dawn. Chloe knew that what little sleep Lana got was broken and filled with nightmares. Many nights she'd woken up hearing Lana whisper for her parents. Chloe felt so helpless, but short of actually drugging Lana with a sedative there was nothing she could do. Lana didn't want to talk and didn't want help.

But the longer this went on the more Chloe noticed. It had started small, a late night with the med student friends and had then escalated. Suddenly Lana's bookshelves were filled with books on anatomy and a startlingly large number of occult books. Most of them were to do with crossing over to the other side, and Chloe was at a loss to know what any of it meant.

She had hoped that Lana would snap out of it, but she was only getting worse. And Chloe hated how powerless she felt watching as her best friend destroyed herself. She had tried to follow her once, to find out exactly what was going on. But Lana had disappeared into one of the older, lesser used buildings on campus where the only way to get in was to have the exact security clearance. In other words, until Chloe had a clue about what was going on she wouldn't be able to fake her way in.

And then there was the concern for Milton Fine. Clark had said that he and Danny had gone looking in Honduras, but all they had found was a pentagonal scorch mark on the ground. He'd been cagey about the subject, and when Chloe asked about Danny's thoughts he'd closed off completely. Something bad had happened between the two blue eyed boys, and Chloe didn't know what. All she knew was that the two hadn't really spoken in a fortnight. Chloe hadn't seen Danny at all since the day she sent them off to Honduras, but Clark would occasionally stop by at work. But even then it was only briefly.

Chloe sighed, tapping away at her computer. At the moment there was very little she could actually do to help any of her friends and she hated that. She was tired of feeling clueless, it wasn't in her nature to be clueless, but she couldn't even change that without getting into trouble for pressing the limits of privacy yet again. It was a frustrating situation, and Chloe didn't know which way to turn. Pushing her worries aside for now she started typing, she had an assignment that needed finishing and it would serve as a decent distraction.

Chloe startled as the phone rang, but she picked it up after a moment of fumbling. She frowned at hearing the near frantic – well so far as he went – voice of Smallville's own billionaire. He was looking for Lana; she'd been at his house the night before but had pulled a runner. Lex was scared because she had all but admitted that she was on drugs and now he had no idea where she was.

"No" she replied, cutting off Lex's rant "No, I don't know where she is, but I can find out. I'll call as soon as I know anything." Chloe stood, picking up her jacket from the back of her chair and sling it on. She was about to leave when a noise startled her from behind. She turned around, letting out a quiet breath when she saw the intruder.

"Lex called, said he was looking for Lana." Danny explained. His voice was quiet and steady but told her nothing about anything. His face was startlingly neutral, a carefully schooled blank slate.

"Danny." She gasped, settling her heart rate from the shock of his sudden appearance. She shook her head, taking note of his appearance. His hair was tipped in white, a stark contrast to the rich ebony of his dark locks. Chloe hoped he wasn't going through some neo-gothic phase. His eyes were a darker shade of blue than she was used to do, and he seemed to be nursing some deep rooted pain, something bottomless and rolling like a sunlit ocean that she couldn't quite place. But there was brightness in them, sparks of light so bright as to almost be silver.

"Lex is looking in Smallville," Danny supplied. "I said I was in Metropolis and offered to help out here. Figured he'd ring you, since you're her roommate. When did you last see her?"

"Last night." Chloe answered automatically. "But she never came back. Where have you...?"

Danny cut her off, looking at a couple of the books on the bed. "When did she get those?"

Chloe frowned before answering; Danny was clearly evading the question. "About three weeks ago. Danny, what...?"

But Danny wasn't paying attention to her. Instead he strode over to Lana's bed, picking up one of the books that had been left there. He looked at the cover for a moment in utter disdain before pulling a small slip of paper out from between the pages. Chloe watched as his eyes darkened, before he passed the little slip of paper over to her.

_Hey, Lana,_

_Here's the book 'Beyond Death', it should help explain Lance's project. He's set for us all to meet up at 11.30, Tuesday night. If you need anything we should talk, I'm in room 1170. _

– _Alley_

Chloe frowned, the note raised more questions than it answered, and Chloe just hoped that the answers wouldn't be too bad. But there wasn't time. For now all she could do was follow this lead and hope that it helped. Looking at Danny she set the note down, following his lead out the door and down the hallway.

"What do you think this means?" Chloe mused aloud, hoping to bait Danny into talking.

Danny frowned, his eyes set firmly ahead. Chloe felt slightly uncomfortable, and if this was a result of whatever had happened between Clark and Danny she only hoped that it would resolve itself soon. There was none of his usual coy aloofness, and Chloe found herself desperately missing it. "Lana only had half those books two weeks ago. Whatever she's gotten herself into I think it's safe to say it's got to do with the 'other side'. But anything more than that I won't know until we get more information."

Danny paused a moment, fixing his eyes on her. "She hasn't been looking into ghosts, has she?" Danny asked quickly and Chloe answered in the negative. Lana hadn't seemed to take any more interest in any of the ghosts than she did with the meteor freaks. They were there, but something to be avoided and were unimportant until they started interfering with her life.

Danny's lips pressed to a thin line, but they had already arrived at Alley's door. Danny was the one who knocked, three sharp raps that split the silence of the hallway. There was a dark black Ankh on the door, a match to the pendant that Chloe had often noticed swinging around Alley's neck. The door opened a moment later, and Chloe took a moment to take in what had become of Alley over the past weeks.

Alley looked haggard; her skin was coated with a thin sheen of sweat, as though she had a fever. Her eyes were sunken, dark. The rings around her eyes were deeper than even Lana's and her red streaked blonde hair hung limp from her shoulders. She looked exhausted, more than that she looked half dead. But Lana was in trouble and that had to be her number one concern right now.

"We need to talk." Chloe commanded, pressing her way into the room. She felt Danny come in behind her, but her attention was on the blonde goth in front of her.

"Lana warned us that her roommate was nosy." Alley replied annoyed, her voice was husky with disuse, but she sounded tired. Alley moved across the room watching her every step as though she wasn't sure where to place her feet.

The room itself was dark, lit only by a single lampshade and the thick dark curtains were drawn. The decoration was decidedly gothic, accentuated by dark purples, deep shades of crimson and midnight black. Chloe watched as Alley sat on the edge of her bed and Chloe pulled out the desk chair to sit opposite her. Danny seemed content to stand, she heard him come to a stop near her shoulder.

"You look even worse than Lana." Chloe commented, allowing her genuine concern to come through.

"So you're gonna go all Mrs Brady on me?" Alley bit back sarcastically as she gathered a blanket over her shoulders. "Bring me some chicken soup?"

"No." Chloe answered, slightly irritated at Alley's abrasive attitude. "Were here because we're worried about our friend."

"Yeah, I see that. Still don't know who the kid is, so I don't see why I should talk to you." Alley shot back.

"Danny Fenton." Danny replied "You've read my parents' work." He made a gesture to the bookshelf.

"Yeah, sure." Alley shrugged. "They didn't have the right answers."

"Look," Chloe interrupted, bringing the conversation back to the topic at hand. "Lana's boyfriend just broke up with her. And she's really vulnerable and depressed right now. The last thing she needs is to flunk out of school because she's out all night partying."

Chloe would have continued, but Alley started coughing. It was a deep chesty cough that left her biting back bile. She felt Danny move behind her, but he stopped when Alley sent the two of them a scathing look. "And you think it's your business?" She asked derisively.

"No, I _know_ it's my business." Chloe shot back. "And if you don't tell me what you guys are up taking all night, I'll make it the university's business too."

Alley just rolled her eyes. "Chill, Lana hasn't been partying, and she isn't moping around, mourning her high school sweetheart."

"But she isn't acting like herself either." Danny replied, his voice cool.

"How would you know?" Alley spat back defensively.

Chloe looked back at Danny, his eyes were creased in a frown. "I'm observant." Danny supplied as he shifted uncomfortably in his spot behind Chloe.

"It shouldn't matter," Chloe interjected. "She hasn't exactly acting like Lana. And the two of you look like the poster children for the Betty Ford Clinic.

"Look," Alley rejected "I told you to let it go. Now I'm done talking with you." She stood as if to leave the bed, but Chloe wasn't going to let things go that easily. She held out a hand and pressed Alleys shoulder so she was forced to sit back down.

"No." Chloe pressed. "What's she taking? Drugs?"

Alley scoffed, her fevered face turning into condescending pity. "You're so small minded. No wonder Lana came to us."

"Came to you for what?" Chloe pressed, leaning in close.

"That's between Lana and her loved ones." Alley answered. But her entire body was shaking. She brought her hand up to cover a cough, but it didn't stop. She choked, gagging on something lodged in her throat.

"Alley, what is it?" Chloe asked, realising that something was desperately wrong. "What's happening."

"Near death experience." Alley answered feebly as she continued to choke. Chloe blinked and suddenly Danny was right beside Alley, nursing her shoulder.

"It's a compound." Alley managed to force out. "M-meteor rock." Chloe was pushed aside gently, as she realised that it was blood that Alley was coughing up.

"Alley," Danny said, placing his hands on both her shoulders. "Alley look at me." Chloe saw the struggle as she was still coughing. "Alley you're gonna be fine, I promise." Danny says looking at her. All Chloe could see was his back, but the small flicker of hope in Alley's eyes helped settle Chloe's fears.

Not even bothering to look at Chloe, Danny barked an order for her to call an ambulance. Chloe pulled her phone out, plugging in the number even as Danny leaned in to hold Alley upright. The coughing was worsening, lines of red blood stained her lips and Alley's pale blue eyes looked towards Danny, silently begging _Please, I don't wanna die_. Danny didn't seem to be taking much notice of Chloe. His attention was solely on Alley.

"I'm not gonna let you go. But you need to trust me." Danny whispered; his voice heavy with something that Chloe couldn't quite place. Through her coughing Alley nodded, her lips were smeared with blood now, like a thick gooey lipstick and Chloe wondered how much Danny could possibly do. Alley seemed to be hovering, barely conscious and it was clear that there was only the barest string that held her on to life.

Danny placed a hand over her heart, as though he were trying to ground her. Chloe frowned, wondering what that could to. But then Danny glowed. She didn't know what he was doing, but the bright white light that encircled him lit the whole room. Alley's eyes went wide, and Chloe was about to pull Danny back. She was scared. Chloe knew that Danny was meteor infected, and that he was therefore likely to become mentally unstable at best. All of them, even the best became homicidal if they relied on their powers too much.

Chloe blinked and suddenly the world shifted into clarity. For two weeks Clark had been worried about Danny, scared for him even. But this made it all make sense. Danny had finally fallen; the constant use of his powers had gotten to him and had driven him insane. She didn't know what this power was, what made him light up the room brighter than Times Square, but he had to be kept away from Alley. If there was any chance he could kill her in a meteor infected rage then he had to be kept away from all of them at all costs.

A tear prickled in Chloe's eye as she realised this. This could quite possibly be the last time she saw Danny. In all likelihood she would have to call Clark in to stop him, to keep everyone safe. And that would destroy Clark. He had just lost his Dad and Lana, there was no way he could be able to handle losing Danny too. But he would do it, take him down and lock him up with the other meteor freaks if he had to. It was horrible, because she was just standing there while Danny surrendered to his homicidal tendencies and Ally just sat there dying.

Only she wasn't. Even as Chloe watched the coughing slowed, the staggered gasps smoothing out to a steady rhythm and Alley was blinking in disbelief. Her hand reached instinctively to her heart where Danny's hand still rested. There was a moment, a heartbeat of silence. And then the white light around Danny turned bright green. It was only for an instant and then it was gone, the light in the room faded as Danny slumped into a weak heap on the edge of Alley's bed.

Now it was Danny's breathing that was staggered, and Chloe moved around to get a look at his face. His eyes were shut fast, contorted in pain. He took a haggard breath, releasing it in a heavy sigh before he opened his eyes. Chloe fought the urge to jump back because his eyes weren't their usual startling blue but a shocking shade of silver, intertwined with flecks of cerulean and meteor rock green. But there was a faint smile playing on his lips and there was a tinge of colour on his otherwise pale skin.

Alley gasped, her eyes briefly meeting with Chloe's. She looked completely baffled, as if she didn't even understand what had just happened. But Alley was alive, and somehow looked so much better than Chloe had ever seen her. She had looked as though she were standing at death's door for as long as Chloe had known her, but now she looked healthy again. Fully restored and with a healthy amount of colour on her skin, despite the stain of blood that touched her lips.

"W...What?" Chloe wasn't sure which of them asked the question, wasn't sure what to expect of an answer. It was a miracle, plain and simple. Alley had been literally choking on her own blood, and Chloe was sure that she wouldn't have been able to hold out for the ambulance with the way she had been coughing up blood.

"I know what that compound did." Danny whispered, his silver eyes startlingly bright in the dark room. "It stopped your heart, literally killed you. But... there has to be a second one, one to bring you back." Danny was speaking to Alley, and Chloe was almost sure that Danny had forgotten she was in the room. In fact he seemed slightly dazed, not in control of his own actions. With the way he was swaying slightly Chloe would have thought he was drunk. But that could just be a side effect of... whatever it was he just did.

"How?" Alley asked; her voice finally cleared of the horrible huskiness that the compound had given her. "How did you know?"

"How much do you know about auras?" Danny questioned. His voice was still soft, and Chloe was content just to listen.

Alley blinked once before rattling off an answer. "Depending on who you ask it's either the emotional energy a person feels, radiating around their body, or it's the energy manifestation of the soul."

"I'm glad you're a goth, you all know stuff that most people wouldn't bother with." Danny sighed, and that practically confirmed Chloe's _'Danny is sort of drunk' _hypothesis. "When I first met you, yours was off. Lana's too, but less so." His eyebrows creased in genuine confusion, and even with his silver eyes that face was adorably sweet. "I couldn't place it at the time, but now it seems pretty obvious. You were messing around with death, weren't you? Sending yourself to the very edge and then dragging yourself back."

Danny shook his head. "No one should do that. There's life and there's death. If you invite death in then eventually it will come to collect. The compound was killing you. No if, buts or maybes. I don't know what you got out of it, but I do know that even with whatever cure you had it wouldn't work forever. You still need to see the hospital; I don't know what other damage the meteor rock did to you, and I just stopped the worst effects. There's no cheating death, I know that better than anyone." There was a rueful note to his voice that gave Chloe pause.

Alley sent her a questioning glance, but Chloe shrugged. "So you can what, see auras?" Alley asked almost sceptically.

"Not precisely," Danny replied, shaking his head. "It's more like sensing them, feeling them. It's easier to describe as colours or images, but auras are much more complex than that. Yours was... weak, like you were sick, but not. Sometimes it'd flicker or flare; I've seen that in hospitals where the patients fight back. But yours was... different. It was like you were walking around with... death's shadow or something like that. But I took it away, and now you're better. Like I promised."

"You're gonna have to explain better than that." Chloe cut in, and Danny physically jerked, his attention snapping to her. It was slightly unnerving having those silver eyes focused on her; Chloe couldn't quite understand the emotion they held. Danny blinked, twice.

"That's the best explanation I can give." Danny answered, rubbing the back of his neck. He suddenly seemed somehow smaller, much more awkward. He shook his head slightly, his eyes contorted in pain, but when he opened them they were wide and frantic and alarmed. "Lana." He whispered, and a shiver ran down Chloe's spine.

"We have to go," Danny commanded, his silver eyes sparkling fearfully at Chloe. "I think Lana's in trouble."

_Line Break_

Lana was desperate as she raced through the hallway to Lance's lab. Lex's Porsche sat just outside, the keys weighing heavily in her hand. She hadn't thought when she'd taken them, not really. But she had just been humouring Lex with his talk of moving on and being with the people who were still in her life. But there was no one left. No one she could rely on not to betray her. She needed to see her parents, needed to know she was loved. And that was all that mattered. That there was some way to talk to people who loved her. And anything was worth the price. Anything.

She pushed open the door, and gaped seeing the lab being stripped bare. Lance was leaned over the desk, the vials of glowing green being hastily tucked away into their carrying case. Lana pushed her way through the gloom, she was on a mission and nothing was going to stop her.

"What are you doing?" Lana demanded, her eyes fixed on the last little green vial as Lance stuffed it into place.

"Getting rid of the evidence." Lance answered sharply without looking up.

"Evidence?" Lana pressed confused. This was a miracle, how could anyone possibly think there was something wrong with it?

"Alley, she's in the hospital. She almost died." Lance replied, and Lana heard the fear in his voice, the genuine concern. It was the first time that Lana had heard him be anything but stoic.

"What?" Lana breathed before she could help herself. "What happened to her?"

Lance looked over his shoulder, his cold eyes meeting hers and Lana flinched. "I warned her there's only so many times you can die before you stay that way. The hospital doesn't even know how she survived."

"Was it your serum?" Lana pressed.

Lance's movement was sharp, and suddenly she was faced fully by those glacial eyes. "My serum didn't do anything. She did it to herself."

Lana looked down at the tantalisingly tempting green vials in his case, and she realised she didn't care. It didn't matter. Alley was still alive, and it wasn't like Lana would end up in the same situation. Alley had been down two times before Lana got in on the project, so Lana was still fine. Nothing would happen to her so long as Lance had the cure on hand. And he would, and it would all be fine, and she could see her parents again.

"I'm willing to take my chances." Lana found herself saying. "I need you to send me back."

"Are you out of your mind?" Lance implored, but Lana didn't really care. "The police could be here any minute; I gotta get out of here."

Lana reached into her bag, pulling out the keys and forcefully handing them to Lance. "Well we better hurry then." Lana commanded.

"What the hell is this?" Lance demanded.

"Those are the keys to a very expensive Porsche parked just outside." Lana answered, "Figured it would cover the cost of one more trip to the other side."

"You stole a Porsche?" Lance asked.

"No," Lana answered, assuring herself more than anything else. "I borrowed it from a friend."

"And he wants it back." Lana flinched at that voice, immediately recognising the cool distant tone of Lex Luthor. "Cool thing about expensive cars. They all come with GPS tracking."

"Lex, I can explain." Lana stammered, but found herself quickly cut off.

"Lex?" Lance practically snarled. "Lex Luthor?" Lana gave a small nod, but backed away at Lance's almost aggressive reaction. "Dumb bitch, I never should have let you in on this."

"No," Lana found herself begging as Lance grabbed the case and moved to leave. "Lance, please wait."

"I'm out of here." Lance spat as he strode towards the door.

Lana stopped caring, the blood was pulsing in her head and the thing she needed most was quickly walking away. The world lurched and she barely heard Lex saying something about the authorities getting there. It didn't matter. All that Lana cared about was the small green vial that was suddenly rolling across the floor towards her feet. Lana scrambled to pick it up, dodging around the two men as they started fighting. It didn't matter. All that mattered was the small green vial clutched in her hands like a lifeline.

A moment later she was gone, flying out the door and leaving them behind. She needed to find a needle. That was the only way. The only way to see her parents again. She sped out of the building, there was nothing left there. All the other rooms had been cleared, and now Lance's lab was gone too. But the biology building had supplies. Lana paced her way across the campus, taking no notice of anything else around her.

_Line Break_

Danny's eyes closed involuntarily at the bright light of the hallway. He didn't know exactly what he'd done with Alley, only that it had left him feeling... lightheaded. It had been instinct more than anything else. He had felt Alley's aura flicker wildly as she started coughing, and had leapt right to her side. After that he had sort of... reached out with his aura, pushing as much stability into hers as he could. But it hadn't been enough, and she was dying and all he had known was that he had to save her. So he had tried to absorb the sickness, literally siphon off her death. And it had worked, she was alive.

But it had badly affected him. Danny wasn't sure exactly what it was, and his mind was too fuzzy to think properly. He imagined this was what it felt like to be drunk, the way his limbs didn't feel like his own in a way that was completely disconnected with his ghost powers. He thought that was what had saved him from dying himself when he stole that sickness-death from Alley. He had already had his death, so he couldn't die again. That didn't make sense. A strange laugh passed his lips and he felt Chloe's gaze drift onto him.

It was strange; he had almost forgotten she was here. Danny suspected she had already called Clark in on this, but he didn't know for sure. And how did they get outside this old building? Chloe pressed something against the doorframe, and suddenly the glass door slid open. Danny looked inside. It was dark, and while he could see perfectly he wasn't sure that Chloe could.

Without thinking he sent a surge of energy towards his hand, watching as a small ball of energy gathered in his fingertips, lighting up the hallway. The energy was white, not green. And Danny didn't know why that was, or if that was a bad thing. He pressed forward, following a strange tug in his chest. That usually meant something, but he wasn't sure what. He followed it, letting the strange pull guide him forwards. He dimly recognised that Chloe was still behind him, but he didn't know if she was talking. All that mattered was that strange pull.

He paused at a door. It was locked, but the pull told him that he needed to be on the other side. He blinked once, cocking his head to the side. There was something that he'd normally do here, but he didn't know what. Locked doors weren't usually a problem, and he knew he had a power that could help with that. There was a click as Chloe pushed a piece of plastic against the doorframe and the door pulled open. There were two people in the room, but one of them fell to the floor as he watched.

Danny blinked and the first man turned on him. The man's attention flew to a small case open on the ground, and it was filled with tiny vials of bright green. Danny blinked once, but the man was already gathering them up, but he had a green needle in his hand as he strode across the room to Danny. The man opened his voice, but Danny was beyond understanding, it didn't even sound like the right language. Suddenly there was a prick at the side of his neck, and Danny felt something bleed into his veins.

And it burned, it felt like fire, but it was cold at the same time. It felt like electricity, like rage and hate and ice. It raced through him, eating its way straight through to his heart, his core. It fought him, and he fought back, but he was losing and he didn't know what was going on. He couldn't fight, but he needed to. And at the same time there was something in his core screaming at him to _protect_, but he couldn't do anything. The world swayed, and the man was gone. Danny fell limply to the floor, the hard tiles slamming hard and cold into his soft flesh. But he was too far gone, the world spun into a blur around him, and he found himself swallowed up by a pool of bright white light.

Danny breathed; he was lying on a cold hard floor as something like consciousness came back to him. His eyes fluttered open and he found himself looking at the ceiling. It was a very familiar ceiling, but one that he hadn't seen in almost a year. Covered in black burns and bright green smudges. He blinked; his head suddenly clear and he pulled himself up off the floor. He was in the lab, his parent's lab. But that hadn't even existed for months.

"Danny." A soft voice called from behind him and Danny's heart jumped. It was the voice of an angel, his angel. In an instant Danny was standing, blinking at the space by the lab table.

"S-Sam?" Danny breathed, barely daring to believe what he was seeing. Because she was there, her soft black hair framed her face perfectly. Gorgeous amethyst eyes sparkling even as the softest of smiled danced across her lips. Danny couldn't help it. In an instant he had her wrapped up in a hug, pulling her tight against his chest as he disbelievingly repeated her name.

"Sam." Danny breathed, pressing a kiss into her neck, drawing in her lovely sun kissed scent. For a moment he held her, tears prickling into his eyes.

"Lovebirds." Another voice cut in, and Danny spun around. Tucker was there, offering him a warm smile as he stood in the doorway to the lab and behind Tucker stood Jazz and his parents, all smiling down at him. Danny let go of Sam, his arms dropping heavily as he saw his parents. Almost hesitatingly Danny met his parent's gaze.

"I'm sorry." Danny whispered, feeling the guilt of his secret pressing heavily into him, but before he realised he was pulled into a tight hug. His mom's soft arms closed tightly around him.

"Danny, I am so proud of you." His mom said, her voice chiming softly against his ear. "Your dad is too. We understand."

"You should have told us, son." His dad cut in, but there was no anger in his voice, only acceptance. Danny allowed himself a smile as he pulled out of his mom's embrace.

"I'm so sorry," Danny stammered "I wanted to. I always did. But I was so scared, and I didn't know what you'd do if you ever found out."

"Oh, Sweetie" His mom cried, pulling him into a tight hug. "We love you, you'll always be my little boy."

"Ghost, boy or something in between. You're our son, and that's what matters." Danny's dad cut in before wrapping his large arms around both Danny and his mom. He stayed like that for a minute, breathing in the warmth and love from his parents that he'd been missing for so long. He hadn't felt this safe, this peaceful in their presence since before he got his powers.

"I love you both." Danny said, digging his face deep into his mom's neck. "So much. In the end that's why I didn't tell you. I didn't want you guys hurt. I couldn't risk losing you."

"We love you too, little brother." Jazz added, her eyes sparkling. "But..."

"You have to stop." Sam ordered.

Danny cocked his head to the side, confused. "Stop what."

"This," Sam gestured in the air "Pushing everyone away."

"It really isn't good for you." Jazz interjected. "You're repressing your anxieties about us; instead of trying to accept the fact that we can't be there anymore you're holding onto us, pushing everyone else away. You've developed massive avoidance behaviours, instead of facing the problem. But you need to let that go, it's not healthy to keep forcing everyone out of your life."

"More than that," Sam pressed. "You're gonna get either yourself or someone else killed." Sam pressed a hand to his cheek, and Danny closed his eyes at her soft fingers. "Danny, I love you." She continued; her soft wonderful voice as beautiful as drizzling honey. "And the short time we had together was the best of my life. But you can't keep doing this to yourself. I know you hated risking Tuck and I, but we were a team. We worked together, succeeded together. And you need that again now."

"I am so glad to see you getting on with my sister and her son." Danny's mom commented. "You don't have to protect him, he is a grown man and he has to make his own decisions."

"You need a brother, Danny." Tucker said, clapping a hand on his back. "Just 'cos I'm not there with you, doesn't change that. You don't need to baby him, he's got his own problems, but he'll manage on his own. Clark wants to be there for you, he wants to be a brother. He's not as cool as I am with a PDA, and he doesn't have the same amazing good looks, but he can back you up."

"If you let him." Sam finished for Tuck as she sent Danny a beautiful smile, her teeth flashing white through her gorgeous soft lips.

Danny's eyes searched those of his family, savouring the supportive, loving look in each of their eyes. He wanted to believe them because he was so tired of hurting. He had pushed Clark away from him, hadn't wanted to risk him getting hurt. He hadn't let himself make friends in Smallville because he didn't want to replace his old family. But he was so alone, and he was so very tired of it. Maybe it was time to let go, to try to move on. If Danny let him, Clark could be great. He could be a true hero, a light for the whole world to look up to. And Danny wanted to be a part of that, to have someone to back him up when things got tough. He wanted to have that again. It wouldn't be the same, but maybe it was time to try.

"Danny, you have a great future waiting for you." Sam encouraged. "You're gonna be amazing, and I'm just happy that I had the chance to know you. But now you have to make your own choices. Choose your own future. Let Clark help you, you know that he's ready to. You need to let people in again Danny."

Danny's eyes prickled, but he was not going to let himself cry. "I love you, all of you." Danny said, "I've missed you all, so much. It's just so hard without you, there's so much I always wanted to say to you and now..."

"Now you've been given another chance." Jazz finished. "We were there for you to get you started, helped you learn how to flap your wings. But now, Danny, now we're ready to watch you soar. We'll always be watching you little brother." Jazz pulled him into a tight squeeze before letting him go.

"Always." Tuck nodded in agreement.

"We will be looking out for you Danny." His dad added, giving him a warm smile as his big hand came to rest on his shoulder.

"We love you so much sweetie. You've shown us how much you've grown up, I'm so proud of you." Danny's mom said smiling proudly at him.

"And I'm always gonna be with you." Sam added, pulling him into a tight squeeze. "Who else is gonna give you a good kick in the right direction, hey, Ghost Boy? I love you, so much. I always, always will. But I have to let you go, I know that now. The world needs _you_, Danny Phantom. You're gonna be so great, you're gonna bring about a new age of peace. I just hope that some small part of you will always be mine." Sam finished, and she tugged him to meet her eyes. They were sparkling beautifully, glimmering with happiness and pride and love. Danny didn't want to leave, not if he had to leave her. "You're gonna be incredible." She whispered softly into his ear before he felt her lips press against his, soft and giving. Danny closed his eyes in pure bliss as the world shifted to white.

Danny's eyes were closed fast, he couldn't move, couldn't breathe, and couldn't even feel his heart beating. Danny didn't know if he was human or ghost at the moment. He was paralysed completely. He was trapped in his body and the darkness swam around him. He was on a cold floor, the surface digging into his back. He could feel the liquid, whatever it was fading from his system, sending phantom electrical surges down his limbs. Left to his own thoughts he wondered how real that was, had he really just seen his dead family? Had he gone to the part of the other side that even ghosts couldn't know? Or was it just a dream?

It had felt so real, and what his family had said rang true. He resolved then to talk to Clark, to explain some things. Maybe it would be a while before he could trust himself to let Clark into a ghost fight, but it was about time he started. His thoughts wandered, and his heart throbbed. Sam. He had seen Sam again, and it almost made losing her all the harder. Like he had lost her all over again. Still his thoughts drifted, and vaguely he thought he heard dim voices cutting through the darkness.

"My god, this stuff's got a kick." That sounded like Chloe, but she wasn't talking to him. It didn't even sound like she was in the same room.

Lex's voice penetrated the blackness next. "What happened?"

"W... I was looking for Lana." Chloe said, but the brief hesitance told Danny that she was hiding something. "I found your... body. Kinda figured that if the green one killed you, the brown one could bring you back." There was a beat of silence before she defended herself adamantly. "What? You were already dead. I figured I could take a chance."

"We have to help Lana." Lex rasped. And that grabbed Danny's attention. That's what they'd been doing before they got stuck here, wasn't it? Danny tried to struggle back against the darkness, but his body wouldn't respond. There were only fragments of creeping sensation and he couldn't do anything.

"Do you know where she is?" Chloe demanded. But Lex didn't know. Danny's consciousness faded again and he was drifting in the darkness. He heard nothing, felt nothing. But suddenly there was a bright light against the blackness. A gentle, watery golden light. Brightening his vision and chasing away the darkness, warming him from the inside like the sun. He drunk it in, feeling it wash through his veins and purge out the icy burning of that strange liquid. Happily he sunk into the familiar feeling, reminiscent of ripples on a sunlit river. Of the shimmer of wheatgrass on a summer's day. Of the thousands of flickering lights in the city as the stars shone above.

Danny's eyes fluttered open, he was in a dark room on the floor. But all he really saw were the twin pools of glimmering green that smiled at him.

"Danny!" Chloe beamed, pulling him into a tight hug. "God, Danny. You scared me." She pressed as Danny squeezed back. "That guy injected you with the cocktail, and then he was gone. But you were unconscious, and Lex was unconscious, and I tried to give you the cure but it didn't work. So I moved you in here before I tried with Lex. He's been taken to hospital by the way..."

"Chloe." Danny croaked, cutting off her ramble. "I'm fine now. What happened? Where's Lana?"

"By now Clark'll be there." Chloe answered "I called him when you wouldn't wake up, he said... said it was probably best to let you recover on your own. But I didn't want to leave you alone, I mean..."

"Thanks." Danny replied, offering her a small grateful smile. Hesitatingly he stood up, shaking slightly. He was desperately grateful when Chloe caught his elbow, steadying him. Danny smiled, recalling all the times that one of his friends had been there to do the same. He had missed it. Missed this type of comforting support.

"Clark knows what's been going on." Chloe continued, it seemed she was talking more to relieve her own stress than anything else. "After what Alley told us, I sort of had to explain the 'meteorite cocktail ticket to the great beyond' thing to him. We tracked Lana down using her College ID, and Clark ran off to play knight in shining armour again."

Danny nodded, trying to take it all in. "Okay. Okay, so Lana's in safe enough hands for now." Danny paused, creasing his brow in concern. "Wait, how long ago was this?"

Chloe bit her lip and worry flashed through her soft green eyes. "It's been an hour."

_Line Break_

Lana slid her ID tag through the after-hours slot, pushing the glass door open when the green light flashed. She had headed straight to the biology building, knowing that was her best chance. The insatiable need was pooling through her, demanding that she go back. It blocked out everything else and nothing mattered anymore. A minute later she was outside the supplies room, but that door opened quickly too. She pulled the green vial out, fumbling as she searched through the drawers and cabinets for a needle. She needed this, needed to see them again and she couldn't wait.

Her eyes caught on a small glass door cabinet, a box of needles sitting tantalising in the low light behind the clear glass. She tugged the door, but it wouldn't open. She shook it, but it didn't give. With one final grunt of frustration she punched through the glass, her clenched fist passing through to the needles beyond. She didn't even feel the small shards burying themselves into her wrist, all she cared about was the needle. She was so close.

"Figures I'd find a junkie where the needles are." Lana jumped as a hand fastened around her throat, suddenly pressing her back against the glass cabinet. Lana's eyes landed on Lance. He looked furious, and she was scared. He snatched the needle from her pulling out his own vial. Lana trembled at the psychopathic gleam in his eyes. Suddenly the idea of crossing over to the other side seemed terrifying. She didn't want this; she didn't want to be anywhere him.

Suddenly the pressure was removed and Clark was there. And Lana was begging, begging him to help her, to let her see her parents. She needed them. But Lance was back, and the needle, her needle was aimed at Clark's heart. He groaned in pain as the glowing green pressed into his flesh, the liquid flowing in under his skin. Lana stepped back, unable to do anything but watch as Clark fell to the ground in a boneless heap.

Next thing she knew Lance was on her, and she felt herself thrown heavily across the room. She looked down at Clark, and something pulled her back enough to realise that Clark was in trouble. He needed the antidote, needed to come back. She needed him, even if he didn't want her she needed him. But Lance was in the way, and Lana was suddenly terrified.

"You know how much trouble you've caused me, you freshmen?" Lance demanded, menacingly stepping towards her. Lana pressed back further into the desk she had been thrown into as she realised what was in his hand. The bone saw activated, the metal blade spinning with a shrill screech. Her hands fumbled wildly as she searched for something, anything that could help. Her hands touched on something cool, a large glass beaker. Without a second thought she brought her hand up, smashing the beaker against Lance's head.

Lance looked dimly surprised as he collapsed, the bone saw burying itself somewhere deep into his chest as he crashed to the ground. Lana flinched at the sight, at the horrible squelching sound. But there was nothing she could do and she needed to save Clark. Before she knew she was by his side, begging him to rouse, to come back to her. She pressed her ear deep into his chest, tears pooling in her eyes as she realised she heard nothing but silence.

_Line Break_

Clark blinked, squeezing his eyes closed tight against the bright light. It was too bright, and he was confused. His eyes peeled open and he squinted against the bright golden light that seemed to pervade the room. His eyes focused and he realised that he wasn't in the lab at the university. He was in his barn. Clark pulled himself up from the floor, keen to figure out what was going in.

The barn was clean, uncluttered. Similar but different to how it normally was. Clark made his way over to the barn door, planning to pull it open, but it wouldn't budge. He put more effort in, drawing on his Kryptonian stamina and finally it shifted, but Clark was forced back as the blinding white light poured into the room. Clark took a step back, squinting hard as his eyes were cast with shadow. The light coming into the barn was so bright and thick it almost seemed like mist.

He blinked. There was something coming through the mist, a shadowy figure contrasting against the bright gleaming light. Clark squinted, trying to figure out who it was. The figure stepped forward, and it became clear. Clark couldn't help the bright smile that passed onto his lips.

"Dad!" he breathed, scarcely daring to believe that this was real. But the way his dad's eyes lit up convinced him. Nothing could imitate that warm and comforting smile.

"Hello, son." Jonathan Kent replied, and Clark's heart lifted. He leaped forward, tugging his dad into a tight hug. The man's arms closed around him and for the first time in months he felt at peace.

"I can't believe it's you." Clark whispered into his dad's shoulder.

"You don't belong here Clark." His dad replied, his voice still filled with warm affection. "You have to go back."

Clark pulled away just far enough that he could meet his dad's eyes. "Dad," he pleaded "You don't know how hard it's been. All I've done is hurt everyone that's close to me."

"That's not true son." His dad replied.

Clark paused, turning around to face him fully. "You died because of me." Clark retorted coldly. "When Jor-El brought me back to life and restored my powers. He told me there'd be a price: the life of someone I love. I'm sorry dad. I'm so sorry"

"Clark," his dad replied smiling even as he shook his head. "Believe me you have _nothing_ to be sorry about. I lived a... a full, wonderful life. I had everything that a husband or a father could ever possibly dream of. I am so very proud that I died protecting you."

"Protecting me from what?" Clark pressed, his eyes creasing.

"Lionel Luthor, Clark." His dad answered succinctly. "He knows your secret. He knows everything" Clark frowned, taking that in. He didn't want to believe that, but something told him it was true. Clark's dad looked at him, a flash of sadness crossing into his eyes. "You can't stay here, son. You've gotta keep your mother and Danny safe. You've gotta keep the whole world safe."

"No, Dad." Clark denied "Not without you. Dad, I need you. I cannot do this without you."

"Yes, you can" his dad answered simply. "This is your destiny, son. You are gonna touch the lives of so many people. Not just as a man, but as a... a symbol. You're a symbol of light. You're a symbol of peace. You're a symbol of justice. And now it's time for you to go."

Clark frowned, not understanding. His dad's hand pushed against his chest and suddenly he was being pulled backwards. "I'll always be with you son." Clark heard, his dad's voice filling him up, even as Clark pleaded with him to stay. "Always."

He gasped as he felt a harsh breath pull its way through his lungs. Clark shot up, his eyes dazedly fixing on the brunette sitting right by his side. His mind was whirling; trying to figure out what was real. The barn had seemed to real, and his dad... he had touched his dad. For the first time in months he was given the grounding comfort of his dad.

"Clark!" Lana breathed; her still fevered face relaxing into something akin to relief. She smiled at him, a soft smile that he had almost forgotten. Clark breathed out, releasing all his tension in a heavy sigh.

"I'm so sorry Clark." Lana whispered. "I'm sorry. I never meant for this to happen."

"It's... it's okay, Lana." Clark found himself replying. But he couldn't make himself say anything more than that. Lana had been sick, she still looked sick, and had irresponsibly almost thrown away not only her own life, but Lex's and Danny's too. Part of him wanted to comfort her, to promise her that it was all going to be okay, but he couldn't do that anymore. He was the one who had sent Lana away.

Clark stood up shakily, taking note of the shattered glass spread across the floor, and the limp, bleeding corpse of the man who had started all of this. Clark had seen many people die over the last five years, but he still hated seeing death. The man may have gone into a psychopathic rage, may have tried to kill people, but he should have had help rather than ended up dead. But, if he was going to be honest he much preferred that this man, obviously half insane even before Lana found him, were dead instead of Lana. His eyes flitted over to her, taking in her shakily apologetic half smile.

He knew he had hurt her. Chloe had berated him for what he had done to Lana. He had driven her to this, he had hurt her so much that she was desperate for any type of love. She had turned to her parents, her dead parents, just because Clark had hurt her so badly. Clark hated himself for it, it seemed even when they weren't together Clark only managed to hurt her. But at the same time... she had chosen this, chosen to take the terrible risks and put so many lives in danger. And Clark didn't know what to make of that. His lips pressed into a tight frown, maybe he didn't understand Lana as well as he once thought.

They silently made their way out of the building, Lana sending him guilty glances the whole way. Clark heard two sets of footsteps approaching them as they walked down the front steps. Looking up he saw Danny and Chloe, Chloe's hands wrapped supportively around Danny's left arm. His cousin met Clark's eyes briefly, the bright blue eyes conveying understanding and sympathy.

"I'm... gonna go." Lana said, shifting awkwardly as she broke the silence. She sent Clark another guiltily apologetic glance before she vanished into the night.

"Well, that was awkward." Chloe commented, her eyes fixing on Clark. "What happened?"

"The guy responsible for this is dead." Clark answered shortly, watching as Danny flinched. Chloe's lips simply pressed into a tight grimace, understanding the cost of dealing with meteor rocks. It rarely ended up well. Danny however had probably never seen anyone killed, and he wavered on his feet.

Danny blinked, his eyes fixing on Clark. "I think we all need to talk." He said confidently. It was barely a whisper, but he looked like he was in pretty bad shape. His eyes were diluted, and he seemed unable to fix his attention on anything for long.

"Yeah," Clark agreed, looking between Danny and Chloe. There was a lot he needed to say, and the news about Lionel was not comforting in the least. But his main concern for now was making sure they all got home safe. "Maybe in the morning?"

"How about after work?" Chloe suggested. "We can all meet up when I get off at the Planet tomorrow and talk then."

Danny nodded, a small relieved smile on his lips. "Tomorrow then?" He queried, sending a speculative glance at Clark, and Clark found himself partially relieved. His eyes showed a level of trust, one that he hadn't seen in months. It was still veiled, but Clark got the feeling that Danny at least was willing to talk things out, maybe even trust Clark to help him.

Clark couldn't help the smile that played onto his lips. "Tomorrow." He agreed.

_Line Break_

Vlad Plasmius grinned behind his mask. This was the culmination of so many months of planning, the final chess piece that would leave Daniel in checkmate. He watched the proceedings start from his vantage point, physically stoic, playing his part perfectly. Through his helmeted mask he observed the large courtroom.

It was both entirely similar and entirely different to a courtroom on earth. Circular rows surrounded the small dais, the hundreds of eyes staring down at the darkened platform. Hundreds of yellow robed ghosts stared angrily down, the air itself taught with anticipation. Vlad forced himself to remain still. This was a crucial part of his plan, and he would not abide failure for a moment of impatience. This plan had been months in planning, ever since he had heard that this particular ghost was on trial.

Vlad had been amused to find out the extent of the judicial system in the Ghost Zone. When he had first begun his exploring the Ghost Zone he had believed that Walker's prison was the extent of law keeping. However further investigation had yielded a much more intricate system. Walker was of course responsible for his prison, and many of the sentences he determined were deemed appropriate. However there were certain crimes amongst the ghosts that even Walker was not suited to deliver punishment for.

The Observant's High Council were responsible for the oversight of the Zone, charged with ensuring the safety of ghosts and humans. At least that is what Skulker had explained. Since Vlad was not a full ghost there were many aspects of ghost culture that he was unaware of. Many of the laws that they had to abide by he was completely immune to. However, the system was quite clear. For certain crimes the ghost would be held in an enforced confinement until they could come to trial. The trial would result in one of only three judgements.

The ghost could be sentenced to serve a term in Walker's prison. While it was uncomfortable there were still relative freedoms, and the sentence time was fairly short so far as ghosts went. It was, according to Skulker, the ghost's equivalent of minimum security prison. While Walker was cruel he paid some respect to ghost's rights. He was overzealous with his law keeping, and no one wanted to go there on one of Walker's artificial sentences, but if you had been to the Observant's council it was considered a light sentence.

The second sentence was to a dungeon prison, presided over by a ghost called Lacerator. He had appropriated many torture methods, twisted them to work for ghosts. The shortest sentence there was a thousand years, and it was guaranteed that every moment would be in excruciating pain to push the ghost to the edge of existence. Lacerator rarely left his prison, and he did go out to trap other ghosts on petty crimes. Instead he apparently relished in inflicting pain on his charges, pushing them to the very limits.

The third sentence Vlad knew very little of. It was for the worst of the worst. Skulker had described it as akin to the death sentence for humans; you went in, but you never came out. Skulker hadn't given him a name, and Vlad did not know who guarded over it or where it was. It was rare to see the Hunter tremble in fear, but Skulker hadn't been able to tell Vlad much more than that it existed and that it was the worst punishment any ghost could ever look forward to. Vlad had naturally been curious, but few ghosts knew of it as anymore than an abstract threat. It seemed the only ghosts who knew what the third sentence was were the ones it had been given to.

However, Vlad simply had to wait. The ghost on trial today had been in confinement for twenty years, waiting for his trial. His plan had been forged around this; the final strategy was entirely dependent on ensuring this ghost became indebted to Vlad. The room shifted, and all the ghosts in the room became silent.

"All members of the Council in residence." A yellow ghost called, drawing the attention of all present. The atmosphere in the room became suddenly heavy, and Vlad stood straighter, performing his role perfectly. "The Observant High Council is seated. Let the trial of the Electora ghost, heretofore known as Vortex commence. Bring in the prisoner."

Vlad's eyes were immediately drawn to the centre of the dais. A small lump rose from the floor, followed smoothly with what looked like a large cylindrical cryogenic chamber. The ghost inside was unconscious, hidden by a darkness that seemed to be contained within the chamber itself. Above the chamber floated a metallic device, two spiked prongs forked downwards. That little device was all that confined Vortex to his prison. Vlad sneered beneath his mask, it was only going to be a matter of time.

"Vortex," The same yellow robed ghost cried "Master class Electora, hereby stands accused of unconscionable crimes against the Two Worlds. Irrevocable hazardous meteorological events in both Worlds, cities of the Human World have been wiped out, countless lives have been lost and endangered. These crimes are inexcusable; Observant High Council, what say you?"

Vlad's eyes flicked briefly up to the magnificent eyeball shaped screens that hung overhead. Each was huge, at least five feet in diameter, and only served to project the sheer magnificent power of each of the spirits that the screened windows displayed. The loud echoing "Guilty!" poured angrily from each of the seven eyeballs was so strong in its sheer power. Vlad felt the pronouncement tingle through the ectoplasm in his veins, and something told him that each ghost had felt the pronouncement in their cores.

"Before we pronounce sentence, have you anything to say to your defence, Vortex?" The yellow robed ghost asked, his eye falling on the glass of the darkened chamber.

"Yes." A voice hissed, echoing out from the chamber and spilling across the whole room. Suddenly the chamber lit, and Vlad got his first true look at the subject of his machinations. "FRY!" the ghost screeched, and electricity surged through the small chamber. However none escaped, shorted out by the small device atop the chamber.

"Your powers are rendered inert by our Spectral Barometer, Vortex." The yellow ghost stated, sounding distinctly smug for a supposedly emotionless eyeball. "There is no possible way for you to escape." Vlad smiled, taking that as the perfect cue.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Vlad commented coolly, charging up a powerful pink blast in his hand. It was really rather simple from there, he dispatched the three other guards and shattered the seven screens. By then the rest of the council was running scared. Vlad smirked at the notion that the supposedly all powerful High Council had been brought down by one half-ghost within mere seconds.

"Who are you?" Vortex questioned, raising an eyebrow from within his chamber.

"Plasmius." Vlad introduced. "Vlad Plasmius." He pulled the helmet off, revealing to the weather ghost his true identity. Easily he cast the helmet aside, the heavy clamour echoing loudly across the now empty courtroom. Vlad raised his staff, an altogether too convenient part of his 'guard's' costume. With a heavy crash the glass of Vortex's chamber was shattered, Vortex staring curiously at him.

Vlad smirked, idly picking up the Spectral Barometer heat had been thrown aside in the destruction. "And I believe we have some business to attend to."

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry for the late update, I don't want to make excuses so let's leave it at I feel bad and guilty about it, and I think I'll have to switch to updating once a fortnight.<p>

On the plus side this chapter is slightly longer than normal. I don't usually have to write three near-death experiences so that added a bit. Plus you get to see Vlad's machinations coming to light.

Anyway... Danny physically couldn't let Alley die without trying something, and now Chloe is even more suspicious because Danny got sort of drunk on death. In essence what he did was 'eat' the death that the meteor rocks were giving Alley, but it really doesn't agree with him because ghosts aren't supposed to deal with meteor rocks. Danny forced himself to because of his obsession, and that was the result. But it gives Chloe a few more puzzle pieces to play with :).

Cheers,

Bluerose.


	25. Chained

Chapter 24

Chained

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Rated for Blood and Gore

Phantom looked up weakly, his glowing green eyes dimmed. His arms pulled against the chains binding him to the wall like some poor imitation of Jesus on the crucifix. He coughed, green ectoplasm gathering in his mouth as he fought the blearing edges of unconsciousness. Blackness flittered along the edges of his vision, threatening to take him into the cold embrace of oblivion. But he fought back with every ounce of his mental strength.

They had captured him. Two years of constant dodging, hiding and narrow escapes. It had all come to nothing. The white suited men had finally caged him, and there was nothing he could do to escape this time. The room he was held in was brightly lit, stark white light bearing down on him from all angles, contrasting sharply with the still present stains of bright green ectoplasm on the tiled floor. On the far side of the room were three large benches, each bearing a dozen ghost weapons; all of which had been extensively tested on him over the last two days.

In the middle of the room was the silver lab table, Phantom refused to look at it. Twice a day they would drag him over to it and proceed to slice him open. The wounds from his third vivisection had yet to close up, his mutilated flesh still oozing green. The only good thing was that he hadn't shifted back to human. Although that also signified just how bad his condition was. He could barely feel his human half, what little energy he had was focused entirely on keeping him _alive_, and his ghost half had virtually shut down his human half just to keep him safe.

He was in constant agony. His core had been weakened, and he could feel it. But there was a pressure inside that was demanding attention, screaming to be released. But Phantom couldn't, he barely had any energy left, and this foreign pressure was just distracting him, making it impossible for him to focus on anything more that the constant ache in his core and the occasional presence of men in white suits or lab coats. He blinked blearily, trying to pull his thoughts together enough to teleport out, but it was useless. He was too weak, too tired and in far too much pain.

Phantom desperately wished for the comfort of his white cloak, his security blanket and a remnant of happy days with Sam. But they had thrown it aside, letting it disappear into to the ethereal wind. Phantom didn't have the strength to summon it back. His clothes were bedraggled, the black tunic stained with dark green from when the scientists cut through it. Phantom groaned against the wall, his eyes flickering. He didn't want to black out, he couldn't. But he knew that this was it. There was no backup this time, no Sam Jazz or Tuck to the rescue. When they finished with him it was lights out, permanently. He was going to be ended.

_Line Break_

_Three days prior_

Danny smiled as he looked across Chloe's desk at the _Planet_. He and Clark had come to finally have a much needed talk as soon as Danny had gotten out of school. Well, maybe not so much as soon as he was out of school, but he'd tossed the Corn Ghost back into the Zone and hadn't been bothered to go back to class for the last ten minutes of the day. He had called Clark up, and the two had decided to head into Metropolis together to meet Chloe at work.

After the events of the previous night Danny had had a number of epiphanies. He knew now that he needed to let Clark make his own mistakes. There were several things that Danny simply couldn't protect his cousin from, lessons that Clark needed to do and to learn for himself. That meant that Danny needed to risk putting his trust in Clark. And Danny was willing now to tell him about some of the most important things. The danger of some of his enemies, like Vlad Masters, being at the top of the list. But there was more than that, and seeing his family again had made him realise just how much he needed friends, people he could trust to be there for him.

He hoped that talking to Clark and Chloe would help with that. It had taken the best part of nine months but he was finally willing to try to open himself up to others. It was hard, part of his nature now was ghostly and he was resistant to change. With everything that had happened he had somehow forgotten that part of him was human, that he needed friendships and change to survive. Although there was some worry about Chloe; he didn't know what she had seen of him last night. After he tried to help Alley everything became fuzzy until he woke up with his friends and family on the other side. But maybe he could afford her more of the truth. Not all, she still couldn't defend herself. But some. A small smile played on his lips at the thought of the green eyed blonde.

Chloe had called both of them up that morning, asking if they could postpone the discussion for a couple of hours; apparently she had been roped in to giving a tour for a school group. The school was visiting Metropolis for the week and had booked a full tour of the Daily Planet. By the sounds of things she wasn't particularly keen to do it, but the fledgling reporters always got the worst jobs, and impromptu tour guide seemed to fall under that category. While there was a lot that needed to be aired between them, he was confident that everything would work out. Danny and Clark were still able to spend a bit of time with her before the students arrived, but none of them wanted to go into what really needed to be said at the _Planet_. Still, Danny was content. He enjoyed the blonde's company; there was something refreshing about Chloe's snarky sense of wit and bold confidence.

Clark and Danny arrived to a small smile and a quiet dismissal. Chloe was still finishing up and despite her obvious curiosity she had to focus on her work. Clark and Danny watched quietly as she tapped away at the screen, her brow creased sweetly as she typed. She finished with a flourish and a broad smile, standing up to get herself a cup of coffee, however their time together was interrupted when Chloe's phone rang saying that the group was not far away and she needed to be upstairs to greet them. "Duty calls" she joked with a soft smile on her face. "Come on, I'll show you two out on my way to collect them."

Danny shook his head as he stood up, the school had arranged it as an after-hours tour, meaning that it started at four and would finish at six. That way they wouldn't be in the way of the bustling reporters while they worked, and the kids would still get to see how things got ready for the evening edition. Danny had no interest in journalism; while he understood that Chloe loved it he didn't see the attraction. And something always made him hesitate when he thought of career choices; he had once aimed to be an astronaut, but nowadays that didn't hold the same calling. It was a long gone dream that had somehow drifted off into the 'what could have been' the day he stepped into the portal. Danny shrugged as he stepped up the final step to the lobby and froze.

"Fentoni?" A brash voice of disbelief cut through the _Planet _lobby, making everyone present snap to attention. It was all too familiar to Danny, and left him similarly dumbstruck. His eyes flicked briefly to the blonde haired jock, his former bully otherwise known as Dash Baxter. All of them were there, Valerie, Paulina, Star, Kwan, even Mikey and Ethan. All of them, except the two who had mattered to Danny the most. He frowned, remembering the days Sam, Tuck and he had shared together at school; bottom of the social ladder, but secretly saving the town from ghostly destruction. Now Danny had no-one behind him. It was a sad thought. Even though he had just seen them the night before, their absence weighed heavily on his core. Danny subconsciously reached to his necklace, fiddling with Sam's ring as the students from his old school waited.

Danny was stunned, of all the schools that Chloe had to guide around she had managed to get landed with Casper High. Danny's eyes briefly flicked over to her where she was talking to his old vice principal and English teacher, Mr Lancer. He seemed to have gained a bit of weight since Danny had last seen him, but still held himself with the same superior gait. He had been the one teacher who managed to both be infuriatingly condescending towards him and offer him his complete encouragement. Danny actually suspected that he and Jazz who he had ever called by their first names, even if it was only rarely. Eventually Mr Lancer finished speaking with Chloe and made his way over to Danny and Clark who were still standing on the top stair before the basement level.

"Mr Fenton." Lancer acknowledged, meeting him firmly in the eye. Danny sent his old teacher a half smile.

"Hey Mr Lancer." Danny replied, unsure how to act. Lancer wasn't his teacher anymore, but seeing him here made Danny feel off balance, like the same little kid who skipped out of his English class to stop Skulker or Desiree or Technus or... well the same little kid who was an abysmal failure at school and had so disappointed all of his teachers, particularly Lancer who had actually seemed to care for him as a student.

"By the way you two look I take it that this is your cousin?" Lancer queried, gesturing towards Clark.

"You're half right, he is my cousin, but not by blood." Danny answered shyly.

Clark of course added "I was adopted by the Kents."

Lancer looked between the two. "A Tale of Two Cities, one could almost think you two were brothers." He shook his head quickly before looking back at Danny. "Mr Fenton, given the circumstances, perhaps you would like to join us. Miss Sullivan informs me that you may be able to help some of the students fill out their worksheets, and while I may no longer be your educator there should be no reason for me to inhibit the transmission of knowledge." Danny was hesitant, most of the people in the group had gone out of their way to make sure his life at Casper High was miserable, but Valerie was a friend when she was out of uniform, and some of the 'nerds' weren't all too bad, like Mikey and Ethan. And it had been nearly nine months since he'd last seen any of them.

Also, knowing Lancer, Danny knew that he had very little chance to refuse, somehow it would come back to bite him if he didn't join them. So almost begrudgingly he accepted, farewelling his cousin and sidling along towards the back of the group as they headed down the stairs to the basement. "Hello and Welcome to the _Daily Planet_" Chloe's warm voice called out "My name is Chloe Sullivan, and I'll be your guide for today." Danny smiled; at least he could be certain of one friend here.

"This is the basement," Chloe announced, guiding the group over to the side so they could observe. "The beginning of any aspiring journalist's career..." and so began Chloe's tour of the _Planet. _Unfortunately for Danny she'd already given him the tour the first three times he visited her at work with Clark. And she had given the _'you should really consider a career in journalism'_ lecture enough that he had probably memorised it. Danny knew she wanted to involve him in journalism, but frankly Danny didn't have either the time or the patience. He was not a writer, Danny was happy enough to draw, but his talent had never been in stringing words together.

"Hey" Danny jumped as the warm female voice of Valerie Grey finally spoke up. "How're you doing?" She asked. Danny sighed, rubbing his fingers through his hair as he turned to look at her. She still wore the same style as she had back in their freshman year. Her yellow top and orange skirt had only changed slightly in cut to fit her full curves. But the last time he had seen her she had tried to end him. She had flown all the way from Amity Park to Smallville on Halloween for the explicit purpose of ending his existence. With how fast her glider flew that was at least a two hour flight, she was determined if nothing else.

From the corner of his eyes he caught her glinting brown. They had dated for a short time; it seemed like a lifetime ago. The days when he was with Sam were some of the happiest in his half-life, everything before and after seemed pale in comparison. He still remembered the severe reprimanding Sam had given the night before, and he was going to try to actually let himself move on properly, but he still didn't see Valerie in the same way. Something about her wanting to destroy his other half kinda ruined any chance of a true friendship for him. But that wouldn't stop him being civil.

"Not bad I guess." Danny finally answered. "I'm graduating at the end of the semester, wound up being skipped ahead."

"Really?" Valerie pressed with her brown eyes wide. "Dang Fenton, didn't think you had it in you."

Danny actually laughed at that, getting a few questioning glances from some of the others. "Neither did I. Live and learn, hey?"

"So what're your plans when you finished, gonna take up the family business?" Valerie inquired as Chloe took the group through to the printers. The equipment was currently still before the evening edition went out. But that was a good thing because the hundreds of rollers were distractingly noisy when they were working. Danny looked over at Valerie pondering the irony of her question, he had been in the 'family business' for two and a half years already, just in disguise.

"Probably not." Danny answered with a shrug, "I was never really interested in the inventions, and chasing ghosts is not my idea of fun."

"Really? But then what's gonna happen to the patents, you gonna sell them?" Valerie pressed.

"As I keep telling one of my friends the only people who are interested are the people I don't want running around with them. You've seen the GIW; they hurt more civilians than they catch ghosts. I'm not about to let them get their hands on anything more dangerous than what they already have." Danny watched as Valerie flinched, she too had hurt her fair share of civilians under her facade as the Red Huntress, but all Danny wanted to do was point out that in the wrong hands any weapon could be misused.

Valerie seemed disturbed by this line of thought so jumped for another topic. "So who's your 'friend'?" She asked.

"Lex Luthor." Danny answered. Valerie whistled.

"Okay, so let me get this straight, _The_ Vlad Masters wants to adopt you, you're hanging out with _The_ Lex Luthor, and yet you choose to live on a farm in Smallville?" Valerie entreated, obviously dumbfounded. Danny just nodded, there was no way he'd ever live with the frootloop, and Lex was cool, but he wasn't completely trustworthy. At least he knew Clark would take care of him and keep him safe.

"Yeah, I like the farm. Aunt Martha's a lot busier now than she used to be, but Clark's cool. He was the tall guy next to me in the lobby." Danny clarified at Valerie's confused glance.

"Really? You can see you're related." Valerie said, and Danny sighed.

"You're not the first person to say that, Chloe says that we could be brothers, but Clark was adopted and mom and dad had just had Jazz around the time Clark was born." Or at least that's what the official documents about Clark said.

"Hmm, that being the case can I have his number?" Valerie asked. "He's cute."

"He's my cousin Val, besides I don't think he's looking for a relationship just now. And it's Linda Lake who writes the gossip column." Danny said, diverting her attention to her worksheet. It was a poor method of distraction, but he didn't want Valerie to press him about setting Clark and herself up. Valerie and Clark just wouldn't work in any way, shape or form. He shook his head looking out the fifteenth floor window. One of the most successful columnists worked here, Danny suspected she was Meteor infected but hadn't had a chance to check it out. And by this time of day she had long since gone home.

"Yeah well, I was never very interested in the gossip column anyway." Valerie shrugged, crossing out her answer and putting Linda's name in instead. Danny shook his head, paying attention to Chloe's spiel for a few minutes. They were heading up towards the Editor in Chief's office. Danny wasn't sure what to make of the fierce woman, but it didn't really matter since he only had limited contact with her and he wasn't an employee. No doubt this was the final stop on the tour and they were going to be given some inspirational speech about following dreams and the power of perseverance.

Danny sighed, drifting back towards Chloe as the students took notes. "Having fun?" She asked, and Danny raised an eyebrow at her.

"I'm not looking for a job at the _Planet _Chloe." Danny deadpanned. Chloe sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, fine, you saw right through me, but I thought you might like to spend some time with your old friends since they were here."

"Thanks, and it was sorta nice to get to talk to Valerie. Maybe." Danny acknowledged. Now it was Chloe's turn to raise her eyebrow.

"You were talking the whole time." Chloe murmured incredulously.

"And she's got every answer on her worksheet right." Danny defended. "But it was nice to get to chat with her again. She's grown up a bit, I think, but she's still the same."

"And you're not?" Chloe asked. Danny frowned, uncertain.

"I'm not sure, probably not. I've been away from Amity of for almost nine months now; some stuff was bound to change."

"And you've gotten taller." Chloe added, nodding in agreement.

"And I've gotten taller." Danny acknowledged, shaking his head incredulously. That was about the only thing about him that had visibly changed. In the last few months he'd shot up, now standing barely four inches shorter than Clark. He was also happy that he hadn't put on his father's bulk, nor had he gained the outlandish muscles of his evil alternate future self. He was tall and thin, with his mother's light physique and his father's height. Danny shook his head to clear it from his strange musings. It was then that Patricia Kuhn finished her speech, and the tour group headed downstairs to get ready to leave.

Chloe led the group back down to the lobby, most of them were chatting amicably as they bustled down through the lifts in small groups. When they all reconvened in the lobby Mr Lancer was quick to draw them all to attention. Danny drifted off to the side, knowing that while for a short time he had been among his old peer group he was no longer one of them.

"Now I want you all to thank Miss Sullivan for kindly showing us around this symbolic institution." Lancer instructed. "I hope this experience has shown all of you the effort that goes into putting the news together. There is an art form to taking events and presenting them to the public, those who make the news are little without those who convey it. Like any literary medium, the author of each piece puts a part of their soul into their work, and whether the news be the stock trends, the latest 'Hot Goss' or the most recent ghost attack, you should always respect those who dare to present it to the world."

Lancer finished his speech to scattered applause. Danny just smiled at Chloe, knowing that she believed something in those veins, although for her it was the pursuit of the truth rather than the art of the words. "Good," Lancer continued. "Now you all have two hours free time, I expect you all back at the hotel by no later than eight thirty, no exceptions and yes that does means you Mr Baxter."

There was a brief pause, the teenagers splitting into small groups to chat as they made their way off.

"Wanna go get something to eat?' Valerie asked, coming over to Danny. "You know, just for old times' sake?" Danny looked over to Chloe briefly, they were supposed to meet up after the tour back in Smallville, Chloe probably wanted him to provide instantaneous transportation. And there was a lot of ground that needed to be covered between Chloe, Clark and himself. He teetered on the edge of rejecting Valerie when Chloe wandered over.

"Don't worry," Chloe answered, probably guessing what Valerie had asked. "I'll get Clark to come get me." Danny smiled at her, glad that she was being so accepting. It made him all the more determined to clear the air between them. But for now he could enjoy the company of an old friend.

Thus Danny found himself guiding Valerie out of the _Planet_ and towards a local diner he'd found on one of his patrols. There were a few nights where he'd stop by for a late night hot chocolate and a plate of hot chips instead of heading home. The people who worked there were nice, and always had time for him, especially after he'd saved Jess, one of the waitresses from a mugging just out back. But the food was good, and since he knew Valerie's financial situation hadn't changed that much it was also relatively inexpensive; something which she happily noted when she looked at the menu.

"Hey Danny," Jess said, a broad smile on her face. She was in her late twenties, with soft hazel eyes and long brown hair. She was dreadfully plain, but a nice person all the same. "You're a bit early, want your usual?" She asked and Danny nodded, sending her a small smile back.

"And what can I get the young lady?" She asked lightly. Valerie ordered a chicken schnitzel, frowning distastefully at the idea of a burger. The two were chatting happily by the time their food came out.

"No, I'm serious. Dash actually stopped in his tracks and apologised. I don't think I've ever seen Mikey look so confused." Danny snorted into his hot chocolate which sent him coughing and spluttering for twenty seconds before he could get his breathing under control.

"So you're telling me that one ghost plays a prank and suddenly Dash is scared to bully the nerds?" Danny repeated.

"Yep," Valerie replied, her green eyes sparkling with laughter "never thought it'd happen either, but I think after he realised that... well you weren't there to take his crap anymore and nobody else was as interesting he just sorta gave it up. Plus he's dating Star now and she never liked the way he picked on you."

Danny just laughed, happy that apparently his absence hadn't been too bad on Dash's normal victims. Even Jay at Smallville had lightened up on everyone else, and otherwise bullying in the school had dropped to an all time low, according to the statistics in the _Torch_.

"That's not the only thing that changed, you know, it's weird. After you left most of the ghosts left too. Now most of the stuff you hear about is around here." Valerie commented, musing over a chip as she twirled her fork in the air. "Nothing like what _we_ used to have, but it seems like the ghosts are in Smallville now. You can't seem to get rid of 'em, can you?"

"Seems that way." Danny replied sadly. He hadn't wanted to go into this topic. He knew Valerie was decidedly anti-ghost, particularly anti-him. Well his ghost half anyway, which was still him. And he had made it abundantly clear that he did not share his parents' 'shoot first' mentality when it came to the ghosts, so this conversation had always ended up going downhill fast.

"Although I gotta admit, I think the portal being destroyed had a lot to do with that." Danny added with a shrug. It still hurt to think of that incident and all that it meant, but the basic facts were there.

"What do you mean?" Valerie questioned.

Danny sighed, pushing the remnants of his plate aside. "You know how my parents had the portal?" Valerie quickly nodded. "There was a lot they didn't understand when they opened it. At first they didn't even have a door, I think that's how half of the ghosts got out. But it was more than that."

"The Ghost Zone and the Real World weren't meant to have a permanent link. Sure, there's naturally occurring portals opening all the time, and there're places where portals open more easily. And ghosts _are_ supposed to be able to come back and forth, to a point. But a permanent link was never supposed to be made." Danny looked over at Valerie who seemed to be paying rapt attention. Danny just hoped she'd maybe listen; ghosts were a part of the natural world.

"When mom and dad first made the link it helped to stabilise the natural portals. I don't think they ever realised, but the constant flow of raw ectoplasm from our portal made a more stable environment for natural portals to form. So even when our door was closed it was easy for the ghosts to get through."

"And now that's gone...?" Valerie inquired.

"Amity should go back to normal. Sure there's still enough ambient energy for them to open slightly more than normal, but there's probably fewer ghosts there now than before."

"And you say you're not going into the family business." Valerie scoffed.

"I'm not." Danny deadpanned. "I am not and never will be a ghost hunter." And that was the absolute truth. He was a Protector, sure, but never a mindless hunter and persecutor. Danny shuddered "I don't want to be part of that. I grew up with the threat of ghosts being torn up 'molecule by molecule', and I don't think any sentient being deserves that."

Valerie rolled her eyes. They'd had this debate before he left Amity and never came to a reasonable conclusion. Valerie didn't want to see ghosts as more than emotionless blobs of ectoplasm and wouldn't listen to reason about it. Danny paid for their meal and the two of them headed out. By now storm clouds had gathered overhead and it was starting to rain. Danny felt a slight pressure in his core, but couldn't figure out exactly what it was. Deciding to put that worry aside for the moment he opted to walk Valerie back to her hotel.

By the time they got there it had started raining. Valerie's long black hair fell in clumped strands around her head and Danny was getting tired of trying to brush his bangs out of the way as the rain trickled through. He was about to say goodbye to Valerie when two things happened in quick succession. Danny stifled a cough as his ghost sense went off, the blue mist hidden by the rain, and then there was a faint beeping as Valerie's ghost detection systems went off. Danny muttered a quick goodbye, hoping that he could take care of the ghost before Val came out to play.

He ran to a nearby alleyway, shifting into his ghost form and leaping into the sky. It took two seconds to feel the energy pouring off the ghost to realise that there was no way he could defeat it before he was faced by an angry Red Huntress. Danny soared up into the wind clouds, knowing that this was gonna be a long fight.

_Line Break_

Valerie frowned as she activated her battle suit. It had been over a month since she'd been able to use it; the number of ghosts in Amity Park had dropped to almost none over the last few months. Valerie suspected there was some truth to Danny's theory. _'And he thinks he's not going into the family business'_ she mused. Sure she knew that they were popping up in Smallville, the Hunter's Alliance had been talking about it for months. Rumour had it that the GIW had even set up shop in Metropolis, and Valerie had been itching to meet up with them during her free time.

The excursion to Metropolis had been officially paid for by an anonymous benefactor, but Valerie suspected that it was the same 'anonymous benefactor' who had provided her with both her original suit, as well as a plethora of new weaponry for the new one. Valerie made a mental note to thank him again; things in Amity were boring now, so the opportunity to kick some ghost butt was one that she would not pass up. The red and black metallic armour appeared over her skin, and a sleek black visor slid over her face. She was now officially the Red Huntress, kick-ass defender from the supernatural. Anything paranormal and she would happily bring it down. And her ultimate goal was the final destruction of the menace known as Danny Phantom.

Valerie growled the name. She hated the fact that the ghost dared share the name of someone she considered a friend. Danny Fenton was kind, sweet, innocent, kinda clumsy, but adorable for his clueless naivety. The only reason she'd broken up with him was that he was too clueless and clumsy to be safe if a ghost ever came after her. She never wanted to risk him getting hurt by a ghost because of her job. And then there was Phantom, the sole reason she'd become a Hunter in the first place. It may be able to fool everyone with its heroic act, but Valerie saw it for the con that it was. Phantom needed to be eliminated before it had the chance to execute its diabolical plans.

Valerie jumped into the air, her sleek black glider appearing beneath her feet as she leapt into the sky. The rain whirled around her, faster and faster the higher she went, but she didn't care. No, all that she cared about was the two level nine ghosts that were fighting above the Metropolis skies. Her scanner had originally only told her about one, but now a second one had shown up. Valerie smiled; like flies to honey, when there was a ghost around the menace Phantom was never far behind. It was only a matter of time before it showed up. She was sad to have had to run off on Danny Fenton, but it was far better for her to take care of the ectoplasmic threat than risk letting him get hurt.

Up this high her glider was struggling against the wind, she was being buffeted around like a leaf in a zephyr and didn't like it one bit. She struggled to regain her balance after a particularly strong blast, the rain pelting against her visor and making it difficult to see. She wiped the excess water off and got a proper look at the ghosts before her. Her eyes widened in fear and she felt her jaw slacken.

There were two level nine ghosts there, no question about it. Even from a distance of over two hundred yards she could feel the sheer power from the energy they were throwing around. But what shocked her was that her scanner showed _Phantom_ as being a level nine. Last time she'd really fought him he was only level seven, and he'd worn her into the ground. Halloween didn't really count in her mind since she'd had to be home in time for curfew. But the last time it mattered she'd fallen unconscious and woken up the next day in her own bed. Her dad had said that that 'kind boy. Danny Fenton' had found her and brought her home.

Point was, Phantom had managed to gain two power levels in just a matter of months, and with the look of intensity in those glowing emerald eyes it was not going to back down. Valerie trembled; her ecto bazooka suddenly seemed very small. She decided to wait for a while, watch the fight and take whatever advantage she could. One way or the other Phantom was finally going to be ended tonight. She had missed the opportunity on Halloween, rendering nearly four hours of flying worthless, but now was a perfect chance to finally bring Phantom down. All she needed to do was watch and wait; surely with both ghosts so strong, Phantom would take a hit and she could swoop in, destroy the ghosts and then be heralded as the saviour that she was.

Valerie floated back, still struggling against the wind, and stopped when she was at a safe distance. The loud shouts of the two ghosts echoed loudly in the wind, sending an involuntary shiver down Valerie's spine. By comparison the white haired Phantom looked miniscule, the second ghost towering at nearly thirty feet.

"So you're the one they call Danny Phantom." The larger ghost jeered, his voice wheezing asthmatically. Valerie turned her eyes to it, trembling at the terrifying power pouring off it. It looked like a solidified green tornado, its spectral tail whirling through the clouds, like a frozen wind. Its chest was darkened by a black armour chest plate, twin steel spikes jutting from its shoulders. Its whirling green arms ended in deep black gauntlets. Its chest was emblazoned by two concentric green and red circles, a yellow 'V' shaped lightning bolt crossing the two in an intimidating symbol of electric power. Valerie shivered, that alone she could deal with, but its face...

Its face looked like it was made of green lightning, twin bolts jutting up from its head in a sick imitation of ears. Its jeering mouth frowned in a deep scowl as it looked down at Phantom. But its eyes, they flared solid red with a note of malice Valerie hadn't seen since she faced the Ghost King Pariah Dark. But there was more to it, the solid red hue held a level of insanity that Pariah had lacked. Valerie shook, realising that this ghost would have no restraint, nothing could stop it doing whatever it wanted unless Phantom brought it down. And she hated relying on that ghost for anything.

"I do not see what the Observants worry about. You are nothing but an insect." The ghost cried with its asthmatic wheeze. Valerie watched as Phantom straightened, its cloak billowing wildly in the wind. Its green eyes held a single minded focus, and Valerie prepared herself.

"I don't care about the Observant's. You have no place here." Phantom shouted, his voice conveying a level of authority Valerie had long since forgotten.

"Ghost Child, I belong here far more than you." The ghost shot back. "I am the forces of nature; fire, wind, lightning. They all answer to me, the weather itself is mine to control, and only I, Vortex, am capable of taking the raw elements and reshaping them as artwork. You are nothing, no art to your name, no beauty to your existence. It is you who has no place here." The ghost, Vortex, took a deep breath, Valerie trembled at the energy reading her visor was displaying, and then it blew. Phantom held for all of a second before the gale force winds sent it flying.

Phantom was slammed hard against one of the skyscrapers across town; even from here Valerie could see the huge cracks that had appeared in the wall. But Phantom barely took a second to recover. Before she could blink Phantom was back, sending a huge ecto-blast at Vortex. Vortex just opened its wide maw and ate the blast, swallowing it with a smile and a mad gleam in its eyes. Phantom visibly gulped.

"Nice try, Phantom. But I was expecting a more... electrifying performance from you." The ghost jeered.

Phantom shook his head, clearing his face of any fear and loosed his cocky grin. "Oh, I can do electrifying." Suddenly there were not one, but four Phantoms surrounding the larger ghost. Each released a long chord of ectoplasmic rope, lassoing the larger ghost. "Go Ghost Stinger!" The Phantoms cried in chorus, and each of the ropes flared with bright white electricity.

"Interesting." Vortex murmured, nodding his head in something like appreciation. "Perhaps you will be a challenge after all. But electricity is my domain." With that Vortex released a huge bolt of electricity at each of the Phantoms. The sky turned white in the bright light and there was a pained scream. Valerie watched three of the Phantoms vanish, destroyed by the high voltage that Vortex had thrown at the younger ghost.

The original Phantom was left panting, its white hair standing on end and trails of smoke came off its singed form. It coughed, and Valerie winced as a spattering of green ectoplasm crossed its lips. But it was still standing... floating, which just proved how dangerous it was. Phantom closed its eyes for a moment, seeming to gather his strength. He opened his eyes, their glowing green piercing through the darkness of the night.

"Okay, you can do electricity." Phantom panted, "But I'm not gonna go down that easy. Chemistry lesson; frozen water with no free ions does not conduct electricity. In other words, freeze!" Phantom's eyes went blue, and the ghost was encased in a block of ice. Phantom smiled wearily, and Valerie was about to approach when she saw the cracks forming in the block.

"Excellent," The ghost beamed, the ice completely shattering as the ghost broke free. "I haven't had a contest like this in eons. But you will not win, Boy. Not when you battle the power of nature itself."

Phantom was assaulted by a barrage of hailstones, sending him flying back once more. Phantom's eyes glowed blue once more, and the hailstones disappeared.

"You're anything but natural." Phantom snarled, taking a deep breath, and Valerie covered her ears as she realised what it was going to do. "Now I'm sorry, but you really gotta GO!" The air itself seemed to quake as waves of visible green sonic energy leapt from Phantom's mouth. The rain filled night was suddenly filled with the maudlin cries of the damned. Valerie shivered as a tremor ran up her spine, an automatic response to the inhuman cacophony eerily echoing from Phantom's mouth. Vortex was thrown back, his form dissipating into a cloud of mist.

Valerie sighed, glad that it was finally over. Realising that Phantom was weakened she raced over. This could be her only opportunity to take it down once and for all.

_Line Break_

Clark sighed as he relaxed into one of the couches at the Talon. After Danny had gone off with the tour group he had gone back to Smallville to get a couple of chores out of the way. He'd gotten a call a couple of hours later from Chloe saying that Danny was going to hang out in the city for a couple of hours with one of his old friends. Clark was happy enough with that since Danny didn't seem to have made any friends his own age. Although he suspected that Danny was still spending time with Victor Stone. It was just disappointing that something else had come in the way of a much needed conversation between all three of them.

Chloe had asked Clark if he still wanted to catch up at the Talon, and he had been happy to oblige. By the time he'd gotten there Chloe was sitting comfortably in the corner sofa and had been joined by Lois. He had gone to get the three of them a round of drinks before joining the two cousins and was happy just to take an opportunity to relax. The last month had been So terrible and miserable; first the breakup with Lana, then the damned excursion to find Milton Fine in Honduras, and then last night with Lana's near permanent jaunt to the other side. After everything that had happened he just wanted to take the opportunity to rest. Clark's eyes surveyed the Talon, there weren't that many people there and the small TV screen in the far corner of the room was muted, but it was currently going through some boring cooking show.

"So where's Casper tonight?" Lois asked taking a sip of her Mocha Latte.

"Hanging with a friend in Metropolis." Clark answered with a smile.

Lois practically beamed. "'Bout time. I was starting to think the kid was more antisocial than you, Smallville." Clark just shook his head. He was Lois was here, her humour helped lighten many of the worries pressing on him. But she was really equal parts funny and infuriating. Something about her always managed to leave Clark feeling exasperated.

"So who's this 'friend'?" Lois pressed.

Clark was saved by Chloe who decided to answer. "You know how I was taking a tour at the _Planet_ today? Turns out it was Danny's old school. I was able to convince the teacher to let Danny tag along, and he spent the whole time talking to... what was her name?"

"Valerie?" Clark supplemented, knowing that was the only surviving girl from his old school that Danny had favourably talked about, although there was always a strange undertone to it.

"Valerie, right. They decided to head out for dinner before she was due back at the hotel." Chloe finished. Clark's attention flicked back to the screen, it had switched to the news and a headline underneath confirmed that it was an important announcement.

"Good for him, kid like that shouldn't be cooped up on a farm all the time. Right, Smallville?" Lois joked, nudging him with her elbow. But Clark wasn't paying attention. His attention was wholly on the screen where a weather-beaten reporter was mutely talking about a freak weather storm in the Metropolis area. The picture on screen panned out to show the sky where colossal flashes of lightning brightened the night to near daylight.

"Is that Metropolis?" Lois asked, her eyes moving to see what had caught Clark's attention.

Chloe frowned. "That wasn't there when I was leaving." And Clark agreed. With a storm like that they should have been seeing signs of it all day. There was another flash and Clark could have sworn he saw a white cloak floating in the clouds.

"Was that...?" Chloe asked her attention entirely on the screen. It was still on mute but it seemed half the cafe had their attention on the small screen.

"Phantom." Clark finished for her. "That's not freak weather, it's a ghost."

"What about Danny?" Lois asked, her eyebrows creased in worry.

Chloe shook her head. "He'll be fine, he knows enough about ghosts to know when to clear out. It's Phantom I'm worried about." They all flinched as they saw Phantom split into four before being electrocuted by a bright lightning bolt. Clark had seen enough.

"I'm gonna go see if Danny's alright." Clark said excusing himself. Chloe raced to follow him.

"Actually Clark, this time maybe you should help Phantom. By the looks of that..." Chloe said gesturing back towards the screen. "He could use all the help he could get, even if he is a ghost." Clark nodded in acknowledgement, wondering briefly how Danny managed to keep his two lives so separate. Before Chloe could say another word he was off, racing towards Metropolis faster than the human eye could see.

This time he was going to be there for Danny whether he liked it or not.

_Line Break_

Phantom gasped for air, an unnecessary but subconscious action in this state. Every part of him ached like he'd just gone ten rounds with the Fenton Generator, and with this particular ghost that didn't seem that far off. The Wail had been a chance move, but seemed to have taken a lot out of his opponent. He was worried, Vortex was more powerful than Phantom, and while he wasn't as outclassed as he had been when he was up against Pariah, Vortex was still a force to be reckoned with. Phantom watched as his opponent dissipated into mist, allowing himself a brief sigh of relief as the threat seemed to withdraw.

He floated for a minute, dazed, trying to regain some energy after the Wail. Phantom had needed to use it at full force, like when he'd been up against his alternate future self and it was only due to his heightened endurance that he hadn't been forced to shift back to his human form. He closed his eyes; the wind and rain were still intense, but not nearly as bad as they had been. He needed this, to stop for a minute and get his thoughts back together. Finally he took a deep breath, steadying himself. Vortex was still out there, Phantom could sense that much and he needed to take the opportunity to trap him before he could get away.

Phantom pulled the Thermos out, knowing that to an observer it would look like he had pulled it from thin air. Suddenly he was blasted by a pink energy blast. He frowned, that didn't feel like Vortex, it was far too weak. In fact it felt a lot like...

Phantom spun around just in time to dodge a second blast from the Red Huntress. Her sleek black armour mostly blended in with the light, but the faint glow of the red betrayed its ghostly origins and made it all too easy for Phantom to see her in the dark. He groaned, already too exhausted to fight her. This was the first time he'd seen Valerie in uniform since Halloween, and both times she'd decided to pop up once he'd already handled the threat. But this time he hadn't even got the ghost in the Thermos.

"Stop right there, _ghost!_" She spat, pulling out a long red and silver gun. "You're not getting away on me this time!" Phantom shrieked as the blast collided with him, he was just too tired to continue to evade her. The blast stung like acid against his skin, and his already protesting flesh screamed in agony at another wound.

The Huntress clicked her heel on the board and the gap between the two prongs sparked. Having felt the electricity from that particular part of her board before he didn't want to be anywhere near her when it went off. He was distracted, trying to evade the Huntress and her many painful weapons. He missed the wheezing sound of Vortex reforming behind him, passing it off as Valerie's hover board charging up. He missed the first heat blast that Vortex threw at him, convinced that it was a shot from one of her many weapons.

What he didn't miss was the way his core screamed at Vortex's follow up shot, a bolt of lightning ten times stronger than everything he'd sent before, straight towards him and Valerie. Phantom didn't think, he just teleported and threw up a dome shield in time to protect Valerie. He felt her fear, pouring through her aura in almost tangible droves. He felt the lightning bolt collide with his shield and braced as it intensified. He felt himself losing ground in the sky, tiny cracks forming in his bright green shield.

There was a moment of eerie silence when the whole world seemed to freeze. Then the shield burst, disintegrating into a mist of fine green dust. It was swept away by the wind only a moment later. Then the lightning struck. Phantom felt every cell, every nerve of him catch on fire, the searing pain second only to his accident in the portal. He screamed, feeling his pained screech shift to the Ghostly Wail without his consent. But it _hurt_ the foreign energy was vicious, rampaging through his body and attempting to destroy him from within.

Phantom stilled in the air, his scream instantly cut off as he felt the electrical energy go deeper. It stabbed into his core, through the warmth of his human half and the ice of his ghost half, digging right through him. He barely felt the blast that the Huntress sent at him, he was too lost to his own world of piercing agony. There was a moment where he felt himself fade, a terrifying instant where he was nowhere and everywhere at the same time. The only thing keeping Phantom tethered to the world was the need to protect the very girl who was trying to end him.

He gasped, a bright blue ring forming around his waist, but he managed to keep his mind together and force it back. His breath quaked; the painful electricity was still rampaging through his core and driving him to distraction. But he had to end this fight. He took a deep breath, steeling himself against the pain and let out one final Wail. This time he dug through what little of his core he could harness, bleeding his cold energy into the sonic power of the Ghostly Wail.

The triumphant smirk on Vortex's face vanished as the icy sonic waves hit. It was the force of a blizzard on Neptune, far colder and more intense than anything Vortex could summon. Phantom watched as for a second time Vortex's form dissipated into mist. This time there was no hesitation; he uncapped the Thermos and sucked him up. He was not going to just let Vortex go. With how dangerous he was, how insane he'd felt, as well as what he remembered from Clockwork's lessons; Phantom's guardian needed to take care of the malicious ghost. And with how badly Phantom was hurting he sincerely hoped that Vortex was sentenced to the Phantom Zone.

He sighed, Vortex was finally gone. He could rest. Phantom was so tired that he'd forgotten about the secondary threat until another red blast hit him. The blast thumped into his already aching shoulder, and Phantom lost his grip on the Thermos. It tumbled down to the earth below, and Phantom was soon after it. But he was thrown off course by a large red missile. It exploded on contact, sending him crashing down to the ground with an almighty thud. It was too much, the painful electricity still arching through his core was ripping him apart inside, and the physical injuries he had already sustained were now making themselves well known.

Blearily Phantom climbed out of the three foot crater, shaking as his ectoplasmic muscles failed. He didn't have the energy to float, let alone teleport to safety. The only thing keeping him in his ghost form was the sheer force of will, but even that was fading. There was the whirring of charging ecto guns, and Phantom blearily looked up to see a circle of white suits. A final onslaught of pain, the sensation of something wrapping around his waist and the cold pain as his core sought to protect his human half sent him blinking blearily into the dark recesses of unconsciousness.

_Line Break_

The world slowed to a standstill around Clark as he tore across the highway to Metropolis, the rain stinging his face as he raced through. By the time he got there the fight seemed to be over, the intense rainfall and wind having dissipated into a small drizzle. Clark passed by a blank white van, searching for any sign of his cousin. He eventually found the police, including Detective Maggie Sawyer who was surveying the damage high up on one of the skyscrapers. Hoping that she had any useful information Clark sidled up to her.

"Should've known you'd show up sooner or later, Kent." The detective said shaking her head.

"Do you know what happened?" Clark asked looking at the destruction left behind. It seemed like the weather had done some bad damage to the local infrastructure, the worst being the damage to the top of the skyscraper that Clark suspected Danny had been thrown into.

Maggie frowned at him. "We're not sure. Witnesses said it was ghosts, but I don't think _ghosts_ could do anything like this. Couple of government agents pulled cleanup. It seems they took the perp. into custody." Maggie's voice was short and crisp, but Clark was glad she was answering him at all. In November Clark and Lois had worked together to bring down a foreign politician, but their methods hadn't worked quite to plan. Maggie had been working on the case, and while she was happy that they'd helped her, she had ended up suggesting that the two of them stay out of crime and justice. Danny had been in the Zone while that was going on, and Clark had decided that he did not want to tell the sixteen year old exactly what had happened. Some of that story was a bit too embarrassing.

Clark frowned, the oblique reference to 'Government Agents' was concerning. "Any idea who the agents were?"

Maggie shook her head. "No, but they had more clearance than I do. Strange men though, at first I thought they were from a wedding, they wore all white suits." Clark's eyes widened, realising exactly who had taken Danny.

"Any hint as to where they were going?" Clark asked, trying to keep his voice calm. Panicking would not help now.

"No, and Kent, as much as I enjoy your relentless questioning I do have work to do." Maggie dismissed him, walking off to talk to some of the other officers who were surveying the damage. Clark stalked off, wishing that he had any clue of where Danny could be. He walked a couple of blocks, staring at the singe marks on the building before he came to a second area which had been taped off. In the centre of the black and yellow tape was a three foot deep crater, large cracks stretching out into the black bitumen around it. Clark shuddered knowing how much force it would take for anything to make a mark like that. He skirted around the area, hoping to find anything useful when he spotted a glimmer of silver.

Approaching it he recognised it as Danny's Thermos. The unmistakable green and silver design was singed slightly, and had been dented by the large fall. Clark could swear he heard the captive ghost cursing that his artwork 'was ruined by that ghost brat'. Clark tucked the Thermos into his pocket knowing that Danny would want it if... no, when he got back. But there were no further clues, no hint as to where Danny could be now. He spotted a flash of orange and yellow amongst the crowd and quickly ran over. He recognised the girl as Valerie from earlier. They hadn't been formally introduced, but from Danny and Chloe's descriptions he knew it was her.

"Valerie." Clark called, running over her. She looked scared for a moment, as if she'd been caught somewhere she shouldn't be. Looking at the time he realised that she was probably supposed to be back at the hotel by now, but if she was here she had probably seen what had happened to Danny.

"Clark?" Valerie questioned, looking him up and down. "Danny's cousin, right?"

"Yeah." Clark answered.

"If you're looking for him, I don't know where he went to. He did the same thing back home too." Valerie shrugged.

"Actually, I was wondering what happened, did you see anything?" Clark asked, trying not to sound suspiciously interested.

"_Ghosts_" Valerie hissed. "No matter what they always ruin everything. I was happily hanging out with Danny and then that big... weather controlling one just had to show up. Next thing Phantom's up there and the two of them are on rampage. Did you see how much destruction they've caused?" Clark watched as Valerie angrily shook her hair. He remembered Danny saying she had a bleak outlook on ghosts, but this ran much deeper.

"So you saw how it ended?" Clark pressed. At the moment anything would be helpful, maybe the GIW had said where they were going to take Danny.

"Well, obviously Phantom got sick of the other ghost showing it up, so it trapped its buddy in its silver container thing. Then the Red Huntress came in to help take him down. Phantom got hit and thrown into the ground. Then the good people of the GIW came in and said that they were going to take it in. Good riddance I say." Valerie finished her rant, a strange gleam in her eye. If Clark didn't know better he would have thought she _was_ the Red Huntress, but surely Danny would have told him that.

Clark muttered thanks and offered to take her back to the hotel safely. After all the streets of Metropolis weren't a safe place for a young woman this time of night. Surprisingly she declined, saying that she was fine to 'fly on her own'. Clark shook his head as he watched the dark haired girl disappear into the crowd. She was strangely confident for a girl her age, and Clark wondered where she'd gotten such a strong prideful streak. None of the girls he knew were happy to be by themselves in the city after dark.

Clark frowned; talking to Valerie had been a dead end and he still had no idea where to look for Danny. With a frustrated sigh he decided to call Chloe. Somehow she always managed to pull through for him, and maybe this time she could help him find the GIW HQ. It was the only chance he had to find his cousin, and Clark knew he was fast going to run out of time. When Lex had captured AC he had wanted information, AC would have been kept alive. When Victor had been apprehended they wanted to improve him, so he would have survived. But Clark knew that the GIW only wanted to destroy ghosts, and that meant that there was only the narrowest window of opportunity to find his cousin.

Clark was truly terrified as dark images of unending torture and experimentation crossed his vision, knowing that he probably couldn't even conceive the worst of it.

_Line Break_

Phantom blinked his eyes open. He was in a stark white lab, vaguely reminiscent of where they had kept Victor when Cyntechnics had got their hands on him. But there was nothing in the room but for a silver lab table in the centre. Phantom flinched back, his shoulders coming into fast contact with the wall behind him. He absently noted the glowing green chains fastened around his wrist that clanked as he moved against the wall.

"Subject 9.0046, cease." A cold, emotionless voice echoed through the room and Phantom jumped. He tried to reach out with his senses and find the camera, shut it down. But he halted after a moment; his core was in pure agony. Vague flashes of his fight with Vortex whirled through his mind, the incessant pain as Vortex's final lightning blast pierced down into his core. Phantom felt as if his core was fighting itself, and could feel the electrical energy rampaging furiously against the cold in his core in a battle for dominance.

A panel on the far side of the room opened, the hidden doorway parting to allow two white clad men to enter the room. Both were decked in long white lab coats, but the third man who came in betrayed exactly who had caught him. He was clad in a crisp white business suit, straining slightly as he wheeled in a large silver table covered entirely in silver and red weaponry. What little colour that remained in Phantom's face bleached out. It was over. The Guys in White had finally caught him.

"Subject 9.0046, stand." One of the lab-coats ordered, and before Phantom knew what was happening he was being brutally shoved towards the lab table. The long chains were released, only to be replaced by glowing green cuffs that bound him to the table. Phantom struggled, desperately trying to free himself. He attempted to phase, but a jolt of electricity raced through him. Whether it was from the restraints or his own core he didn't know. All that he felt was the slap across the face as a pained cry echoed from his throat.

"Subject 9.0046, be silent!" the white suit demanded, pulling out a small ecto-gun and quickly firing it at his shoulder. Phantom fought back the urge to scream as the gun antagonised his already burned flesh. He felt them open the clasp of his cloak, pulling it away from him. He watched helplessly as it dissipated into mist, a silent tear in his eye as his only physical reminder of Sam was stolen from him. He couldn't summon it back, he was too weak. He was facing this all alone.

"Agent M, Researchers B and G present for primary examination of Entity 9.0046, commonly identified as 'Phantom'" The white suit said to the air. Apparently Phantom's entire imprisonment was going to be recorded. Fear flashed through his green eyes and he trembled back into the cold metallic lab table.

"9.0046 exhibits close mimicry of 'human' anxiety." One of the researchers stated, his cold grey eyes looking down at Phantom.

"Subject has been restrained, begin proceedings." The agent instructed. Phantom blinked as one of the researchers picked up a scalpel, glittering menacingly in the light. Phantom tried to shift in his bonds, but it was no use. Phantom shrieked as the blade pierced his abdomen, digging down through his tunic and into his flesh. He was helpless as the researcher carved a large 'Y' across his chest, ectoplasm oozing out of the incision. The pain of his core and the agony burning through his abdomen was too much, with flickering green dancing on the edge of his vision Phantom blacked out.

The next time he woke it was to find himself chained to the wall; his arms were bound tightly, spreading him across the wall. His feet hung in the air, barely skimming the floor. There were long streaks of green across the floor from where they had dragged him over from the lab table. Phantom looked down at the mutilated gashes on his black tunic. He could feel the skin on his chest struggling to pull itself back together. The sheer difficulty told Phantom that they had used an ecto-based scalpel. Very little else could disrupt his healing like that.

"Good, 9.0046." A man spoke, breaking Phantom from his dazed reverie. "I see you're finally awake." The man strode over to a table. Phantom noted that there was only the two of them in the room, the two researchers must have finished their part and left and now he was faced by two men in white suits. Phantom gulped, seeing the man stalk over to the weapon covered table, his fingers waving in indecision as he tried to select which one to use.

"Prototype 461G; the Ecto-Blade. Test 1." The man announced, picking up something that looked Very similar to Valerie's shruiken discs. Phantom trembled as the man threw them at him. While the GIW still had notoriously bad aim, at this close range one was bound to hit. Phantom screeched as a disk lodged itself into his thigh sending a spattering of green out onto the ground.

"Prototype 461G; Effective, efficiency 20 percent." The white clad man declared, stalking over and pulling the disc out of his thigh. He set them aside on the table and picked up the next weapon. This looked more like the typical gun, but something told Phantom it was far more. Again the man named the weapon before letting loose a round of blasts at him. He flinched as they scorched his already burned and mutilated flesh, biting down the pained cry that sought to escape his lips.

It went on for hours; each weapon was declared effective or ineffective and set to the side. There were a couple that actually helped him, replenishing a little of his energy. Whenever that happened the man would stalk over and slap him across the cheek, making sure that even their failures punished him. Phantom passed into a bleary daze, hoping for some respite but knowing none was coming. The pain in his core was mounting once more, and he couldn't concentrate. After four hours of constant tests and retests Phantom's eyes fluttered closed, leading him into the safe darkness of oblivion.

_Line Break_

Clark pounded his fist against the tabletop in frustration. It had been three days since the fight in Metropolis and Danny's subsequent capture. He had spent the last two days searching through possible GIW bases for any sign of his cousin, but most of them had turned out to be decoys. Clark surveyed the cleared room, there had been nobody here and probably hadn't been anyone in the decrepit building for the best part of a decade. But Clark was desperate and was hunting down the men who had taken his cousin.

The first night when he'd gotten home he'd set the Thermos on Danny's desk, knowing that eventually he would want to take care of it himself. Chloe had run a search overnight for possible GIW bases. Clark had passed into an uneasy sleep, half expecting Danny to burst in at any moment with a cheery smile saying how he'd miraculously escaped and everything was fine. That morning with no Danny to be found he'd headed to Chloe to find the results and there were over a hundred all within a day's drive of Metropolis. He had spent the whole day looking, but hadn't had any luck.

Clark had told his mom that Danny was doing a ghost thing, which was partially true. He just couldn't bear the thought of her face if she ever found out the truth. It was the family's worst nightmare, ever since Clark had been little. But it had only ever been an abstract thought, the terrible 'what if?' that waited on the darkest horizon. But now it was real. For a similar reason to his mom, Clark had decided not to tell Chloe. It was safer for her to believe that it was Phantom who was being hurt, not Danny. He didn't want to risk scarring her like that when they knew what the GIW had planned for any ghost they caught.

Clark had been tempted to call in Victor, but he realised that the only point of contact he had with the half-robotic man was Danny. Clark growled. Every second he wasted searching was another one that Danny just didn't have. He stared at the remains of the splintered table; this had been just another decoy. So far he had only encountered four actual bases and his cousin was nowhere near any of them. Calming himself he raced off to the next potential base. It was a system of labs in Star City, in Marquette near the bay. Clark just hoped this was where Danny was being held.

Clark sped across the darkening countryside. By now the first stars of evening were coming out. It would have been a beautiful night if Clark hadn't been so consumed with worry for his cousin. He barrelled through the doors, this time not caring to be careful when he heard a piercing scream. It reverberated through the air sending chills down his spine. Clark hoped that he never had to hear anything like that again; it chilled him to the bones. It was an overwhelmed scream of pure terror, of hopeless agony and of complete and utter defeat.

Clark barged through the halls, throwing a few security guards against the wall as he went through. There was a satisfying crash as he sent the white metal door flying out of the way. But that didn't prepare him for what he saw. Three men were gathered around a silver lab table in the centre of the room. There were large stains of green on the floor and it took a second to realise that that was Phantom's blood. He gagged, but wasted no further time, in a blur he tackled the three white clad men sending them flying into the walls to fall unconscious.

He approached the lab table, noting the dead look in Phantom's green eyes. Somehow he was still in his ghost form, one small blessing in this mess.

"Clark?" Phantom croaked; his voice gravelly. His pupils were wide, diluted with pain and fear.

"It's okay." Clark soothed, wondering what trauma his cousin had endured. "You'll be fine." Clark pulled on the bonds around Phantom's wrists, but met resistance. Eventually he pulled through, his fury at those monsters inspiring him to greater strengths.

"No." Phantom murmured softly, his eyes half closed in agony. "Video feed, you're not..." Phantom's eyes flickered closed and his hand reached to his chest. Phantom coughed twice and Clark flinched as green ectoplasm made its way onto his lips. He moved to help Phantom sit up, pulling his hand away when he felt the still oozing wound on his chest.

"I gotta... you're secret..." Clark tried to ignore Phantom's incoherent babblings. He had to get him out of here now. Clark picked Phantom up bridal style, terrified by just how light he was. Phantom's eyes opened in narrow slits, green swirling into weak silver. Clark jumped as Phantom's glowing aura surged for a moment before the whole lab went black.

"What was that?" He demanded, scared that Phantom had just sacrificed the last of his strength to keep Clark safe.

"Your secre's safe... Power..." Clark watched as Phantom's jumbled ramblings faded as his eyes once more closed. Clark was just thankful that Phantom was still alive at all, although the fact that he hadn't changed back petrified him. Danny always changed back to human when he fell unconscious, every single time. And here he was unconscious in his barely glowing ghost form. The usually bright visible aura of energy that always surrounded him was all but gone. The cloak that he seemed to love so much was absent and his tunic was filthy and ragged. The silver embroidered DP emblem that sat above his chest was stained with green. Clark bit back bile at what those monsters had done to Phantom.

Clark roared out of the lab, still carrying his cousin. Pressing himself faster than he had ever run before, he made his way back from Star City to the barn in a bare matter of seconds. He raced Phantom up to the loft, gently laying him on the sofa. He took a minute to speed over to the house, retrieving Danny's red blanket and the small green first aid kit he kept hidden under the bed. He was just glad that his mom was already in bed, he couldn't let her see this. At least not until Clark knew how bad it really was.

Bracing himself Clark pulled the tunic away, as soon as it was off it dissipated in a whirling green mist. Clark gagged as he saw the mutilated mess on Phantom's stomach. They had... they had vivisected him. The open 'Y' shaped incision was still oozing slightly, but the faint scarring around the flesh said they'd done this more than once. How many times had they cut him open in the last three days? Clark wanted to be sick, this was almost more than he could handle. But he forced himself to calm down. This was Danny, the same boy who would go above and beyond the call of duty for him. Clark carefully cleaned off the wound, bandaging it up as best as he could.

Clark monitored Phantom for ten minutes before the bandage was soaked through. Clark didn't know what to do; Danny had never told him how to heal ghosts, and the idea of cauterising the wound... Clark couldn't do it. He unwrapped the first bandage, cleaning the area again and repeating the process with clean dressing. An hour passed this time, but it was obvious that something was stopping the wound from closing.

Phantom had yet to stir from his unconscious state and Clark was fast running out of options. Something told him that if Phantom didn't get proper help soon then there was a high chance that he could lose his cousin forever. This was far more terrifying than just days ago when the meteor rock cocktail had knocked Danny out and stopped his heart, and far worse than when he'd teleported into the loft revealing part of his secret to Chloe. This time he was stuck in his ghost form, the injuries would have been fatal to a human and Clark was starting to wonder if Phantom was all that was left of his cousin.

Now he was tempted to call his mom. Things had gone downhill over the last two hours and Phantom was still oozing profusely. Clark had long since finished off the bandages from Danny's ghost first aid kit and was now making do with store-bought bandages. Even those were soaked through far too quickly. The problem was, even if his mom knew about Danny's condition, there was little either of them could do. Clark felt his eyes burn, but he refused to cry. He was not going to let Danny down; he was going to make sure that he was safe once and for all.

There was only one person Clark knew well enough to trust with this, and he'd already promised to help with anything to do with Danny. It only took one last look at his cousin's prone form to convince Clark that this was the right thing to do. He pulled out his phone.

"Hello Mr Masters. It's Danny, he needs your help."

* * *

><p>AN: Um, yeah, very... dark. Sorry if you don't like that sort of thing, but it needed to be desperate enough for Clark to turn to Vlad. That's all I'm gonna say...<p>

Until Next time,

Bluerose


	26. Snares

Chapter 25

Snares

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

_There was only one person Clark knew well enough to trust with this, and he'd already promised to help with anything to do with Danny. It only took one last look at his cousin's prone form to convince Clark that this was the right thing to do. He pulled out his phone._

"_Hello Mr Masters. It's Danny, he needs your help."_

_Line Break_

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

Danny's mind drifted in the darkness, the only thing he recognised was the slow steady beeping that seemed to resonate through his awareness. His mind was drifting; soft whispers of awareness caressed him tantalisingly, pulling him away from the blackened depths. But they were never enough, and were fleeting from him long before he could touch them.

The world was darkness, and darkness was his world. Rolling mists of inky black pooled across the ebony depths of his mind. Still he drifted. The endless blackness was soothing in its disquiet, filling in its emptiness. He could feel nothing and in feeling nothing he found himself completely satiated. The shadowy world closed around him, wrapping him up like a blanket. He felt no pain, no sensation. All that existed was the rolling blackness that ensnared and liberated him.

Soon enough he found himself walking along a plain, grey stone path. He didn't know where the path was, only that the soft grey stones were something different than the shadowy mists that rolled around him. He stepped forward, but did not feel the sensation of the stone meeting his feet. It was strange, he was walking but he could not feel himself move. All he noted was the gradual shifting of stone beneath his feet as he followed along the path.

The mist thinned, and gradually he came to pick out small landmarks; glimmers of light against the darkness. As he walked he saw flashes; tiny things that stood out in the gloom. He noticed first a flash of silver, Tucker's PDA floating off the path, just beyond reach. But Danny wasn't really tempted to pick it up. Tucker had always been right there, doing everything with him, and fond memories of his almost-brother flitted through his mind.

Several minutes passed before he recognised something else. It was a book, one from the endless piles of Psychology texts that Jazz used to inhale. Danny was glad that his sister had always been there, always had his back. Recollections of her soft smile played across his mind, and he felt himself smile with nonexistent lips.

The next thing he saw was the Ghost Gabber. His dad's original. He half laughed at the sight of it; nowadays the thought of the annoying little device just brought back fond memories of his dad. The time they spent together with him fishing out of the Ghost Portal or following whatever maddeningly endearing idea he had come up to capture ghosts. Danny shook his head in amusement as he kept walking.

The darkness seemed less oppressive now, and the pathway had become familiar. Even the silence on the pathway was vaguely comforting as he continued his journey. Time passed, and from the corner of his eye he caught the sight of a baking tray, coated in chocolate chip cookies. He smiled; no matter how obsessed with her work his mom had been, she had always made time for the family. She was always there, radiating love and warmth.

The path was broadening now, now large enough that two people could easily walk side by side, but Danny still couldn't see the end. He kept walking, not feeling tired at all. He kept walking and the black mists continued rolling ahead of him. In time he came across a sabre, and remembered the hours spent sparring with Lex Luthor. That was an unexpected friendship, and he was grateful for it. Despite how untrustworthy Lex was, the wealthy philanthropist was always happy enough to talk, putting his own work aside for Danny if he came by unannounced.

Danny pressed onwards, continuing along the grey stone path. Out from the mists appeared a computer chip. And Danny recognised it was the one that he had given Victor Stone. The cybernetic man had become a fast friend, even in the short time that Danny had known him. Victor always had a smile for Danny, and seeing that made Danny think of long afternoons in Metropolis spent just talking to a fellow half human.

That too vanished into the darkness as Danny continued his journey. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, but he knew he needed to keep moving. Eventually through the gloom came two items together. On either side of the path floated Ember's fiery pink guitar and a Daily Planet Press Pass, both hanging opposite each other. Chloe and Ember, both together and yet separated. Both were so important to his life at the moment that he couldn't bear to lose either of them.

He kept walking through the darkness, the grey path seeming to stretch out forever in front of him. But he didn't weary as he kept his steady pace. The next thing he saw was a small pentagonal crest. It was silver, maybe three inches across. Danny squinted, momentarily unable to place its significance. But then it moved, the black mist clearing from in front of it and Danny saw the symbol for the house of El. But it was different, in fact it looked much closer to an 'S' than the old Kryptonian emblem.

Danny smiled, thinking of Clark. The man who Danny had come to consider as so much more than just a cousin. They were so similar in so many ways, not only for their powers but for their personalities. It was hard not to draw parallels between the Kryptonian and himself when Clark went so far out of his way to be there for his friends. Danny had tried to protect him, but Clark didn't need that. In fact, Clark needed to be able to defend on his own. Both of them had their own heavy burdens, and Danny had been trying to steal Clark's from him. Maybe it was time to learn to carry the load together.

The crest soon vanished, but Danny kept walking. By now he could see more of the path, and there seemed to be a rise in the stone just before the horizon. He continued walking, his pace speeding up till he was almost jogging, but with a glimmer of gold he stopped, pausing to look down at the ground before him. The gold was Sam's ring, sitting mildly in the centre of the grey path. Danny froze, but bent down to pick it up.

The ring sat comfortingly in his hand, reassuring him as Sam always had. Thoughts of the amethyst eyed girl washed through his mind; leaving him smiling and frowning in equal portions. He would always love her, and a part of losing her would stay with him forever, more so than any of the others. Sam had been his world, her bright smile cheering him up on even the worst of days. But part of her, her fighting spirit would always live on in his heart. Danny smiled, pressing the ruby stone to his lips as he continued down the path.

Some time passed, and the strange lump in the horizon didn't seem to move, however Danny kept walking. He never once turned back; never thought that looking backwards would guide him out of the darkness. The shadowy mists rolled around him, pressing against him with gently intangible caresses. But Danny focused on the path ahead, Sam's ring a comforting weight against the unending gloom.

Still he kept walking, and the darkness seemed to react. Dimly he realised that the dark was pulling back, the black mists rolling away and leaving the path ahead clear. It came up to him suddenly; he was walking steadily before he was forced to stop. The path had come to an abrupt end, finishing in a grey stone altar. It rose from the path, but somehow seemed to be a natural part of it. As though it had naturally grown from the path beneath. Danny stopped, a confused frown touching his lips.

He stared at the altar for some time, trying to make sense of it. It was plain, there didn't seem to be any significant markings on it. In fact, the more he puzzled over it, the less it seemed like an altar and the more it seemed like a big rectangular boulder. But then something shifted, and Danny noticed a small symbol carved atop the centre of the boulder. His fingers reached out, almost unconsciously to touch the small emblem, his emblem that sat insignificantly on the stone altar. His fingers brushed it, the tiny 'P' inside a spectral 'D' that identified so much of who he was.

He felt a strange tingle reaching up his arm and he jerked back. His eyes were fixed solely on the altar, for suddenly it had changed. Weaving out from his emblem were tiny strands of blue and green, pooling and flowing like water across the stone top to carve out intricate symbols. They continued to spread, the tiny strands of blue and green highlighting runic symbols in the altar, gradually thickening until the whole altar was covered in carvings of intertwined cerulean and emerald. His logo sat in the centre, a constant shifting of blue and green that surged and rolled within the outline of his emblem.

Once more Danny reached out to touch it, the tingling that had started in his arm pushing through his whole being until he practically vibrated with the energy. The buds of his fingers pressed into the symbol and suddenly everything flared. The green and blue surged, brightening until they became a bright shade of silvery white. Danny closed his eyes against the brightness, waiting until it dimmed.

His eyes peeked open slowly, fixing on the now glimmering silver runes that covered the altar. It took a moment for him to notice a change, but it gave him pause. On the altar lay three items, each puzzling and yet understandable in their own way. The three were arranged in a triad around his emblem, none taking more importance than the others. They were all plain and dull, but each held a deeper significance then their outwards dullness portrayed, and Danny instinctively knew that he was being presented with a choice.

At the tip of the triad was a dagger, plain and simple. Its unsheathed blade sparkled invitingly in the silver light of the altar. Danny thought on it, puzzling out its meaning. Daggers were a fairly simple weapon, convenient. They were easy to conceal and were an efficient means to an end in a fight. However, in a way they were cowardice. They were meant to be hidden and used to gain an unfair advantage. In a way that's what Danny had always done; hide his true nature and use it to undermine his opponents. Looking at the dagger he suddenly found the idea repugnant, pure cowardice. His attention shifted to the next object.

At the bottom left of the triad was a shield. It had no decoration, it was simply meant to defend. This was simple to understand, it symbolised Danny's nature, his inner urge to protect and keep everyone safe. It represented who he had become ever since he first stepped into the portal, the defender; the only one shielding Amity Park and now Smallville from the onslaught of malevolent ghosts. But as he looked at the shield it seemed insufficient. He had taken up this duty, but it didn't seem enough anymore. He had been the defender, but now he wanted to do more.

Finally his eyes settled on the third corner of the triad. The third symbol, third choice was a simple sword. It had no embellishment, nothing to signify its importance. It paled in comparison to the sword that Dora had gifted him, but it represented so much more. A sword was a powerful tool, it was meant both for attack and defence. It symbolised something more than the shield, not only the ability to protect but also to lead. It meant greater responsibility; further to fall should the bearer fail. For a sword was not meant to be hidden, it was meant to be on display. It was a symbol of power, able to inspire people into action. It was the symbol of so many warriors, all called to greater things by their desire to defend and protect their people.

Danny's eyes cast over the three, but really there was only one choice. He could take the dagger, and forevermore remain hidden in the shadows; the invisible force that sneakily brought retribution to those who deserved it. He could take the shield; continue as the solid defender who stood in the way of malevolence and kept people safe only when needed. Or he could take the sword; finally step out of the shadows and earn his place, not just as a defender but as someone who actually stood up for his own beliefs and defended his cause. He could take the sword and become a symbol; someone that people could believe in and trust to do right by them.

It was time to choose, but Danny felt there was only one option. It was time for him to take up the mantle he had died for. Disregarding the other two he decided what he wanted to be. He no longer wanted to hide in the shadows, no longer wanted to be a simple barrier. He reached out, and his fingers caught on the cool metal handle of the sword. The world flashed bright, and a steady beeping danced on the edge of his consciousness. He smiled, the sword in his hand felt _right, _even as the dark world was consumed by all encompassing silver light.

_Line Break_

Vlad Masters smiled, cracking his knuckles loudly across the large oak desk in his spacious office. His plan, months of manoeuvring, manipulation and careful strategy had worked towards a near perfect execution. In the bedroom beneath his office lay the boy, the object of his obsessions for over two years and the last living remnant of the woman he had loved. The sole object of his obsessions, in truth, since the loss of his dear Madeline.

His strategy had come off nearly flawlessly and after so many years young Daniel was finally in his care, and without legal interference. It was unsatisfying that the boy was once again unconscious, but it was a necessary sacrifice to ensure his submission during this transitionary period. He did not want to have to work around lawyers and the Social Services Department again, last time Daniel had escaped him simply by putting up enough of a fuss in front of his councillor. So Vlad was somewhat grateful for Daniel's continued unconsciousness.

It had been a long drawn out plan. The Little Badger had proven time and time again that simple plots to draw him in never came to fruition. Daniel's friends and sister had always gotten in the way of that happening. So he had made a longer plan, the first pieces coming into play back at Christmas when he visited the Little Badger's new family. He had been most interested to find out that the boy had told them his secret, but it was clear that Daniel hadn't trusted them with the whole truth. Otherwise Vlad would not have even been able to meet with the Kents, nor would he have so easily been able to manipulate the too trusting Clark.

The next aspect of his plan had been relatively simple, even if it required vast stores of patience. He had easily enough convinced the ghost Vortex to wear the boy down, although he had not counted on Vortex being so violent about it. He had wrought more damage than Vlad had originally intended, bringing unwarranted attention to the battle. However, as Vlad had expected the boy came through, ensnaring the ghost in that Thermos of his. That was why he had scheduled the visitation of Casper High to Metropolis; having his loyal Huntress in place to further wear the boy down was an excellent strategic advantage.

He had always intended the boy to fall into the hands of the GIW, and that he would then be the saviour who pulled the boy safely out of their clutches. It was a cleverly conceived plan, and now Daniel was finally in his care. He had put several measures in place to ensure that the boy stayed in his hands, and the cost of Daniel even attempting to break free this time would be even more severe than anything the boy had experienced. The boy was clearly wounded, both physically and mentally. And Vlad was willing to do anything to ensure that the Little Badger stayed here, with him, where he belonged.

However, that did not mean that he intended ill upon the boy, far from it. As with the period after the meteor strike, Vlad had hired two of the world's leading and discreet doctors to tend to the young boy. Vlad was expert in much of paranormal biology, but having another expert on hand was useful. The doctors had been particularly interested in not only the biological similarities between him and the boy, but also the differences. These past two internments had led to some quite interesting discoveries about his Little Badger.

When Vlad had first discovered young Daniel's secret he had been privately alarmed with how much time the boy spent maraudering about in his ghost half. During Vlad's own early years as a half ghost such exploits would have been detrimental to his already weakened health. Spending long periods of time in his ghost half had left him feeling weak and ill; ectoplasm had never been compatible with human biology and the forcible integration of the two had been destructive to his human body. It had taken the best part of five years for him to stabilise the ectoplasm running through his veins enough to survive in his ghost half for longer than an hour straight.

In fact it had been his body's rejection of the ectoplasm that had led to his debilitating case of ecto-acne. His body had spent years trying to purge itself of the foreign energy, but had been unable to succeed. Now he looked upon it as a symbiotic relationship, the ectoplasm provided him with his powers and a natural immunity to many human ailments. In exchange Vlad gave the raw ectoplasm a stable host in which to manifest, and the strength of will to be directed towards a useful purpose. It was a useful relationship, aside from brief periods where his body would still attempt to reject the alien body of energy. And even those had reduced over time.

The boy however was different; it seemed his body had fully accepted the ectoplasm to the point where it was not foreign but a necessary part of Daniel's physique to have ectoplasm and blood running aside each other. Vlad had been infuriated to find that out, the boy had been so lucky with his accident, saved from years in the hospital and surrounded still by a loving family. But the more investigation he did, the more questions arose.

It had been the proposal of the younger doctor, Dr Muirden, who had presented an interesting hypothesis about the two half-ghosts. Daniel seemed mostly stable between his two halves, and each half was exactly one half of him. Muirden had theorised that it was theoretically plausible to separate the two, and that then each half could become an independent, stable entity. If Vlad were to undergo a similar procedure his human half would survive, but his ghost half would dissipate unless it was stabilised by a separate ectoplasm based entity.

It was an interesting hypothesis, but one that Vlad was hesitant to pursue. For the time being all he wanted was to get the boy back on his feet and stable enough to discuss things civilly. Daniel had never listened to him, but now they were truly all the other had. Vlad just needed to convince the boy that his place was here, with him. However that was proving difficult. The boy thus far had shown no signs of recovery, even after two days. He was also somehow producing extremely high releases of electricity, making it almost impossible to administer any treatments or take any measurements. All Vlad had been able to do was force the child back into his human half and hook him into a heart monitor. The slow synthetic beeping served to settle his nerves and little more.

That was where his plan had gone wrong. The boy had been in far worse condition than Vlad had initially intended when the young Kent boy had called him requesting help. Vlad had been stonewalled by the GIW; they had somehow picked up another benefactor who was far more interested in testing weaponry than Vlad had ever been. Unfortunately Vlad had been unable to 'rescue' the boy himself; he had originally intended to acquisition Phantom from them as their original benefactor. That would have served the dual purpose of placing Danny in his capable hands, and identifying Phantom as Vlad Masters' property. However, it seemed that the GIW agency was no longer so interested in his benefaction.

Instead Vlad had found traces of the radical experiments exacted on his Little Badger. The 'Y' shaped incision across his chest had only just closed up, and tore open with even the slightest movement. His first sight of the boy, unconscious in the barn loft at the Kent Farm, had secretly horrified him. For almost six hours he had been convinced that the researchers of the GIW had killed off the human half, but that fear turned out to be unwarranted. Three hours after their arrival in his Wisconsin Mansion Muirden had arrived and had suggested injecting Daniel with one of the cocktails they had developed during his prior 'hospitalisation' during the summer.

It had been agonising to watch, and Vlad would only admit it to himself but he had been mortified with how painfully slow the shift back to human had been. The bright white ring had appeared, flickering slightly. As it made its slow way across the boy's body it had staggered, pausing intermittently as if the change was too much for the battered body to manage. But it had, and the dark t-shirt on the boy's human form had quickly become coated with sticky crimson. Muirden and the other doctor, Dr Farus had done their best to patch the boy up, battling with the unstable electricity that shot from the boy in short bursts the whole time.

Vlad still didn't know how Danny had moved from the hands of the GIW and back into the care of the Kent boy, but he was glad that he had manipulated the farm boy as he had. He suspected that Daniel had managed to escape, recklessly returning to the farmhouse for help. Kent had played his part perfectly though, deferring to Vlad as a carer for Danny and gladly putting the young half-ghost in Vlad's hands. He had called once since then, but Vlad had been able to shake him off. The Little Badger was in _his_ hands now, and here he would stay. This whole mess was just proof of how much Daniel needed Vlad.

Vlad nodded to himself, glancing over the stack of papers on his office desk. He did have genuine business matters to attend to, and while he wanted the boy well again standing aimlessly by his bedside would do very little. Vlad had giver Muirden and Farus free access to his own personal medical resources and a steady source of ectoplasm. For now the boy was stable, despite the strange electrical discharges and it was only a matter of time before he woke up.

There was a sharp rap at the office door, clearly one of the doctors as his other servants either would not subject themself to a mortal entrance, or had been warned against such intrusion. However he invited the man in, eyes narrowed as the tall frame of Dr Farus pushed through the door.

"Mr Masters." Farus said, his dark head of hair dipping in deference. Farus was in his mid fifties, and was happy to do any work so long as he could retire earlier. The man had practically thrown himself at Vlad's offer when he heard how much caring for the boy was worth. Farus had been one of the doctors who first took care of Vlad two decades ago and had been particularly discreet about Vlad's abnormalities even then. Not to say that Vlad particularly trusted the man, but the tall alabaster skinned doctor had been surprisingly loyal.

"Dr Farus." Vlad acknowledged, but did not invite the man any further in. Farus understood and stood vigilantly by the door. "How is the boy?"

"Daniel is recovering slowly." Farus supplied professionally. "Many of the smaller cuts and abrasions have closed, and the marks from the vivisection are healing as we speak. He is still heavily bandaged, but Muirden and I expect that he will rouse within the hour."

"Good." Vlad acknowledged, pulling away from the desk. "Then I have cause to pay the Little Badger a visit."

Farus nodded, standing aside so that he could follow Vlad downstairs. Vlad stayed silent, he didn't need to talk and his underlings all knew to be silent unless spoken to. Vlad pushed the door to the boy's room open, his eyes immediately settling on the dark haired teenager on the bed.

Daniels eyes were still closed, but his breathing had evened out and the small sparks of electricity had reduced to static zaps that barely registered in the air. That would probably change when the boy woke up, but for now it was alright. Vlad's eyes flicked to the heart monitor at the boy's bedside, keenly watching the steady beating. It was slow; only thirty beats per minute, but Vlad had discovered that that was a natural effect of Daniel's particular half-ghost condition.

What was worryingly abnormal was the rapidly fluctuating ecto-energy levels. Vlad had left an ecto-meter in the room in an attempt to measure how well the boy was doing. The boy was oscillating between a level three and a level ten, but nothing was stable. There had been a terrifying few minutes where Daniel had fluctuated down to about .5, and Vlad had watched as the whole boy's being faded for an instant. However that was when the largest electrical spike came and Daniel had slammed back into existence, the 'Y' shaped incision tearing open and a wash of crimson oozing out across his too pale flesh.

Since then his power levels were averaging at level 8.9 which was technically more raw power than Vlad had ever had. However, Vlad was a master strategist and was not worried about how much brute force the boy had. Vlad still had many techniques that the boy couldn't even fathom, things that were his right to teach provided that the boy submitted to him. No matter how much raw power the boy possessed, Vlad was the superior half-ghost, and the boy constantly proved that with his 'heroic' folly.

A soft groan issued from the boy's lips, and Vlad's eyes laid straight on Daniel's clenched eyes even as the two doctors rushed to his side. The doctors knew their place; they were there at _Vlad's_ behest. While Vlad wanted the boy better, the two doctors knew exactly whom was paying their bills. Muirden had a hand rested firmly on the boy's wrist, securing him while simultaneously checking the boy's pulse. Farus was at the boy's other side, an ectoplasm rich IV in his hands awaiting Vlad's signal. There was a moment of heavy tension in the room as Daniel's eyes flickered open.

Vlad was met not with eyes of sparkling cerulean, nor of toxic neon green. Instead the boy's eyes were a shade of bright silver, filled with swirling edges of blue and bright green. There was something mesmerising about those eyes, but Vlad refused to be drawn in. His plans counted on these next few minutes, and he was not about to let anything stand in his way.

"Wha... Where am I?" Daniel asked, his silvery eyes blinking blearily in confusion. He flinched as he pulled himself up, one hand jerking to his abdomen where the large incision lay. His other hand was still firmly held down by Dr Muirden. Vlad watched silently, waiting until the boy's thoughts caught up with him. Daniel's eyes widened pleasingly when they came to rest on Vlad.

"You!" He exclaimed, his voice still weak and husky from many days of disuse.

"Me." Vlad replied, smiling down at the incapacitated young boy. "Imagine my surprise when your illustrious young cousin Clark Kent calls me in the middle of the night, completely distraught that his _poor_ cousin had been hurt, nearly to the point of death." Vlad drawled, smirking as Daniels eyes flashed through confusion and anger and straight back to pain.

"I felt it was my _duty, _once more, to take care of you." Vlad continued. "After all, by choosing to live in that _deplorable_ backwater community, you have alienated yourself from any source of recompense. You _deliberately_ cut yourself from any access to treatments that would help you as a half-ghost. So _naturally_, when your _dear_ Uncle Vlad heard news of how terrible a predicament you had gotten yourself into, I knew I needed to be there once again to take care of you, not only as Maddie's son, but also as the younger half-ghost."

"I..." Daniel interjected with the barest hint of heat in his voice.

Vlad held up his hand, effectively cutting the boy off. "Not this time, Daniel. It is high time you listened to me. I will no longer abide your flippant attitude when it comes to the use of your powers. You have only made a fool of yourself and now have risked not only your own exposure, but the destruction of our kind. Now I am laying down the law, you exist now only because _I_ have intervened. For the second time it is _my_ doctors who have saved you, _my _knowledge that had kept you from self destruction. This time I will not abide your wanton claims for the protection of social services. This time I am claiming you. You are _mine_."

The boy sat staring in shocked silence. His eyes narrowed on Vlad, taking no notice of the two doctors even as they bustled around him. "I'm not." Daniel whispered, and Vlad could barely contain his grin. That was the reaction he had wanted the boy to have.

"Pardon me?" Vlad pressed, as though he had not heard the frightened tremor in the boy's voice.

"I'm not _yours_." Daniel spat. His silver eyes flared with a spark of energy, something that Vlad had desperately wanted to inspire. However he was not going to let the boy get away with this defiance. Vlad pressed his lips, sending a silent signal to the two doctors to leave immediately. They scurried out of the room like cockroaches fleeing from the dark. Vlad waited until the door softly clicked back into place behind him before fixing his gaze firmly on the boy's still swirling eyes.

"I'll think you'll find that you are." Vlad replied slowly, enunciating every syllable until the message sunk in. "You were _mine_ the day you were born, the son that would have been mine if not for your incompetent father's mistake. You were _mine_ the day you stepped into that portal, binding yourself to the ghost world and becoming my kin. You were _mine_ the day we first met, confined in that box as my own possession. You were _mine_ the day I saved you, kept you alive after the meteor strike that stole my Love away from me. And you are _Mine_ today, handed over from the son of your legal guardian, handed over because they were incapable of taking care of you."

Vlad smirked at the pain, the agonising betrayal that worked its way into the boy's eyes with every word. "You belong to me in every way, Little Badger. Any claim you had against me was forfeit when Clark handed you over. We are all the other has left, and I will not see you leave my hands again. You are _mine_, and it is time I claimed my rights to you. You _will_ be my son, you have no choice. This time there is no one to take you away from me, and I am not letting you escape me again."

"You wait." Daniel retorted, anger surging through those swirling silver pools.

"Wait for what?" Vlad retorted coolly "For you to recover your strength? It won't matter. Even when you do fully recover you won't be able to leave. I have put a shield around the house, specifically keyed in to your ecto-signature. The only way for you to leave would be for you to use that ghastly Wail of yours, but alas, that would not work without killing all of the human inhabitants of my Mansion, including your own physicians."

Vlad laughed inwardly at the sheer simplicity of his plan. The boy moved to rise, but fell heavily back down into the bed as another surge of electricity pushed its way out of him. He coiled in pain, but this played into Vlad's plans perfectly. "And now you have seen the second reason why you cannot leave. Your own body is currently unstable; the ectoplasm in your body is producing and expelling detrimentous amounts of electrical energy. To leave in this state would be fatal to both your ghost and human half. You _need_ me little badger. And this time there is no one left to help you."

Daniel groaned, his eyes flashing defiance. However that electrical surge seemed to have sapped what little energy he had regained. Vlad smiled, feeling his eyes flash red at the sight of the incapacitated younger half-ghost.

"Think about it." Vlad commented idly, looking down on the boy as he drifted into unconsciousness. Vlad watched the boy for a few minutes. This would be the hardest part; he needed to break the boy into submission. It would take time, but Vlad was confident that soon enough the Little Badger would sway to his will. After all, it was true; they were all the other had left in the world. Vlad sighed, heading out towards the large bedroom door. Pausing, just before he exited Vlad turned around. His whisper pressed against the silence as he flicked out the light.

"Sleep well, my son."

_Line Break_

Clark sighed as he leaned heavily against the recently placed fence post. It had been two days since Vlad had come to take Danny to recover, and there had been no word since. He had tried to call the billionaire to check on Danny's progress a number of times. But the one time he got through he had been dismissed, Vlad saying that 'he would be informed if the situation changed.'

His pushed himself heavily away from the post, moving across to the pile of long planks to pick one up. This morning his mom had asked where Danny was, she was getting worried that she hadn't seen him in nearly a week. Fortunately, Smallville High had broken up for the spring holidays, so the school wasn't chasing them up about Danny's absence. Clark had nearly cracked; he hated lying to his mom about anything. But there was enough going on. Clark had yet to tell her about his Dad's warning; that Lionel Luthor had somehow found out Clark's secret. He knew that when his mom found out that truth she would be terrified, and with what had just happened to Danny there was no way she would ever want to let either of them out of their sight.

So Clark had hidden the truth from her, saying that Danny had probably been caught up in some ghost thing. But it couldn't last much longer; if Clark didn't hear anything about his cousin soon then he would have to come clean with his mom and ask for her help. He was just glad that Vlad had been so willing to assist. Clark hated not knowing how to help his cousin, and looking at Danny's broken and bleeding corpse had terrified him more than anything he had experienced since the day he watched his dad die.

Clark shook his head, pulling out a couple of nails and pressing them through the long wooden plank. It had always been so easy to avoid his problems when he was working. There was always some chore that needed completing; a fence that needed fixing or cows that needed feeding. It had never been much strain to do the work, and it gave him something to focus on instead of getting bogged down in his own troubles.

"Hey." Clark started at the soft voice, setting the last few nails aside as he stood up to face Chloe. She was standing on the far side of the fence, closest to the farmhouse.

"Hey." Clark replied sending her a grim smile. It was hard to believe that not even a week ago they'd been at the _Planet_, waiting to have a proper conversation about everything. Danny had wanted that, but they hadn't even had the chance to meet up. Chloe knew that something was wrong; had probably pieced together some of it from the simple fact that Danny wasn't there. Clark's artificial smile dropped at the dead look in her eyes.

"Okay, tell me what's going on." Chloe demanded meeting him firmly in the eyes. Clark stared at her for a minute before he was forced to look away.

He sighed heavily, his eyes trained on the half-finished fencing job. "I'm worried about Danny." He answered eventually. "He got... he got badly hurt. And the only person I knew could help hasn't exactly been easy to keep in contact with."

Clark saw Chloe's eyebrows crease. "I thought the both of you were avoiding hospitals like the plague?" She pressed, her voice laced with concern.

"We are." Clark quickly replied. "But... after the meteor shower an old family friend of the Fentons took Danny in until he got better. But Danny didn't want to stay with him. This friend sort of offered to help out if Danny ever got into trouble, and this time I didn't have much of a choice."

"How bad was it really?" Chloe asked.

"In a word? Bad." Clark sighed, leaning heavily against a stable part of the fence. "I mean, I've seen him hurt badly, but he always shrugs it off quick enough. This time, the wounds wouldn't close no matter what I did. I haven't even told mom yet."

"Why not?" Chloe demanded, scandalised.

"I can't." Clark replied sadly, his gaze fixed beyond the horizon. It was easier now to just talk, he could barely process what had happened himself, and part of him still needed convincing that he'd made the right choice. "If she finds out what happened, the whole truth... it's the one nightmare that mom and dad had ever since they took me in."

"Wait, what exactly happened?" Clark could hear the frown in Chloe's soft voice.

"Remember that night in the Talon?" Clark asked, focusing his attention back on Chloe "We saw the news report of the fight in Metropolis?"

Chloe nodded, but she still looked confused. "We figured Danny would be fine. I mean, he can teleport out if anything went badly wrong. And he knows what to do around ghosts."

Clark shook his head badly. "He got caught up in that mess, I don't even want to know how bad it really went."

"But you said he's with someone who could help, right?" Chloe pressed.

"Yeah," Clark nodded absently. "Vlad Masters. He arranged transport to get Danny to his home. Said that he had a couple of doctors on call that helped out last time. It's just..."

"It's just that you're used to being the big hero." Chloe guessed. "And sitting around waiting for news isn't how you do things."

Clark sent her a half fond smile, Chloe was always astute like that about him, had been even since before she found out his secret. "Yeah."

"Okay, I get it." Chloe nodded "And now you're doing all the farm work by yourself as a distraction."

"I just can't help but think that something is wrong." Clark admitted

"Want me to do a background check on Vlad? VladCo is a public industry, there's probably something there if I go looking."

"Please." Clark requested, sending her a grateful smile. Chloe smiled back, but leaned across the edge of the fence, watching him as he picked up the next plank of wood.

"So what happened to Phantom in all this?" Chloe asked curiously and Clark jarred, recalling that Chloe still didn't know that Danny was Phantom. At this point he was tempted to say they were one and the same, surely Chloe was circling around that fact anyway. The words were tickling at the tip of his tongue, but he stopped himself. It wasn't his secret to tell and he had broken up with Lana for exactly the same reason that Danny kept his secret from Chloe. It was too great a risk.

"Phantom got caught." Clark replied coldly. "The Guys in White caught him. Chloe, it was terrible. I spent the whole night looking; they'd taken him all the way to Star City. What they did... I wouldn't wish that on anybody."

Chloe pressed a hand to her lips, fear flashing through her eyes. "What did they do?"

"I don't know everything and I don't want to. By the time I got there, he was barely conscious. I think they were testing weapons on him, there were bruises and cuts all over him." Clark paused, his eyes glassy and distant at the memory of Danny's lacerated form. "Chloe, they vivisected him, more than once. I don't see how anyone can do that to a sentient being. Ghost or not, he..."

Clark stopped, unable to say everything. It had been tearing him apart for days, first the horrible imaginings, and then arriving in the lab in Star City only to find how much worse the reality was. He shook his head, trying to force away those horrible images. Danny would be fine. Vlad had promised to take care of him, and Clark had to trust that the man would care for Danny.

"The funny thing is..." Clark commented, "In the lab, he was almost unconscious, but he saw me and he shorted out the security cameras just to protect my secret. The last thing he did, after everything that those monsters had done to him was save _me_."

Chloe sent him a half smile. "Clark, you're not the only good person out there. Phantom will look out for anyone. I don't think he'd be who he was if he hadn't tried to do something. I'm just grateful that both Danny and Phantom are safe, and if Phantom helped keep you safe then I'm grateful to him too. This world could use a couple of heroes, and if Phantom's the one who has _your_ back then I know everyone is in safe hands."

Clark smiled softly, hoping that what Chloe said was true. "You'll still look into Masters, won't you."

"Looking forward to it." Chloe answered, offering him her cheekily inquisitive smile. "It'll be good to look into a billionaire who has nothing to do with the illustrious company of LuthorCorp."

Clark smiled, watching her as she strode off through the long grass of the field. It was all going to be fine. Danny was in good hands, and he was just taking care of his own paranoia at the moment. Vlad wasn't a nefarious schemer like Lex was, and he was sure that the uneasiness in his stomach was just after-effects of witnessing what he had in the GIW lab. Everything was going to work out alright.

But that didn't mean that he couldn't try calling Vlad one more time, did it?

_Line Break_

Danny gathered himself up at the head of the bed, the heavy green quilt pulled tightly up around him. He felt cold, he wasn't sure if it was from losing so much vital fluid or if it was from his cold core building up, but he was freezing. Every movement made the stitches on his chest pull, sending new waves of agony tearing through his already weakened body. And every time he tried to use any of his powers a burst of electricity would spark out from his core, making the whole world disappear in a painful wave of white.

If he couldn't recall vague flashes from the Lab then he would have thought that Vlad had given him something. But the electricity was too constant, and already it felt like it had somehow integrated itself into his core, despite the painful stinging aftershocks that washed over him. Every part of him was in pain, just varying degrees. So the electricity was something that he just had to deal with, even if it left him feeling lost and badly beaten with every surge of electrical power.

The soft cotton of the quilt cover was a welcome distraction. It was real in a way that helped ground him. Since he had woken he had found himself lost in a tumble of emotion, unable to really figure out how to deal with everything as the sheer impossibility of his situation washed over him. From instant to instant he found himself swinging from manic laughter to helpless sobs as flashes from the last few days in his memory bubbled up to the surface.

He didn't know how long he'd been here, he was rarely conscious for long, and that was always interrupted by the presence of either Vlad or those two doctors. At the moment he couldn't decide who he hated more; Vlad for trapping him or the doctors for preventing his escape with their mere presence. Because Vlad was right; there was no way that he could escape without using enough power to kill any living thing within a three mile radius. And he hated that Vlad was able to use his own obsession against him that way.

Danny needed somewhere to recover. He needed to be somewhere where he could feed his ghost half again. Sure they had stabilised him, injected ectoplasm into his IV. Maybe that would be enough to sustain Vlad's ghost half. But not Danny's. If he wanted to save himself he either needed to go into the Ghost Zone for a long time, or he needed to skim excess emotion off of someone's aura. Neither of the humans in the house was good enough, they were both horribly selfish. Even if Danny wanted to try and help himself by drawing off their auras, there was nothing to save him here. And Vlad was just out of the question.

He hated thinking such parasitic thoughts, but it was something safer than letting his mind wander. It was safer to think about his basic self preservation needs, rather on anything that Vlad had said. Because when he did... everything came crashing in on him. No, it was easier to focus on the small things, the crinkle of fabric against his skin, the small movements he could manage before eliciting another wave of electricity from in his core, the fact that he felt like he was wasting away from starvation even as the IV pushed nutrients into his veins.

Danny took a staggered breath, pushing himself away from the head of the bed. He wrapped the quilt tightly around his shoulders and walked across to the small window seat. He recognised the room; it was the same one he had slept in over two years ago at the damned College Reunion. The room hadn't changed much; the only real difference to the opulence was the presence of Vlad's medical equipment. Danny sighed, touching his fingers to the glass.

He was alone for the moment; the two doctors were always hovering, so this could only be a brief respite. Judging by the angle of the sun in the sky Danny guessed that Vlad would be at work, granting him a temporary reprieve from the gloating and psychological attacks that the billionaire had pursued every other time Danny had woken up. Although being by himself wasn't particularly helpful either, he had too much time to dwell, and he didn't want to be doing that.

Danny pulled his legs up to his chest, the quilt falling over his shoulders and encasing him in a protective cocoon. The sun outside was shining, a complete contrast to Danny's own mood. Idly he wondered whether it was shining back in Kansas, but just like that any easiness in his mind evaporated. Vlad had said a lot of things, things Danny knew were meant to break him. And to an extent they were succeeding. He could feel himself being chiselled away at, and there was no one waiting in the wings to come and save him this time.

But the worst thing was the thought of Clark. Clark had handed Danny over willingly to Vlad. Despite how bad things were there were other options available than Vlad, but Clark had chosen to leave Danny in the care of his arch-nemesis. Clark had just given up on him, and Vlad made sure that Danny knew it. This time around he couldn't just wait for a councillor at social services to come and listen to him, and Vlad knew that. Danny couldn't help the sting of betrayal at the idea that Clark had willingly put him in the hands of the sadistic billionaire.

But at the same time, it was his own fault. He hadn't trusted Clark like he should have. If Danny had warned him of how dangerous Vlad was then none of this would be happening. Danny had listened to Clark's warnings about Lex, had humoured him and had then insisted on pursuing his own friendship against Clark's advice. But Danny had never told Clark about Vlad, about Plasmius. He'd thought that by keeping people out of the loop Vlad wouldn't get them in their sights. But Vlad had somehow got to Clark, and now Danny couldn't even talk to Clark or hope for an escape.

He was in pain, his core screaming for release. Electrical power bubbled and surged within him, making his blood tingle and boil in turns. It felt like if he just released it, let it out like his ice powers, then he could ride it out. But at the same time it didn't. The electricity was alien but familiar, a part of him but not. It was sort of like what he had felt when Clay Fulgar had thrown lighting at him all those months ago, but so much more powerful. And he didn't know what it was doing to him. He had an ice core, he knew that. And ice and electricity didn't go well together, but he had always been able to manipulate electricity too. Just now it was overwhelming, and he hadn't had a chance to recover.

Vortex had overloaded him, forcing him to absorb the sheer electrical power, rather than allow any of it to touch Valerie. He wasn't sure what had happened, but in that instant as the shield fell, something had shifted. His core had absorbed Vortex's power, the brute strength of the weather ghost pooling down into his core. Vortex was an Electora ghost, all his weather controlling power had stemmed from that. But that electricity had rushed into Danny's core, and even now was attacking him from within. He hadn't had a chance to recover, and even the vague flashes of the memories of his time with the GIW sent his mind reeling in remembered fear.

Danny stared out the window, his eyes hollow reflections in the glass. He couldn't escape, not this time. He was trapped in a nightmare of Vlad's own creation. And Vlad had been drawing in the strings tighter and tighter every time he came to talk. He tried, not for the first time to draw on his intangibility, but the glass remained stubbornly solid, and a new wave of electricity rendered him gasping breathlessly on the floor. It was all he could do to keep himself from screaming, pain and desperation clawing trenches into his fragile mind.

"You're awake, I see." Danny froze at the voice, calm cool and collected with superiority dripping from every condescending note. Danny gulped, drawing the quilt tighter around himself, pressing his back firmly against the wall. He hadn't even heard the billionaire come in, but at the moment he was in too much pain to do anything more than send Vlad a hate filled glare.

"Good, and now that you are out of bed I see no reason to prohibit us from finally spending some together." Vlad commented, idly picking at his fingernails. "Father and son, the only two half-ghosts in existence. What do you say, Little Badger?"

Danny felt his eyes flare, but even that small expenditure of ectoplasm sent the electricity in his core reeling. Absently he noted the electricity branch off, lightly shocking Vlad. But he was in too much pain as another wave of power sent his mind spiralling off towards blackness. However it was not to last, a sharp stinging flared on his cheek and brought him back to reality. Vlad was standing over him, his cold blue-grey eyes staring hatefully down at him.

"I will not abide your impertinence, brat." Vlad spat "You are mine, nothing more or less than my possession. And I will not permit my possessions to do anything other than what I bid them. Now stand up."

Danny gasped, his body aching in agony. His back was pressed hard against the wall, but his legs were too weak to push him up. It took too long, and before Danny knew it there was a sharp stinging on his other cheek. Steeling himself with closed eyes he pushed himself up, weak legs wobbling as his core threatened to send another wave of electricity through him. The quilt fell limply to the floor at his feet, leaving Danny feeling chilled at its absence. He glared at Vlad for a moment before his eyes fell flat to the floor.

"What..." Danny croaked, barely able to get his voice to work. "What do you want from me?"

Vlad smirked, his eyes flashing triumphantly. "What I've always wanted, my dear boy. You, the only other half-ghost as my son and apprentice."

Vlad stared intently across at him. Danny had grown since they first met, and now Danny was probably taller than the man. But pain and fear made him seem so much bigger; his intimidating persona standing confidently over Danny's barely recovering form. Danny looked in his eyes, recognising the emotionless apathy of the older man. Vlad had never cared, not really. He saw the people around him as mere objects, and nothing more. Danny was just a trophy that Vlad would try to control, and right now Danny was barely in a position to control himself.

Danny stared at the man, knowing what was coming next. Vlad had what he'd always wanted, and Now Danny had nowhere left to run. He was in too much pain to endure any of Vlad's torturous punishment, his battered body still protesting against all it had been forced to suffer.

"Shift." Vlad barked, his menacing tone demanding that Danny complied. Danny gritted his teeth, mentally bracing himself from the wave of electrical agony that was inevitable. Eyes closed tightly against the pain Danny summoned the halo of light that would morph his human body into his pure energy state. Behind his eyelids the world flashed white, and he screamed as electricity roared through him, consuming every particle of his being. His whole body felt like it was being consumed in merciless fire and the world swirled into a mindless state of agonising white.

_Line Break_

Clark frowned as he looked over at Chloe. The two of them were in the barn loft, Chloe's face lit up by the soft glow of her laptop. However that wasn't what had him worried. For the past ten minutes he'd been watching her face darkening continupusly. Her lips were pressed tightly together, and she'd barely moved but for the quick flash as her eyes raced across the screen. It was clear that whatever she was seeing she didn't like it.

She paused, her eyes frozen on the screen as her lips pressed into a tight frown. "Okay." Chloe finally said, her soft voice breaking the silence. "Okay, um, how much did Danny tell you about Masters?" Chloe asked.

Clark frowned. "Not much actually." He admitted. "Only that he used to be a friend of his parents and that Vlad had put up his hand to take care of him after the meteor. Why?"

"'Cos the story I'm seeing here isn't exactly pretty." Chloe looked up from the screen, her green eyes glinting in the pale white light. "See, on the public records there's nothing about him until fifteen years ago when he established VladCo. After that he's been the perfect picture of a congenial businessman. Nothing negative that's concrete against him. But, he came literally out of nowhere. He started his company up, but no one knows where he got the money to fund it. I mean, it's not much to go on, but does that sound like anyone else we know?"

Clark frowned, the story did sound familiar. "Lionel Luthor." Clark whispered.

"Exactly, that's what's got me so worried." Chloe commented, her eyes flashing in concern. "Vlad's story mirrors Lionel's so closely you could almost say they were the same. They have almost the same public profiles; the only difference is that Vlad seems to have stomped on fewer toes to get where he is. Something about it just feels off."

Clark frowned, peering over at Chloe's computer screen. If it weren't for the company logo at the top of the screen Clark could have sworn he was reading one of LuthorCorp's company statements. It was mildly concerning, because while there had never been anything damning pinned against LuthorCorp, Clark was well aware of the illicit way that Lionel had started it up. He had killed his own parents for the insurance money so he could go into business, and anyone who stood against him had a tendency to end up having an unfortunate fatal accident, leaving their assets in his control. It was a troubling reflection on Vlad that their stories had such close parallels.

"Yeah, but Vlad wanted to look out for Danny, he was the one who kept him safe after the meteor hit his house." Clark defended, although his confidence in the man was eroding.

"Yeah, I bet he did." Chloe scoffed, pressing a couple of keys on the computer and pulling up a new website. "Meet the Paranormal Society of the University of Wisconsin, Class of 1984." The picture was old, but clear. There were about ten people in the photo, but most noticeable were the three on the right. A tall thin man, clearly a younger Vlad stood beside an auburn haired woman. A thick arm was wrapped cheerfully across his shoulder, connected to a taller wider man. It took Clark a moment to place them, but the picture looked like Danny's parents. The three were clearly smiling, laughing together at some long forgotten joke.

"Danny's parents." Clark whispered.

"Turns out our billionaire went to school with them." Chloe continued. "The three even had their own research project, but it went wrong. Of course there are no specifics on what they are working on, but Vlad ended up badly hurt and was hospitalised for a few years. In that time Jack and Maddie got married and started their business. The year Jazz was born Vlad started VladCo."

Clark's eyes scanned the screen, looking between those three young faces. The Vlad he had met looked nothing like his younger counterpart. There had been something more calculating in the eyes, something more refined in the way he held himself.

"But that's not what really worries me." Chloe added, interrupting Clark's thoughts. "See, if Vlad was really that interested in taking care of Danny, you'd think that he would have been a big part of his life. You know, part of his childhood. But there's nothing. So far as I can tell, the first time the two even met was at a College Reunion two years ago, and I'm only guessing that Danny was there since his parents were. Vlad cut everyone off, no friends, no family, he only had his business. And now, two years later he wants Danny in his life? It feels wrong." Chloe finished, looking keenly at him.

"And I just put Danny in Vlad's hands." Clark finished, sighing heavily.

"You What?!" Clark and Chloe both jumped, starting at the sudden appearance of a blue haired ghost.

"Ember." Chloe stated bluntly. Her sarcasm dried up with surprise. Clark looked over at the blue haired ghost. Her hair was flickering wildly in blue wildfire, and her green eyes were cold with restrained emotion. He didn't know how long she's been there, or how much she'd heard. But at the moment she was the brightest thing in the room, her pale skin glowing with unearthly light as she stood, arms folded tightly across her chest in the darkening barn loft. Unlike the first time they had met there was a thick black guitar strap slung across her shoulders, and Clark could see the purple instrument sitting between her shoulder blades.

"Hey, Chloe, Clark." Ember replied, her eyes flashing a fiery warning at the cold anger in her voice. "I was just wondering, it's really not much trouble. But I have this little friend; he's about sixteen, dark hair, blue eyes. Maybe around your height Clark. But see, I haven't heard from him in a little while, and usually he's pretty reliable when he says he's gonna meet up. Maybe you know him."

"Ember," Chloe interjected, shifting guiltily under the barely concealed threat. Chloe was much braver than he was, faced by the blue haired ghost.

"No, Chloe." Ember interrupted, staring coldly over at Clark "I want to hear what Clark has to say. After all, it _sounded _like he said that he went and handed Danny over to Vlad."

"Danny is with Vlad Masters, yes." Clark admitted as emotionlessly as he could.

"I see." Ember acknowledged, nodding her head slowly. Her voice was emotionless as she spoke next. "Chloe, I think you should be leaving now. The meathead here and I need to have a little talk, and you don't want to be here for it."

"Um, really I'm fine, whatever it is, I want to..." Chloe started bravely.

"No, really, you don't." Ember shot back, her eyes still coldly set on Clark. "After all, no one wants to get in the way of a ghost and what they want, right?" Her voice was sickly sweet, her eyes flashing in green warning that sent chills down Clark's spine. Ember's threat was a whole lot more intimidating than anything Danny had challenged him with, and that was enough to set warning bells ringing in Clark's head.

The room went cold at that unsubtle warning, and Chloe quickly nodded in acquiescence. Clark watched as she made a hasty exit, the silent signal in her eyes warning him to be careful. But Ember was right, while Danny may have disillusioned them from the media driven defamation of ghosts, he had constantly warned them about how emotionally volatile they were. The truth was that Clark would probably be able to weather whatever Ember threw at him, while Chloe would get badly injured.

Ember stared at him coolly, her arms still crossed across her chest until the sound of Chloe's car pulling out of the drive had long since vanished. The silence mounted oppressively, and Clark shifted uneasily under Ember's arctic glare. When she spoke it was only one word.

"Why?" Her voice was cold, demanding. But Clark got the feeling that she was holding herself in check, restraining her powers so she wouldn't lash out at him.

"Danny got hurt." Clark answered. "Badly. And it was beyond anything I knew how to fix. You know why I can't just put him in the hospital. A couple of months ago Masters approached me. He said that if anything went wrong he'd be happy to help Danny."

"And you trusted him?" Ember shot back exasperatedly.

"Yes." Clark answered. "He was the one who saved Danny all those months ago, and he offered to do it again. He was a friend of Danny's parents, so I figured he wanted to look out for the kid."

"Let me get this straight, you trusted Danny to a man who you don't know yourself on his word and the vague fact that once upon a time he was the friend of Danny's parents?" Ember sceptically replied, shaking her head. "And you didn't know anything about him. Danny never told you anything?"

"Never." Clark answered "Masters came to our Christmas party, but Danny never said anything other than that Vlad had been his parents' friend."

"Clockwork." Ember replied, rubbing her temples in frustration. "I don't know who's the most stupid. You for falling for Vlad's tricks, or the dipstick for not telling you in the first place."

Clark stared at her, unsure of what she was saying. It sounded as though... Vlad had spun them all into a web. "What do you mean?" Clark pressed, growing more uncertain of his convictions by the second.

"I mean, meathead, that you just put Danny right in the hands of his arch-enemy!" Ember shouted, her hair flaring as her temper finally broke "And by the sounds of it, he won't even be able to fight back. Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

Clark felt his mouth drop, but he quickly schooled his face into stoicism. "How is Vlad Danny's arch-enemy?" Clark asked slowly, attempting not to antagonise the young ghost.

"I can't believe the dipstick never told you! When I see him I'm gonna reintroduce him to my guitar." Ember shook her head, her gaze fixing on Clark. Her eyes were twin pools of riling green anger. "You know what, you messed up. I don't care what Danny didn't tell you, _you_ shouldn't have been tricked by Vlad." She sucked her teeth, steely eyes glaring daggers at Clark. She stared at him in silence for a minute that stretched out for an eternity. Clark flinched when her green eyes took on a malevolently cruel edge.

"Let me tell you a little story," Ember stated, her voice angrily sarcastic. "About a small man and a great boy. Sit, get comfortable. I insist. After all, it's about time you learn that Lex Luthor isn't the biggest manipulative bastard in the world." Ember seethed, watching him coldly as he shifted awkwardly in his seat. She waited until he had stilled before she spoke, her voice coming out in an entrancingly cold whisper.

"Once upon a time," She began "There was a young man; keen and inquisitive as he began his first years of College. He was wildly intelligent, equalled only by the young woman who worked alongside him. The third party of their group was louder than the two, much more bumbling, but balanced the two out with his excitedness and his kindness. The three worked together in perfect synergy, pursuing their studies. Together the three broke new grounds into the world of the paranormal, their theories winning them boundless acclaim and recognition.

"Soon the three became ambitious, designing bigger projects and novel new theories. Soon their biggest and most audacious project was begun; a doorway into the world of the supernatural. A portal to the Ghost Zone. So they worked, days and nights were poured into their invention. And as they worked the man found himself falling in love. The auburn haired woman won his heart through her own unique genius and her loving spirit. Still the three worked, and the device took shape. It was in the final stages when something went wrong, few know the whole story, but a mistake was made by the bumbler, and the young man ended up badly injured; hospitalised by a fault in the portal.

"So the young man withered and seethed, pooling his anger into hate. Meanwhile the bumbler and the auburn haired woman married, their love far stronger than his own. And so the man's seething turned to bitterness. Love turned to hate and desire for vengeance. But this was not the end for the man; he had an impregnable strength of will and an unmitigated desire to continue. So his years in the hospital allowed him to reflect, and to plan and to explore. For that one small accident, that one mistake had brought about a new and amazing change.

"It was two days after the couple's marriage that he first truly found out. For the accident had not only hospitalised him, but gave him new strengths. Powers that no mortal man had ever experienced or hope to understand. He was the first to be able to change his form at will between human and ghost. The poor, geeky college student embraced his new destiny as the only great and powerful half-ghost in existence.

"Years passed, and he explored his new powers. Isolating himself from anyone of his old life and plotting his revenge. His isolation made him realise that he was still fully human, but blessed with the full powers of ghosts. He had never died, and so was freed from the rules that bind all those of the realms of the dead, but he was far superior to any mortal being. He came to see himself as invincible, a god among men, an unsurmountable force whom none could reckon with.

"The day the couple's first child took her first breath, the man took umbrage. The bumbling fool was leading the life he had planned out for himself, while all he held dear had been taken from him. So he started his own company. A child of corporate greed and power. And into it he fed his life, every waking moment spent reaping power and smiting all those who stood in his way. All the time still setting into place the first pieces of his plan to win the woman who, even still, he loved.

"Time still passed, and the child took her first steps, spoke her first words and watched eagerly as a younger brother was born. The man isolated himself still further, seething as the life he had wanted for himself was led by another man. He paid little care to the two children, proof only of what had been stolen from him. What ought to have been his. Still he waited, his company growing to create an empire over which he ruled. Plotting and planning all the while as he pulled the strings.

"The first time he entered the Ghost Zone was by accident, he having no access to a steady portal at the time. However the few ghosts who met him knew to be wary. He was already a force to be reckoned with, one whom none could truly hope to defeat save the legends themselves. The man created a power base, several ghosts defecting to him to save themselves from his wrath. For he was cruel and vindictive, and none could hope to stand against him.

"The man forged alliances with the ghosts, allowing them stable access to the Human World in exchange for their services. As he recruited them, he learned. His powers were near limitless, but for how much he stretched his mind and adaptation of the powers of other ghosts. And so the ghosts became involved in a plot arching across decades. The man's ghost form was cruel, fanged teeth and crimson eyes displaying to all his twisted heart and absolute power. The man had no ghost core to ground him, and his human heart was empty and cold. His only thought was for revenge on the man who had caused his misfortunes. Still the man plotted, setting things in motion for his own plans to succeed.

"The day the Zone trembled we were once again reminded of how different he was from us. While all true ghosts felt the change, and despite not knowing what it meant, he felt nothing. He cared for nothing but that his plans were close to fruition. The vengeance he had so desperately sought was so close as to be tangible. He sent his minions out after the bumbler, small tastes only to test his skill. But his minions failed, many refusing to say what had stopped him other than that they had encountered a new young ghost.

"The man was undeterred. The bumbler would fall to no hand but his, and he would reclaim the life that had been stolen from him. The last months of his waiting passed, and he lured the woman, the bumbler and their children to his home. A college reunion, orchestrated entirely to force the woman's hand, and the plan was set to come to completion. Twenty years of planning and careful manipulation had finally come to the point where vengeance was almost in his hands. However that was not to be.

"Three of his minions were sent out to complete the act, too fearful of the man to obey our own laws. They were in position to destroy the bumbler, to finally eradicate the bane of the man's existence. But before they could complete their task they were stopped; the same young ghost who had so thwarted his minions before had seemingly followed the family to protect them.

"The man raged, prevented from his vengeance by a pitifully weak ghost. His minions defeated, he went to confront the younger ghost. The small ghost was young, untried against one as strong as he. Despite the younger's victories against weaker ghosts it came as no surprise when he fell. The man grinned sadistically as the young ghost's soft white hair settled gently across his unconscious face. However, the man stared on in shock as the young ghost transformed. The boy's prone form morphed into the dark haired child, the son of his love and the bumbler.

"And as he stared, his schemes shifted. This new variable, the second half-ghost would prove invaluable in his machinations. Despite knowing that the boy was the bumbler's child, the man now wanted the boy to be his apprentice, his prodigy, his son. And so he came up with a new plan, to remove the bumbler from the picture and replace him as the head of the family. The woman would finally be his wife, and the son would act as his own.

"But the boy would not comply, and railed against the notion. The boy was loyal to his family, and would not let the man take his father from him. The boy loved where the man was bitter, and while the boy may have wanted the man as his mentor, the price was far too high. So the boy turned on the man, forcing his hand and keeping his own family together. The man was forced to watch as the women he loved and the son that should be his drove away, his mind whirring with new plans.

"Time passed and the man met the boy again. He convinced the woman and the son to leave the bumbler and the daughter unguarded, tricking them into his own home. But the boy had grown more suspicious in their time apart, and more cunning. The boy played the man, and when the man was convinced that he finally had the wife and the boy as his own, the boy incapacitated him, once more leaving the man to his own plotting. The second plot to ally the woman and her son to him gave way to new plans despite his failure.

"The man knew that he was allowing the boy too much freedom. His newest plot was not to elicit compliance so much as to restrict the boy's liberty. He convinced a new wave of ghost hunters to hound the boy, running him ragged without access to his own growing powers. The plan was to remind the boy what he was missing, what he could have, should he just give in. But the boy was pure of heart, desiring little more than the small happiness he had with his family. So despite the great gifts the man had to offer he was once more rejected, left humiliated by the boy.

"The man turned to other plans. The boy had managed to thwart all his attempts to recruit him and his mother, so new methods needed to be sought. The boy was growing in power, faster even that the man had. Acknowledging this, the man sought more power for himself, turning to dark Legend for his new scheming. Thus began the darkest machination the man had yet conceived.

"The Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire. Two powerful tokens and the keys of power to the Ghost Zone's most feared King. The man sought to tame the Powers of Pariah Dark, and claim them for his own. Once more the Ghost Zone trembled, a wave of fear rocking our realm to its foundations as the fearful King was released. We feared that this would be the revival of the darkest reign as the Powers of Pariah could be tamed by none, other than Pariah himself. The Dark King reclaimed his tokens, and the man realised his mistake.

"The man sought the assistance of the boy, appealing to his good nature both as human and ghost. However the man was still a coward and allowed the boy to face the King alone. The fight was brutal, and the boy, decked in armour taken unknowingly from his parents was weakening. The few ghosts near enough to witness trembled, fearing that their last hope would be vanquished. For the boy was already growing in power; and his armour magnified his powers a hundredfold. If the boy could not defeat the King then none else could.

"However the boy's determination prevailed, forcing the king back into the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep. The man appeared behind him, locking the Dark King away and confirming the boy's victory against the King. The ghosts in witness despaired as they watched the boy fall, completely exhausted; fearful that this was the beginning of an alliance between the two. For the two together would be unconquerable; an insurmountable union between the two half-ghosts. For the boy was a halfa, and thus destined to continue growing in power until none but perhaps the Lord Clockwork could hope to defeat him. And the man was human, cunning and free of those laws to which all ghosts must abide.

"So as the boy recovered the Ghost Zone held its breath. The man watched over the boy in a facade of paternal affection. However when the boy woke he was immediately suspicious, still remembering the many instances of betrayal that the elder half-ghost had dealt him. Any hopes of a union between the two failed as the mother and son dismissed the man once again, their family still together while the man was left to pursue his own machinations.

"Months passed in the human world and the boy grew, his powers strengthening until few could hope to defeat him. But he was kind, and even as he defeated his foes in the Human World, he would return them to their proper home. The boy's heart seemed to know no bounds, caring for all under his protection. He faced persecution in his ghost form and humiliation in his human form, but we ghosts knew to at least respect him. His kindness and resilience made him stronger and more confident in his own powers.

"However it was the boy's kind heart which damned him. For soon it became known that his sister had found out the secret, and knew the truth of her brother's adventures. The boy naturally tried to reject her, to keep her far away from our dangerous world. For she was still living; and he would not risk her becoming endangered for one such as him. Spurned, the sister ran to the man, knowing that he was a part of her brother's world. The man of course embraced her, immediately seeing her as a means to attain mother and son both.

"So when the boy came to save his sister from the hands of the elder half ghost he found himself trapped. The man had devised a test, one of loyalty and strength. He pitted sister against brother in a colossal arena. It was a test to see how far the boy would go, and if he would sacrifice his own ideals to defeat his elder counterpart. But the brother and sister held a bond of love, one that the man could not hope to understand. And so they came together, once more escaping the clutches of the man and leaving hand in hand.

"The man took particular grievance, fuming that the boy had once more eluded him. His desire for the woman never faded, but his interest in claiming the boy as his son now came first. The man continued his plotting, awaiting the day when in a moment of weakness the boy would turn to him. He continued his scheming, gradually setting up the strings for his next plan; one to destroy the bumbler and forge his own family with the woman and the boy who should have been his.

"However his plans were interrupted. For the ectoplasm which so empowered him had never truly been a part of him. His body still fought against it, and weakened he turned to the boy for help. But he was cruel, and while the boy would have helped him anyway, the man infected the boy's friends; dooming them to a tortuous death unless the boy found a cure for them all. The boy left, searching for an antidote. When he returned he brought a solution, and managed to cure his friends and the man both.

"So the man left, and the boy settled back. The boy had been severely disillusioned with the man. The one being that ought to have empathised with him had made himself an enemy. The man cared nought, too driven by his own ambition. He didn't care for the harms he would render should his plans succeed, he knew only his desire for the woman and the boy. So he watched and he waited, the boy continuing with his exploits and finding happiness with his friends and family. And so where the man had hatred and bitterness the boy had love and friendship.

"But now the sad part of the tale emerges, for the boy's easy life was not to last. His many escapes from the man were drawing to a close, as was the limited time with his family and friends. The boy's home was destroyed in a shower of rock and flame, the few ghosts nearby watched as the stable portal vanished along with the boy's home. Little was left but for smoking remains and a battered young form at the bottom of a crater.

"The story ends as the man swoops in, shepherding the boy away. When the boy wakes up he is in the man's care, faced with a terrible choice. We of the Zone can only hope that the boy will choose with his heart. For if the man and the boy were ever truly to unite, their combined power would surely begin a reign of terror far darker than the terror of Pariah Dark, leaving no hope in either the human or the ghost realms. For the monster, Vlad Plasmius has no core, and has forgotten how to love. And should the young Danny Phantom follow in his elder's footsteps then there can truly be no safety in the world, for human and ghost alike."

Clark gulped at the conclusion of her tale. He had been entranced, her voice artfully framing the story despite her clear iciness. But what she had said, the cruelty and the warning were harrowing. It was a part of Danny's life that Clark had never even been aware of, and hearing the tale told in such cold terms sent an icy chill down Clark's spine.

"So, Vlad Masters is..." Clark whispered, trying to break the eerie spell that Ember's voice had cast on the barn loft.

"Vlad Plasmius." Ember spat caustically. "And you just handed him Danny Phantom on a silver platter!"

* * *

><p>AN: Okay, so the beginning is what you get when you have a playlist which includes both <em>'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'<em> and _'Break Me Down'_ by Red.

After the rather explicit torture we saw Danny endure last chapter, I sort of figured I'd leave what Vlad does to the imagination... more tortuous that way. :P

And now Clark finally knows who and what Vlad is, and how similar Danny's enemy is to his. (Vlad = Lex/Lionel)

As for Ember's storytelling, well she's a singer and the two sort of go together. I sort of phrased it like a legend that would be spoken through the Zone by the ghosts in whispers. Plus she was being cruel and vindictive, taking her anger out on Clark by showing how inattentive he had been.

I would like to thank all my lovely reviewers; you make it a pleasure to write despite the demands of Uni. :)

'Till next time,

Bluerose.


	27. Ended

Chapter 26

Ended 

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

"_So, Vlad Masters is..." Clark whispered, trying to break the eerie spell that Ember's voice had cast on the barn loft._

"_Vlad Plasmius." Ember spat caustically. "And you just handed him Danny Phantom on a silver platter!"_

_Line Break_

Clark gaped, staring aghast at the blue haired ghost. "What...?" Clark whispered stunned into near silence. But in his mind things were slowly falling into place. Danny had told Clark about all his enemies, every single ghost that Clark asked about. Every ghost recorded that Chloe had dredged up; from the meanest octopus ghost all the way to the King, Pariah Dark. And Danny had answered his questions honestly, using his own experiences as a compare and contrast against Clark's experiences with meteor freaks. Sometimes he would be hesitant to speak, but he always obliged in the end with every ghost. All but one.

There was one ghost that Danny always skirted around, and no matter how hard Clark pressed Danny would never give much of an answer. In retrospect it was clear; Danny avoided talking about this ghost in much the same way he avoided speaking about Masters. The reports of confrontations between Plasmius and Phantom were near colossal. In one of the later articles Chloe had pulled up they had been compared to the battle between Zeus and the Titans. The two had a peculiar animosity, and anything written about clashes between Phantom and Plasmius was always significantly more immense than the regular ghost fights.

The first report was fairly tame; a small journalist from the Milwaukee journal had presented a story about the 'Wisconsin Ghost' coming to ruin a College Reunion. She had of course been dismissed from the field of journalism for her lack of scientific evidence. But the article remained, and the terrifying image of a blue skinned vampiric ghost had spread through the internet like wildfire. The ghost floated proudly in the air with a red lined white cape billowing across his shoulders. Cold crimson eyes glowed out of shadowed sockets, contrasting against the pale blue skinned face. His black hair stood in twin peaks in a startling reflection of Lucifer. And as he grinned his incisors jutted out as sharp fangs, completing the image of an unstoppable demonic vampire. It was some months later that the ghost identified himself as Vlad Plasmius, and Chloe had been the first to liken him to Vlad the Impaler.

But if Vlad Masters and Vlad Plasmius were one and the same then Clark had made a huge mistake. And he'd walked right into Vlad's trap. Even Lex Luthor had yet to sink so low as some of the depravities Ember had just described. Lex had never infected someone, let alone children, just so that he could force someone's hand. Lex had killed people, which was morally dubious at best, but wasn't nearly as manipulative and downright evil as Plasmius was. Lex killed when he didn't get what he wanted, Vlad took control and forced his victims into action, like some twisted puppeteer. The path of the sadistic manipulator sounded far worse, and something told Clark that he had only been given the abridged version of the story.

"We're not all the uncivilised scum that you humans make us out to be." Ember replied. Her voice was still icy, but her eyes were less steely at seeing Clark's obvious epiphany. "As much as he bugs us, most of us at least respect Phantom. If he weren't so keen on looking out for you humans he'd fit in well enough in the Zone. But very few of us want to be anywhere near Vlad. Most of us have heard at least some part of that story; and it's safer to just stay far away from Vlad if we can."

Ember sighed, her arms clutched almost protectively across her chest. "The truth is, most of us are terrified of Plasmius. He's a monster, and the only one who had ever stood up to him was Phantom. He's probably the only one of us that could. Plasmius has only ever been human; even if he does have a ghost half we still can't touch him. Sure we can mess with him a bit, like we can with any of you humans. But when it comes down to proper justice, we have no power over him."

"More than that, we're all terrified of what he could do with Danny Phantom at his side. Before babypop and I started getting on I was scared that he'd become vengeful like Plasmius did. For ghosts it's so much easier to hold a grudge than it is to move on. But now I know him better I'm scared what Plasmius will do to him. Danny doesn't talk about Plasmius if he can help it, but..."

Ember released a long suffering sigh, and it was somehow clear that she was doing her best to reign in her misery and her anger. "Babypop doesn't like talking about any of his fights. But the best way to make him shut up is to mention Plasmius' name. The stories we hear 'round the Zone are probably nothing to what Plasmius has really done to him, but he won't talk about it. I've learned to try to listen to his silences. They say a lot more about what he's thinking than what spills out of his mouth."

She shook her head, focusing her narrowed green eyes on Clark. "But you've gone and handed him over to Plasmius." She paused, her green eyes glowing almost menacingly between narrowed slits. "Now, what you're gonna do is tell me where Plasmius took Danny. And then I'm gonna go and fix your mistake."

Clark frowned. "I'm coming too." He asserted, quietly assessing her reaction. Because Ember was right. It was his mistake, and he needed the one to be in there to save Danny.

"Look," Ember replied scathingly. "I get that you're pretty big in the small town, but up against Plasmius you don't stand a chance. And I'm not carting you cross country just so you can be a pretty piece of furniture when the ectoplasm starts flying. Now tell me where Danny is." She demanded, her green eyes flaring with a type of unrestrained fury that Clark had never seen in Danny's ghostly eyes.

"Wisconsin." Clark replied quickly, keen to dissipate her anger since it wouldn't help either of them. "Chloe is good at tracing phone calls. But I can help. This is my mistake, and it's my responsibility to fix it."

"Unless you're telling me you can fly then you're stuck here, meathead." Ember retorted. "Thanks for the help, but I've got me a babypop to save."

Ember floated backwards, her figure disappearing through the wood of the back wall of the barn. Clark watched her go, her path seemingly in slow motion as he weighed his options. He wasn't sure, but it seemed like Danny hadn't told Ember about his Kryptonian heritage. So now Ember was discounting him as any help. But in this case it was likely that Clark could be useful. Vlad may be an expert on ghosts, but nobody knew about Krypton. He had an advantage, and he wasn't about to let Ember fly off on her own when he could help her. Danny was at stake, and if that meant sacrificing his secret to a ghost that Danny trusted, well there wasn't really a choice to be made.

In an instant Clark was outside the barn, pausing just beneath Ember as she came out on the other side of the barn wall. His super-speed had him outside; blinking at the sun in the time it took for Ember to fully emerge from the red wall of the barn.

"I can't fly," Clark commented, calling up to her. "But I can run pretty fast." He smiled inwardly as she looked down at him in shock. For a moment she was frozen, eyeing him in such an intense way that he felt as though he was under a microscope. But it was for Danny, to keep his cousin safe. So he waited patiently as she seemed to come to a decision.

"Okay." Ember whispered, floating down so that her bright green eyes met him at eye level. "Okay, I think we can work with this. You're one of those... meteor infected kids Danny was telling me about?"

"Do we have the time?" Clark pressed, his sense of urgency mounting. He had revealed a part of his secret, but she didn't need to know the extent of it. And they would just waste time discussing everything about it instead of doing what needed to be done.

"Point." Ember conceded, her jaw set as she scanned the horizon. "Talk on the way. Let's go." Without looking back she tore away, flying at top speed across the driveway and out towards the freeway. She was flying low enough that it was easy for Clark to catch up to her, and Ember was not able to fly any faster than Danny could run. They kept pace for a minute before Ember stole a curious glance at him.

"So what can you actually do, farm boy?" She asked, her eyes calculating. If the situation were any different he would never tell her anything. But it was an emergency, and he just hoped they got there in time before Vlad did something truly terrible to Danny.

"Quite a bit." Clark admitted, beyond the point of humility. If it would help Danny he'd tell her whatever she needed to know about his powers. But they really didn't have time for a full explanation. "But probably the most helpful is that I'm super-strong and bulletproof."

"Ecto-guns?" Ember pressed, her lips pressed tight. It had barely been five minutes since they had left the barn, but the world around them had blurred from the green cornfields of Kansas into lush forest.

"Hurts, but I can manage." Clark replied quickly. "If Vlad is as bad as you say, I want to keep Danny away from him."

"Good. So do I." Ember retorted tersely. Their run lapsed into silence, neither willing to say anything more. It was clear that Ember didn't really have a plan, and if she did she wasn't letting Clark in on it. Clark was never one to plan ahead; his tactic had always been to rely on brute strength. Going into Vlad's lair half cocked was probably not the best idea, but Vlad wouldn't be expecting him to be able to do anything and so he had an advantage. With any luck it would be as simple as barging in, looking for Danny and then breaking down a few walls until they could get Danny out.

The trip was short, and soon Clark was relying on Ember to direct him towards Masters' house. Chloe may have traced the phone number, but that didn't tell him how to find the house. Ember seemed to know roughly where she was going, her eyes were set dead ahead with a glimmer of grim determination. So Clark followed a pace behind her. The two of them were moving at speeds only just faster than the normal eye could see, it would be easy for Clark to pull ahead, but he couldn't disregard the value of Ember on this. He never liked bring other people into his fights, but this was for Danny. And bringing a ghost to fight a half-ghost was no doubt a good idea.

The two continued on in silence, the tall forests surrounded them completely as they tore across the asphalt of the highway. The sun was just kissing the western horizon when the forest dwindled. A large sandstone driveway suddenly cut deep into the forest. But Clark's attention was not on the driveway. Nor was he focused on the high flying towers that spiralled off into the sky, like a fairy-tale castle brought to life. Instead his attention was on the sole sour note in the otherwise picturesque landscape.

A piercing screech of agony ripped through the air. And somehow Clark knew that the pained shriek was his cousin's. Clark's heart clenched, his last hope in Vlad vanishing in a haze of anger and betrayal. Vlad had used him, played him for a fool. And now Danny was suffering for his idiocy. Clark exchanged a grim glance with Ember before the two of them raced into the house.

_Line Break_

Danny gasped, his breaths coming in short pants as he tried to collect himself. He had been at this for hours, repeating the same task over and over, but never able to meet Vlad's impossible demands. His own core was preventing that. Every second he tried to use his ghost powers was agony. He knew he hadn't recovered enough, that every hour he was with Vlad he was weakening critically. But more than that, his core wouldn't stop producing electricity. When he was resting it was okay, just a stinging tingle like pins and needles in a deadened limb. But trying to use his powers was like stepping into a lightning bolt.

At first he had tried to push through the pain, his fear of Vlad's retribution and his determination to weather things out had allowed him to ignore it. But it just kept getting worse. He could still feel the constant throb of the flesh wounds wrought by the GIW, every slight movement pulling at feeble stitches. But Vlad was forcing him to use his powers and he _couldn't_. It was all he could do to hold himself standing in the large training room that Vlad had pulled him into. He felt exhausted, as though the slightest breeze would send him toppling down.

The only thing that kept him going was the knowledge that he couldn't give in. If he did he would lose himself entirely, he would become little more than Vlad's weapon. So as his body roiled against him, betrayed him, he retreated into the depths of his mind. His strong will the only thing he had left, the only thing preventing him from submitting to the elder half-ghost.

"Again!" Vlad demanded, jerking Danny's attention back into the room. Danny stood in the centre of the large white walled room. It was tall, probably an appropriation of an old ballroom or underground cellar. But Vlad had fitted it out as a training room, sliding panels of weaponry moving behind the walls to simulate attack conditions. But that wasn't what they were doing now. Vlad had decided to try and teach him to use Ectoplasmic Energy Constructs, but it was little more than an opportunity for the elder half-ghost to beat Danny senseless.

Danny was too weak to stay in his ghost half, even trying to shift had left him so dazed that even Vlad had to concede that forcing him into his Phantom form was counterproductive. Hidden behind a mirrored window Danny sensed the presence of the two doctors. Both were watching his progress at such close quarters that Danny wondered if their continued presence was simply to ensure his own obedience.

His eyes moved involuntarily over to the elder half-ghost. Vlad stood tall and proud, his cold grey eyes glinting at him with twisted conceit. Danny fought the urge to flinch, to rebel, to roil against his captor. But there was nothing he could do. He could scarcely control his normal powers, everything was beyond his reach and concealed behind a veil of electrical agony. Vlad smirked, waving his arm in front of him and conjuring a thin square of magenta coloured glassy ectoplasm.

Danny tried to push his energy out the same way Vlad had, to emulate the glassy square that Vlad had demonstrated to him. But he couldn't. He gasped as the small breath of energy snapped, his core screaming at him. He needed to stop, he needed to breathe. And suddenly he was coiled on the floor as his muscles collapsed in on him. Vlad snarled at him, the sheet of glass shifting to press against him. He was sandwiched between the hard floor and an unforgiving plate of ectoplasmic glass.

He tried to move, to escape from this prison. But he couldn't. And the space between the floor and the glass was closing in on him, pressing against him until he could barely breathe.

"You asked for this." Vlad's voice pierced through the pain, an icy spear against a pool of fire and electricity. "Just remember that. When you rejected my offer you asked for this. You belong to me now. And I don't care what you think; you will learn this. I will not have faults in any of my property."

Danny glanced up as the glass vanished. Vlad's cruel gaze bored down into his own pained eyes. Danny gasped as Vlad's foot came to press hard against his stomach, sending a wave of pure agony through him as the stitches tore open. Danny stared up at the sadistic man, feeling stinging tears lancing down the sides of his cheeks. He needed help. He knew that now. He couldn't fight against Vlad anymore. Not when his own body was destroying himself.

"Now try again." Vlad demanded, the foot moving away and leaving Danny gasping against the floor. His breaths came in gasping pants as he struggled to find any sense of control. But already his consciousness was waning, and the electricity in his core was mounting. The world swam thickly around him; his mind fading into a swirling circle of white and blue and green. He felt dazed, struggling to regain any sense of balance. He felt as though the tightrope he had been walking had been cut, and he was in that brief period of safety before the rope fell away from him.

He struggled to his feet as the world closed around him. He couldn't concentrate anymore, and Vlad's cruel voice had faded to a distant blip on his consciousness. All he knew was pain, electricity rising through him to boil in his blood. He couldn't control it anymore; the white agony was tearing his insides apart. Like his Cyrokinesis before he learned to control it, this was too much. He couldn't contain it anymore and he was tired of running from the pain.

He focused, unsure even of where he was. He gathered the electricity, pulling it in. He was screaming, the electricity didn't want to obey him. But he had to, he had to control this otherwise it would destroy him. So with the last vestiges of his self control he gathered in the reins on his core. He was in control, not his powers. And it was time he reminded himself of that. He pulled the electricity tight, drawing it in and intensifying it. Mental hands closing in on a tiny ball filled with so much raw power that it burned. But he kept pressing, intensifying it further and further, tighter and tighter; the electrical force within him tightening in unyielding coils of relentless energy.

He kept pressing, and when he couldn't push the electricity anymore he released it, turning the agony that had ripped through him outwards into the world. There was a flash of white and a piercing screech, but he couldn't tell if it was his own. The final onslaught lanced through his body, and he felt it as his flesh was scorched away. For an instant he was nowhere, everywhere. Riding a wave of electrical consciousness as it raced up into the sky, through the complex network of the electrical cabling of Vlad's mansion, rushing through the wires shorting every fuse and racing down, down, down; deep into the earth and dissipating into weak nothingness.

Then everything snapped back into place, and he could feel his body once more. The strange cool whispers of his spectral form welcoming him back home once more. Idly he noted that he was in his ghost form, the soft white cloak resting reassuringly against his shoulders. He wasn't sure what had happened, but he felt as though something drastic had shifted. He could still feel his human half, but he couldn't access it just now. It had been damaged by the electricity, by Vlad, by the remnants of the experimentation of the GIW, and it would be a while before his body was content to pretend to be human once more.

But that didn't matter. For the first time in days he felt stable, like his body wasn't going to destroy itself. He pulled himself in; his senses settling comfortably back into his still battered for the first time in days. He drew in a deep calming breath, embracing the comforting feeling as air flooded into his lungs as he opened his eyes.

_Line Break_

Ember froze for the barest moment, flinching in the sheer power that had just been unleashed from Vlad's mansion. But she couldn't afford the time to stop. Her suspicions that Vlad had a shield up had been confirmed the second they arrived; the green arc clearly cutting through the sky and surrounding the whole house; visible to only the ghostly eye. For a moment Ember had worried that she wouldn't be able to get inside, but she had met with no resistance when she touched it. Vlad had upgraded his technology again, and Ember was willing to bet that the only being on the planet that couldn't get out of there was Danny.

Then she had heard the noise. It was an agonising scream, pain filled and all encompassing. Ember had felt her mind flash back to the day of her own death, her first rude awakenings in the never ending greenness that had been her home ever since. But this scream was so much more. It was raw, agonised and relentless. Birds leapt from the trees around them, turning the sky into a darkened shadow as the first wave of energy struck. She felt it, tingling all the way down into her core. The energy was so powerful, so unrestrained, and it held something that was so uniquely _Danny_ that she couldn't bear it.

She frowned, staring down at the house, unsure of what to do. She hadn't really had a plan, all she knew was that Danny had been hurt, humans had hurt him. And now he was stuck with his arch-enemy. All that had mattered was finding him and then taking him as far away from the Real World as possible. But now she was here and faced with the fact that she was up against Plasmius without a plan. Looking across at the palatial mansion she realised just how impossible this all was. The knight-in-shining-armour bit was Danny's thing, but she was here. And Danny needed her.

She briefly looked over at Clark. She had been shocked to find out that he too had powers. But she shouldn't have really been surprised. He was related to Danny, and that kid was clumsier than a baby giraffe on stilts. Since they were cousins it made some sort of sense that Clark would have gotten into some kind of accident, and if ectoranium was able to give kids in Smallville powers then it only made sense that Clark would end up with powers. He was related to Danny after all. Well, he was raised by Danny's mom's sister.

Ember was still doubtful that Clark could be any help. Not in a full frontal collision between Clark and Plasmius. The only person who stood a chance there was Danny, but by the sounds of things he wasn't going too well. And that scream, that scream would haunt her until her ending day. Gritting her teeth she sent Clark a determined look before charging into the house. She had to find Danny; she had to make sure her friend was safe.

She had never been to Plasmius' mansion before. Sure she'd seen the eldest half-ghost before, but she'd never set foot on his turf. Skulker may accept his coin, but Ember had never had anything to offer the madman. But somehow she couldn't help but see Plasmius in the castle itself. A twisted symbol of power, built to replace the fairytale life that he believed babypop's dad had taken from him. But there was something deeply unsettling about walking into Plasmius' house. There was no security, no one stopping either of them. And all the hallways were dark, reduced to dim shadows with every light resolutely off.

Ember was not one to be scared of the dark, no ghost ever truly was. Her own glow cut through the darkness, shedding light across the darkened hallways. But just knowing whose hallways these were set Ember on edge, she floated through the hallways silently as she looked for any sign of her raven haired friend. She froze, flicking to invisibility as she heard a loud clatter just behind her.

"Clark!" She whispered angrily, realising that it was just the large farm-boy who had managed to knock into a small sideboard.

"I can't see anyone on this level." Clark whispered, somehow managing to come close enough to whisper right in her ear.

Ember blinked, looking down at her still invisible form. "Wait, can you see me?"

"If you don't go intangible, yes." Came Clark's shortly whispered reply. "X-ray vision, comes in handy. Can you do the Ghost Sense thing to find Danny?"

"No." Ember replied, quickly adding x-ray vision to what she already knew of Clark. It was probably a useful skill, but redundant against Plasmius. "Danny's the first ghost I've met that has a Ghost Sense. Keep looking. I know that Vlad's got Danny somewhere using his powers, we just need to find out where."

"Okay." Clark replied, walking beside her as she floated still invisible. "We should probably split up."

Ember froze, turning around to block him off. She flickered back into full visibility so he could see her properly. "What kind of moron are you? We are in Plasmius' home. If we split up now, he'll more than likely trap both of us before we can even _find_ Danny. If we stick together then we can watch each other's backs. It's what babypop's friends used to do."

"I usually don't bother with backup." Clark replied. "Besides, we'd cover more ground if we split up."

"And I don't particularly care what you usually do." Ember shot back between gritted teeth. "This time we're up against one of Danny's enemies, and you're the one who put him here. You lost your veto rights when you left Danny to Plasmius. Now shut up and try to keep up."

Ember led the way through the longest hallway. The castle was so massive, and there were corridors jutting off of corridors and narrow staircases leading up and down. If it weren't for Clark she'd be moving intangibly through the walls to make the trip much faster, but she was lumped in with a human. In a way it was probably a good thing; Plasmius would've set traps around the place for ghosts and with Clark here she might be able to get out that bit faster.

Ember huffed, sending a cold glare towards Clark. They were wasting time, and arguing wasn't going to help either of them find Danny any faster. She was already regretting the decision to let the farm boy come along, but at the time having a second set of eyes had seemed like a good idea. She just hadn't expected that a cousin of babypop could be so whiningly impatient.

"Come on" she urged, giving Clark a none too gentle shove onwards. "We're wasting time, and I don't k now how many people Vlad has crawling about in his mansion." Not looking back she floated on ahead, listening carefully against the darkness for any sign of Danny or one of Vlad's traps. After the pained screech she and Clark had heard outside she had hoped that it would be simple to find where the noise had come from, but there was nothing.

"I think he soundproofed the place." Ember commented after a minute, if only to break the encroaching silence.

"Soundproofed, and lead lined rooms. He didn't leave much space for guesswork." Clark added from behind. "This is impossible. We're supposed to be saving Danny, not snooping about in Vlad's back corridors. Why don't we just barge through, save Danny and be halfway back to Kansas before Vlad even knows what's going on."

Ember's fists clenched, her teeth gritted as she paused in midair, her own impatience growing. "Not gonna work meathead. You don't know Plasmius like we do. He wants Danny here, and he'll have this whole place set up to make sure that he can't get out. And anything that'd keep Danny trapped is gonna count double for us. Just keep quiet and keep your eyes peeled. We only have one chance at this."

But Clark wasn't listening. Ember didn't even get a warning as a breeze blasted past her, sending fiery tendrils of her hair flickering through the darkness in the temporary vacuum. Ember frowned, her feet touching softly against the floor as she stared after Clark. "Clark wait!" she called, but the only reply was her own echo against the long stone hallways. Clark was already gone, chasing after something that Ember hadn't even heard. Irritated, she ran her fingers through her flaming ponytail. No doubt the meathead would get himself caught in some trap and Ember would be the one that had to rescue him.

It wasn't as if she cared about Clark, but Danny wouldn't forgive her if Clark got hurt on her watch. And she was the one that had brought a human into that monster's lair. And now, now she actually cared what the babypop thought of her. So of _course_ leaving Clark behind wasn't an option. She let out a long suffering sigh, her bright green eyes piercing through the gloom. Fading back into invisibility she traced Clark's foolish steps through the darkened corridor.

Two minutes later she shuddered. The darkness was far more oppressive now, closing tightly in around her as she tried to hold her composure. Even the slight reassurance of Clark's company was gone and her mind was playing tricks on her. She was a fool to think it would be so simple, it was so naive to believe that she could just waltz into Plasmius' home and reclaim her babypop. But she pressed onwards, steeling herself against the clinging shadows of Vlad's eerily silent house. Steadily she floated, passing through a narrow archway and into a winding staircase. Slowly she drifted downwards, spiralling down through the narrow stone steps until she found herself in a dark subterranean cellar.

It was strange, the darkness seemed colder here, and there were shards of glass scattered across the floor from a shattered light fitting. But somehow she knew she was closer to Danny, so she had to keep going. She bit down her nerves, her friend was more important and she needed to keep an eye out for his fool of a cousin too. There was something menacingly surreal about Plasmius' castle that existed entirely free of the Zone, and Ember could feel her nerves mounting at the thought that she had willingly walked into Plasmius' house, even though she wasn't forced to.

Suddenly a loud screeching pierced the deep silence, the horrendous whir of ectoplasm hitting human flesh and the tortured cry of her dark-haired friend echoed through the cellar. But she finally had a direction. Ember paced her way quickly through long aisles of wine bottles and covered portraits, picking her way through the gloom until she came to an out of place metal door. It jutted out of the stone wall, slightly dented but still firmly closed. Ember didn't care. Her babypop was on the other side of the door, and she needed to see him. Needed to know that he was gonna be okay.

A second screech cut through the air, and Ember threw caution to the wind. It took only the barest amount of focus and she was through the door, the thickened metal frame passing through her intangible body as though it were made of air. But it felt strange, and left an odd tingling sensation running through her limbs. Ember frowned, but didn't have time to take note of her own situation. Ember froze, her green eyes widening in shock as she took in the brutal scene before her.

The room itself was huge, large white walls and a tall white ceiling. But each wall was layered with thin silvery panelling, laced with the visible traces of Plasmius' compact ecto-weaponry. The only light source in the room was a thin running column on the ceiling, glowing a shade of spectral green as it pulsed with ectoplasmic energy. The room itself was intimidating, despite the power surge that had torn through the house it was eerily untouched, and the silvered walls glittered menacingly down at her.

But it was the three men in the centre of the room that grabbed her attention. Danny was pinned down on the floor, Vlad Plasmius standing above him and pressing the dark haired boy's chest down with his heel. Silver and magenta handcuffs were fastened around Danny's wrists, strung tightly behind the raven haired boy's back as Plasmius' foot pressed deep into his chest. Clark too was trapped, bound by glowing pink chords that tightened around his wrists and ankles as he struggled for freedom. His mouth was gagged by a thick blob of magenta ectoplasm and his eyes looked fearfully between Danny and Ember.

"Ah," Plasmius emitted, his head turning to face Ember. "The young Miss McLain. How nice of you to join us." Ember gasped, attempting to phase back out at the sight of his coldly sneering eyes. But she couldn't. Ember looked down, finally noticing what her passage through the door had begun. Her limbs were all coated in a thin silver pink sheen, a metallic casing that had crept up her like armour. But she couldn't move, couldn't touch any of her powers. Her eyes widened in fear as she lifted her eyes once more to face the blue skinned monster.

"What have you done?" She spat, covering her fear in a veneer of false bravado.

"Very little, dear child." Plasmius smirked, his bright red eyes glittering in victory. "Simply an adaptation of the Spectral Energy Neutraliser, which I believe your contemporary Skulker helped developed. It appears it is quite useful for containing young ghost nuisances, isn't it Daniel?"

"Let... let them go." Danny replied, his voice feeble. A glimmer of crimson leaked from his lips, pooling in a sticky patch against his cheek. "They have nothing to do with this."

"Quiet, boy!" Plasmius ordered, kicking the boy heavily across the room. "You may think you have friends, that you can find a place with them. But you never will. You belong to me, and I am not about to let these two children steal you away from me. But don't worry, if you want either of them to get out of here with their lives all you have to do is listen to me."

"Don't!" Ember cried, watching as Danny struggled to bring himself to a standing position. Her eyes stung at the sight of his bruised and battered body, and she wondered how much of his torture had been at the hands of the monster in front of him. "Danny don't. Don't listen to him."

"Silence, girl!" Plasmius screeched, sending a blast of ectoplasm towards her and suddenly Ember found her own mouth gagged. Her eyes widened as she stared at the monster, now helpless to anything he wanted to do. She sent a fleeting glance to Clark, still struggling against his bonds. They were both trapped, and Ember despaired at the thought that their rescue attempt had only brought Danny more pain. In that one glance she saw that Clark felt the same. They had both screwed up, and now it was Danny, her Danny that was paying the price.

"Now, Daniel." Plasmius soothed oily. "I think it is about time we continued on with our lesson. What do you say, Little Badger?" Vlad sneered, pacing smoothly across the floor to pinch Danny's cheeks. His black gloved hand pressing deeply into the all too pale flesh of Danny's cheeks, the trail of drying blood smearing across his chin at the domineering contact.

"See, the marvellous thing about this technique is that it is so very versatile." Plasmius commented airily, and for a moment Ember could have sworn hers and Clark's presence was forgotten. But that was clearly not the case. "Take your young cousin here. See, while he is now bound by ectoplasmic cords, he has the ability to struggle against them. But, it is all too easy to contain him entirely, cage him completely and cut off his air."

Ember jerked at the sudden appearance of a large pink cubic box around Clark. The walls of the chamber were pink, solid and glassy. And from Clark's startled appearance had completely cut off his air supply. "Let's see how long your fool cousin lasts against a proper half-ghost." Vlad sneered, his crimson eyes glaring darkly at Danny. Ember struggled, trying everything she could to free herself of the strange Ecto-Neutralising Armour, to get a sound out from around her gag. But she couldn't do anything other than stare pleadingly at the young boy who she had once detested with all her being.

"Ah, ah, ah my dear." Plasmius tutted and his crimson eyes turned back towards her. "Don't think I have forgotten you." He paused, his hand dropping away from Danny's cheeks as he crossed the room to stand right in front of her. And suddenly that gloved hand was softly pressed against her cheek, sending jarring shivers across her skin.

"You see, you wouldn't be the first ghost to cross me." Plasmius sneered coldly, his voice dropping to a menacing whisper. "And my dear Miss McLain you have absolutely no useful talents to offer me. Clark here is of some value, a living relative to my boy and the son of a Kansas senator. Being who he is, he would be missed too much to be worth the effort of disposing of him. But you, my dear" He paused, those terrible crimson eyes filled with vengeful hate. "You could be erased only too easily."

Plasmius' hand dug into her cheek drawing thin trails of ectoplasm as he cut away at her flesh. She screamed silently against her gag as _something else_ moved. She felt dizzy, completely dazed. Her own eyes widened in panic as she felt her core lurch. The fire that always fed her, kept her conscious was dwindling. Even as she stood frozen she could feel her ectoplasmic energy being drawn away from her, and she panicked, long tears trailing down her cheeks as she tried to throw the monster off. But she was trapped, and she was fading.

Her whole existence she had wondered what it would be like to be ended, if it would be a simple fading out like a light vanishing in the dark. But this pain was so much worse. Plasmius' energy tore deep into her, lashing all the way deep down into her core and she felt as her own energy was leeched away and into him. She could feel it, and she didn't know how to stop it. She felt her internal fire flare, rallying against the intrusion. But it meant nothing. Plasmius was somehow able to lance through her defences, push right through into the deep well of flame that was her and take it. Her vision blackened for an instant, and in that moment she felt as though she could just let go and pass through the final veil into the endless nothingness that awaited her kind.

Closing her eyes Ember stilled. She wasn't going to run and she wasn't going to show him her fear; it was time for her to face her ending on her own terms.

_Line Break_

Danny seethed, shaking against his bonds. As soon as he had released the electricity in his core Vlad had slammed them on him, instantly stripping him of his ghost powers. It was like wearing the Plasmius Maximus, his powers locked away deep within him. Still present but completely unreachable. But then Clark had barrelled in and become trapped, shortly followed by Ember. Danny's eyes flickered helplessly between the two. Both of them had come to save him, had risked themselves for his sake. And now both of them were trapped in Vlad's claws, and it was all his fault.

Clark was suffocating, trapped inside that box, and Danny didn't know how long the Kryptonian could last before the lack of air got to him. Did he even need to breathe? Had Clockwork ever told him about Kryptonians and their ability to survive without oxygen? He was panicking, and his core was screaming at him to save his cousin. But he was powerless, and could only watch as the life was starved out of Clark's body.

But it was Ember who he couldn't turn away from. He was forced to watch as Vlad dug into her, one hand pressed against her cheek and the other digging deep into her chest. He was ending her, he could see. He was watching as the life force was robbed from Ember, pooling around Vlad's hand in dancing blue flames before it was absorbed into Vlad's own vast resources. It was sickening, and Danny's core was screaming for him to stop him, for him to _PROTECT!_

But he couldn't do anything and it was killing him. This one act was pushing things too far. It was fine for Vlad to threaten, to intimidate people. It was fine for him to threaten to end Danny himself, he could abide that and wait. But now he was stuck watching as his cousin and his friend were murdered in front of him. The cuffs binding him suppressed his powers and he couldn't save them. His eyes fixed on Ember's bright green ones. He was shocked to see not fear or hate, but calm acceptance. She had just accepted that she was going to end, and that would be it.

Something in Danny snapped. He couldn't handle this anymore. He couldn't watch as Vlad stole away two of the people that gave his life meaning. Danny snarled, feral instincts taking over as the primal urge to '_PROTECT!' _took over.

He felt his own core surge, swelling with unrestrained power.

He felt his eyes flare, shifting into a burning silver hue that he hadn't felt before.

He felt twin rings erupt across his waistline before passing across his body as he shifted into his ghostly form.

He felt the energy-neutralising cuffs drop heavily to the floor, resounding with a loud clunk in the silenced room.

He felt the screaming demand as it pressed against his core, screeching at him with a demanding _'protect, Protect, PROTECT!'_

And he felt the world shift as all his worldly concerns fell away, leaving him with nothing but the soothingly demanding urges of his obsession.

He moved, whether physical or by teleport he didn't know. All that he knew was that he was suddenly in front of Plasmius, throwing him away from Ember with a heavy punch.

"You. Will. Not. Hurt. Her!" He heard himself snarl, sending an icy stare at his nemesis. Sending Vlad all the righteous fury that he had held contained for so long. Plasmius sneered, but would not give up.

"Foolish brat!" Plasmius sneered "You will pay for your impertinence!" And suddenly he was on Danny, a firm chokehold pressed deep into his throat. This he could handle, Ember was safe now and Plasmius was not going to be able to end her. That was fine. Phantom lashed out, throwing the elder half-ghost off him with an ice charged kick. Plasmius was sent flying, crashing into Clark's cage and shattering it in a shower of magenta dust.

Clark was free, and Phantom watched as Clark quickly jumped to his defence, blocking and buffeting the worst of Plasmius' attacks away. And Phantom was grateful for the assistance, his own obsession had granted him the energy to push through his pain but now that both Clark and Ember were out of immediate danger his energy reserves were rapidly dwindling. This needed to be ended soon, they needed to escape Plasmius and make a safe retreat and fast.

Phantom eyed Clark, he was tired but recovering. He would probably get better faster if he could be out in the sun, but Plasmius had taken all precautions in designing his _training_ room, and Clark was starting to lose ground against the elder half-ghost. Phantom took in a deep calming breath, struggling desperately to think of any way to resolve the situation safely so that all three could get out. It didn't help that Phantom knew the two doctors were still waiting somewhere in the wings. They couldn't have gotten far enough away from the house for him to take any risks, and that severely limited what he could do. And Clark was just blindly attacking with brute force, not looking for any advantages he could press.

But Phantom couldn't afford to give up. Not this time. Vlad had proved time and time again that he would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. Phantom needed to stop him in his tracks, and there was only one way he could think of that would both get them out safely and drastically impair Plasmius enough that he would be forced into submission. This time it wasn't enough to threaten him with exposure; he had already seen Clark's powers. And Phantom had no doubts that Plasmius' contacts in the Zone could track down Ember and end her before Phantom even knew it had happened. No, there was only one course of action left open that could stop him for any length of time, and Phantom hated that he was even considering it.

"Clark." Phantom called, temporarily attracting his cousin's attention. "I need you to use your heat vision on him." Clark nodded in acquiescence, and soon Plasmius was screeching as he was bombarded with an onslaught of solar heat energy. Phantom gulped, staring across the room at his enemy as he accepted what had to be done.

Phantom's feet touched heavily down on the floor, his white cloak billowing around him as he gathered his own spectral energy around him. Plasmius had been thrown into the far wall, battered and bruised and barely conscious. But he would never give up, and he was a danger to anyone in his way. Phantom sent him an emotionless look, it was the only way he could bear what he needed to do. He summoned an icy blast, encasing Plasmius' limbs in spectral ice and trapping him as solidly as he had bound Ember.

Plasmius glared at him, red eyes piercing through narrowed slits, unflinching as Phantom crossed the little remaining distance between the two. In his weakened state Plasmius couldn't hold his ghost form, and twin black rings erupted as he shifted back to his human half. Phantom frowned, sadly regarding the man who should have been like a father to him. Who could have been the role-model he had so desperately needed, if only he hadn't let hate and greed guide him. But Vlad could never change, he was too small for that.

"Vlad." Phantom said; his voice emotionless. "You are the man who should have been. There is so much you could have done, so much good you could have brought to the world. You could have been a part of my life, someone who I really looked up to. You could have been my mentor, could have had my _respect_ and been someone that I truly loved. But you gave up on yourself, forgot who you should have been."

Phantom sighed; this was one of the toughest things he'd ever faced. But he knew what was right, and in this case he had to do what was best for the greater good. He accepted it, but didn't like the fact that it had become necessary.

"Instead," Phantom continued, shaking his head slightly as he tried to absolve himself of any guilt. "Instead you used what could have been a great gift for vengeance. You have killed, murdered and ended denizens of both worlds, you have proven time and again what you are. You can no longer be allowed the free reign you have experienced, and I can't let you harm any others in your pursuit of unfounded vengeance."

Phantom's shoulders dropped as he exhaled deeply. Vlad stared silently at him, the whole room strung taught as they awaited his next words. "You are human, Vlad. But the abilities you were given have destroyed your humanity. So I'm giving you a second chance, I'm giving you something that I can never have back. You are human, and I'm giving you a chance to be human again."

Phantom reached out, touching his hand against Vlad's chest, feeling the steady beating of his heart. Phantom looked in the grey eyes of the man who should have been as big a part of his childhood as his parents, forcing back tears against what could have been. He closed his eyes, feeling his own spectral energy draw in around himself. He felt the strange pulse as an echo of his human heartbeat intertwined with the spectral energy of his ghostly core. Two energies in balance, working in perfect synergy to create a cohesive whole. The rules of the human and ghost worlds pounded through him, knowledge of both realities swirling through him until he could barely stand it.

He felt his eyes flare bright silver, felt the scorching burn as the contrasting flecks of silver and green shone with more power than ever before. And Phantom pressed out with his consciousness, his senses touching against Vlad's tainted aura. Mental fingers prodded it, reaching out and feeling it, coming to know every aspect of what made Vlad who he was. And then he pressed deeper, searching deep into the depths of Vlad's being, delving between the threads of human and the parasitic ghost half that had destroyed a once good man. Phantom searched, pulling at anything that felt vaguely like ectoplasm and feeling it slowly draw away from the human strands under his guiding touch.

It was not a simple process; Vlad had been half-ghost for so long that the ghost half was interwoven near inseparably with the human strands of his being. But Phantom kept going. And every strand he touched reminded him of who Vlad _should_ have been to him. Vlad never could have taken the place of his dad, but he could have been something else. A second father; someone who both he and Jazz could have gone to for friendship and advice. Not a replacement, but another integral member of the family. But Vlad had let himself be corrupted, and Phantom felt tears sting in his eyes as he saw touches of the man his parents had known in college.

Vlad had once been a good man. A man who truly deserved the doting praise Phantom's dad had given him. He had once been kind, foolish, _young_. He had been a person with so much potential for good, with big dreams and a big heart. But he had let one wound fester, and that tore Phantom apart. It was so very hard to see, to know what Vlad should have been so intimately and yet know what he had let himself become. But Phantom knew, had seen in his own future a Vlad who had come to terms with himself. In that world fate had given Vlad a second chance, and this time it was Phantom who was giving Vlad his fresh start. After all, maybe all he needed was a second chance.

Phantom's eyes opened as he felt something release, and he watched as a pool of spectral energy manifested under his fingertips. He pulled, freeing Vlad finally from the parasitic ectoplasm that had festered in his system for over two decades. But then he froze, staring at the ectoplasmic form in his hand. His mind flew to a memory of a story, a horrifying tale, told by a withered form of the man in front of him.

Phantom recalled the whole story; it would haunt him until his end. But the snarling ghost form of Plasmius he held in his hand was too familiar for comfort. In that alternate reality he had absorbed Plasmius, had let the corruption and vengeance become a part of him. But this time he knew better, and he had to do the right thing not just by himself, but by Vlad and the rest of the world too. He steeled himself, pulling the ghostly form of Plasmius as far away from its former host as possible before he let it go.

Plasmius was already destabilising, thin wisps of ectoplasmic energy were dissipating off the edges of his form into the aether. Phantom steeled himself, knowing that this was little more than an ectoplasmic parasite. It didn't have sentience and without Vlad to stabilise it, Plasmius would be destroyed. But he couldn't risk this parasite latching onto someone else, couldn't let what had so ruined Vlad fester in anyone else's soul. So Phantom gritted his teeth and felt the ectoplasmic energy in his core swell once more. He felt his cloak drifting in an ethereal breeze as he forced as much energy as possible into his hands.

It was done in a flash of blinding light. The pure green ectoplasmic blast hit Plasmius and obliterated the parasitic ectoplasm from the plane of existence. There was something poetic in it, Phantom thought; a bright flash of ectoplasmic light had made both Vlad and himself into half-ghosts, and now it was a flash of bright ectoplasmic light that took Vlad's powers away. Phantom sighed, guilt and self loathing crashing against him. Now he truly _was_ the only half-ghost in the world. And it was by his own hands that it was so. Stinging tears prickled in his eyes and he found he couldn't bear to look either Clark or Ember in the eye.

Instead his gaze turned back to Vlad. Not Vlad Masters, not Vlad Plasmius, just Vlad. Vlad looked dazed, dancing somewhere on the edge of consciousness. Phantom frowned, releasing his hold on his ghostly half. Now was a time to be human, and as he stared in the eyes of the man who was once his enemy he couldn't find anything but sadness reflected back. Danny dispelled the icy bonds, catching the limp form of the billionaire as he fell bonelessly towards the floor. Danny shifted the weight until the thin, silver haired man was resting limply between his arms.

Silently Danny walked across the room, making his way over to the door. As he walked past he released Ember, a short wave of ecto-electricity shorting out the armour that had bound her. But she kept her distance, and Danny was grateful. He needed this time to think and come to terms with what he'd done. He'd stopped a threat, managed the situation. He'd done something not only to protect people now, but also to prevent future harms. It was his first act to fulfil the decision he'd made in taking up the sword in his strange dream world. And he hated himself for what he'd had to do. But it was the right decision to have made all the same.

And now was the time for Danny to reflect on what he had done. He had taken away something Vlad had used to define himself, something that Vlad had considered vital. He could justify it all he wanted but that was the truth. And in so doing he had destroyed the only other being truly like him. It was not something he regretted, but he mourned the loss of what Plasmius could have been, what Vlad _should_ have been, all the same. It weighed heavily on him as he carried the Vlad's boneless body up the narrow staircase and through the long empty hallway.

He knew it was dark, but that hardly mattered. It was his duty now to take care of Vlad. So Danny carried Vlad through the palatial mansion, knowing his way to the man's bedroom already. He had thought he hated the man, but it was so much more complex than that. Part of him had always wanted Vlad in his life, embraced all the small lessons that Vlad gave him. And it was true; for all that they were enemies there had been so much that Vlad had taught him. But now things would change. Danny had given Vlad the chance to embrace his humanity once more, but the decisions Vlad made were up to him alone.

Danny sighed, pushing the large mahogany doors to the master bedroom open, moisture stinging in his eyes as he laid the limp, human man down in his bed. There was nothing he could say. Not really. But the man in front of him was no longer the enemy he had known. Plasmius had been destroyed, brought to a sense of justice that the entire Zone could understand. And now all that was left was the man in front of him; pale, fragile, weak and altogether human. Shaking his head Danny gazed down as stinging tears pooled ever deeper in his eyes.

A hand clasped firmly on his shoulder, tearing his attention from the former half-ghost.

"Come on," Clark said solemnly. His voice was a steady calm against Danny's roiling sense of guilt. "I think it's time to head home." Danny looked over Clark's shoulder to the palely glowing form of Ember. Sending one last glance back to Vlad he nodded, quietly following the other two out the door.

He paused in the doorframe, gazing silently over the sleeping form of Vlad; the man who had once been his arch-enemy. Danny nodded once in silent acknowledgement, a heartbeat of unspoken mourning, before he closed the door and turned away.

_Line Break_

Clark's eyes creased as he looked across the barn loft at his cousin. As soon as they had gotten back to the farm Danny and Ember had headed straight up into the barn and Clark was quick to follow. He had sent a quick message to Chloe saying they were all home safe and sound now, but it was clear that neither Danny nor Ember were up to talking much. Danny was still in a lot of pain, every movement he made was tense and repressed. And the silence of the three of them stretched out against the evening light.

Danny had positioned himself by the barn window, staring out at the darkening fields. Clark stared at his tense back, just observing the young man as he struggled to deal with what had happened. Several times Clark opened his mouth to say something, to offer some small comfort. But he couldn't find the right words. Instead he sent Ember a querying glance. Ember who had come with him to save Danny. Ember who had looked at Vlad with determined acceptance as he tried to destroy her. Ember who was still weakened from the torture Vlad had inflicted on her.

Clark frowned, knowing that the wounds both Ember and his cousin had sustained would be hard to heal. And he didn't know how to help either of them. Danny had endured so much in just the last few days, had faced one of Clark's own worst fears and endured horrifying tortures. And yet the thing that seemed to affect him the most was what he had just done to his worst enemy. Clark didn't exactly understand what had happened, but it had looked as though Danny had stripped Vlad of his ghost half before destroying the ectoplasmic remnants. But Clark wasn't positive. What stuck with him were the words Danny had spoken as he was delivering judgement.

"_So I'm giving you a second chance," _Danny had said_ "I'm giving you a chance to be human again."_ The echoing memory of Danny's voice whispered in Clark's mind. The steadiness in his voice and the power of the words resonated down to Clark's soul. The pain Danny was in at that decision had been tangible, guilt and self loathing clear in his face. In all his life Clark had never imagined too see someone face that sort of choice, couldn't recall ever seeing that sort of pain in anyone's eyes; let alone someone two years his junior. But in the end Danny had made a decision, and Clark couldn't help but feel a sense of pride.

He was reminded of Frosbite in the Far Frozen all those months ago, telling Clark about Danny's destiny in the Ghost Zone. In that moment Clark had seen, had witnessed a small part of the young man who would be King of the Ghost Zone. He had heard the power behind his judgement and seen the justice in his eyes. And he was merciful, offering Vlad a chance for redemption even after all the misery that the man had brought Danny personally. It was an astounding choice, and one which Clark wasn't sure he could have made. Vlad Plasmius had been a cruel monster, and would have continued to be so. But Danny had delivered so much more than punishment to Vlad. And Clark had to wonder just how Danny had found a solution that gave Vlad such an opportunity.

Clark's mind turned to Lex and everything he had done. All the crimes that Clark had forgiven, all the trespasses he had let slide until it all became too much. But Clark had given up on Lex, had turned away from the darkness that was consuming his friend. Clark had abandoned Lex and had thrown away their friendship, and rather than give Lex an opportunity to save himself Clark had just let him continue on his terrible path. In this Danny was a greater man than Clark could hope to be, offering mercy where none was deserved and redemption when none was wanted. It was a strength of will that Clark couldn't fathom, to be able to deliver such a just judgement while still in his own emotional turmoil.

Danny may not know what he was destined for, may not know the duties that he was now bound to. But it was clear to Clark that Danny would make a great king, he was someone who looked out for all, guilty and innocent alike. And in this one decision he had proven what kind of man he would be. Danny may be powerful; he may not be fully human any longer. But his mercy and kindness showed his humanity. And the tears he had shed for a man that had been so cruel to him only proved the true worth of his soul. Danny may not be king yet, that day may not come for a long time. But Clark could see that when that day came he would be ready, and Danny would be able to shepherd the Ghost Zone into a new era of peace and safety.

Clark pulled himself away from the sofa, dismissing Ember's questioning glance with a wave as he came to stand by his cousin. Danny's shoulders were shaking, his whole body trembling as tried to contain his pain and the silent sobs that Clark saw wracking through his body. Clark made no comment, laying one hand comfortingly on his tensed shoulder. Danny didn't pull away, but his shoulder tensed under the slight pressure. Clark could see the guilt framed in his silver eyes.

"You did the right thing." Clark voiced, staring out over the fields through the barn window. The night was drawing in, but the moon hung low in the sky; a bright silver orb hanging in the night sky, a sign of hope against the darkness. "It was a hard choice to make, but you made the right decision."

Danny turned to face him, his narrow frame drawn tight as his eyes searched Clark's. "I know." Danny whispered. His eyes averting to stare back at the darkening fields. "I know it was the best decision, but..." Danny paused, his whole body drooping as he sighed. His shoulders slumped heavily across the windowsill until the window seemed to be taking all of the raven haired boy's weight.

"But you still wish things could have turned out better." Clark finished. Danny nodded slowly, his whole frame leaning out the window. It was clear he was exhausted, and he still hadn't had a chance to recover. But the mental anguish of his choice was distracting him, and Clark could see that he would need some sort of closure before he could start to allow himself to heal.

"It's just... I know that I did what I had to do. But I hate the fact that I had to. Vlad..." Danny sighed, turning away from the open window and looking through the barn. "There's just so much that there could have been, he wanted to be a father to me, a mentor. But what he wanted in return was too much. And I know everything he's done; I know that better than anyone. I just..." Danny sighed coming to sit down heavily in the sofa. Ember was watching him with soft green eyes, floating close enough to offer comfort. Clark pulled the desk chair out so he could sit opposite his cousin. This was important; Danny needed this time to sort things out, and it was the least Clark could do to give it to him.

"When I first met him I was so... happy." Danny finally admitted. "It felt amazing to know that there was someone else like _me_ out there. Sam and Tuck were always there for me, but they never could understand what it's like. And then I met Vlad, and suddenly I wasn't alone anymore. But he wanted me to renounce dad, to follow him in everything he did. He wanted an apprentice more than a son, and he didn't want me, just what I could do. And I couldn't do what he wanted; not without giving up everything that I'd ever believed was good.

Danny looked down, his silver eyes fixed on his clenched hands. "For so long I hated him; hated everything that he did and everything that he meant to me. He hurt me, tried to kidnap me more than once. He trapped mom and I in the Rockies without my ghost powers and left us to his mutant ghost animals. He infected Sam and Tuck with ecto-acne, nearly killed them, just so that I'd save him. He locked me up and tried to get me to kill Jazz myself. With everything that he did to me, it was just so _easy_ to hate him. To push him as far as possible away from me and try to forget he even existed."

Danny let out a harsh laugh, startling Clark with his ruefulness. "It got to the point where I wanted nothing to do with him. Wanted to find _anything_ that made me different from him. But the more I looked the less it made sense. I'm more of a ghost than he was, but he was obsessive in the more ghostly way. He didn't care what got in his way; he just took whatever he wanted. And I hated him for it. He had so much more than I did, do. He never _died_; he never had to wonder what world he belonged in. I never cared about his money, all I saw was a man who had been given a gift and was throwing it away on something as stupid as vengeance. He just made it so easy to _hate_ him."

Clark's eyes creased in sympathy as he watched the younger boy. "The thing is," Danny added quietly. "I still miss what he could have been for me. He hated dad, blamed him for the accident. And in a way that's true. But, I hate that he chose vengeance... I can't help but wonder, if he'd just moved on, if he couldn't have actually been a part of my family. If, when I had my accident, if he couldn't have been there for me."

Danny shook his head. "But he didn't, and now because of everything he's done I had to take away his ghost powers. He was like _me_. And I had to do that. Sure, we were never the same and he was never a halfa, but he's had to deal with so much of what I have. And now that's over. I'm the only half-ghost left now, and it's my _fault_ for taking Vlad's ghost half away."

"It's not your fault." Clark denied, trying to capture Danny's far off gaze. "Vlad made his decisions, he chose his own path."

"Clark's right." Ember added in, suddenly sitting next to Danny on the sofa. "Plasmius... Vlad, was never like you, Danny. He never had your heart. He was ruthless and cruel and saw everyone as a means to an end. But you actually treat us as people. He may have been half-ghost, but he abused it. He never understood what that meant, and he lashed out at everyone because of it. I'd say thanks, but I know that's not what you want to hear. So instead I'm gonna say this. You pride yourself for being our protector, human and ghost alike. And I get that."

Ember paused, her black gloved hand clutching Danny's own. Clark just watched the dynamic between the two, knowing that this would mean more coming from Ember who had known Danny for so long as she had. "Take heart from the fact that you've protected us. All us ghosts are gonna be free from the terror of knowing that Plasmius is out there. And the humans who would've gotten hurt in his plots are now safe. But I watched you, and I think you know that the person you've helped the most, the person you've protected best in all this is Vlad. And that's what you need to know."

Danny looked across at her, his silver eyes meeting her bright green and Clark couldn't help but appreciate the simple feeling of understanding that passed between the two. Danny nodded slowly, his whole posture shifting into something akin to acceptance. Clark smiled; this was a first step to recovery for Danny, one he drastically needed. These last days couldn't have been easy on him, and no doubt there was a lot that he was leaving unsaid. But this first step would help him to begin; now the worst of the mental wounds had been dealt with they could work towards getting Danny recovered physically and emotionally. After what he had been through, it was the least Danny deserved.

"What do you say to something to eat?" Clark offered, glancing across the trunk at Danny. The younger boy squinted his eyes closed in disgust, shaking his head.

"No thanks." Danny replied, shaking his head. "I think... maybe a night's sleep is in order."

"Not good enough, babypop." Ember scolded before turning to face Clark. She was doing better than Danny at the moment, but it was clear that what Plasmius had done had left her drastically weakened. "He does need something human to eat. But I think what'd be best for him, for both of us really, is to spend a couple of days in the Zone."

Clark nodded, acknowledging that maybe in this Ember knew better than he did what was best for Danny. "Okay, but I think we need to check in with my mom first. Think he'll hold out for half an hour?"

Ember nudged Danny's shoulder. Danny sent her a half-hearted glare but stayed quiet. It was clear now that he was struggling against the pain, and Clark could see that he was fading fast. "Half an hour and a hot chocolate and we'll be right." Ember said decisively.

Clark nodded, heading out of the barn and into the farmhouse. It felt surreal to be stepping into the house after what had just happened. It was all so normal, and yet so much had changed. He called out to his mom, hoping that she was still up. Danny may need to go to the Zone for a little while, but that didn't mean Clark's mom wouldn't worry for him. He quickly put the kettle on, rummaging through the cupboards for the tea and the hot chocolate.

"Clark?" His mom called, coming down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Where've you been?"

Clark frowned, unsure of what to say. There was so much that he ought to tell her, but the whole truth was more stress than his mom needed. Ultimately Danny was in safe hands now, and between Ember and Clark they would see him to recovery. If Danny wanted to explain about what had happened to him then that would have to be his prerogative. His mom would only ask and open up painful wounds if she knew the full extent of what had happened. And Clark didn't know if that would do Danny any good. So instead Clark opted for an abridged version of the truth.

"Danny's been doing a ghost thing for the past few days, and he wound up hurt." Clark explained succinctly as he poured out two cups of tea. "One of his friends from the Zone is here, and she's suggested that Danny spend a few days in the Ghost Zone to recover. At this point, I'm inclined to agree with her. School doesn't go back for him for another week, so it's not like he'll be missing anything."

His mom frowned, eyeing the two tea cups and the two hot chocolates that Clark had prepared. Her lips pinched tight she sighed. "Well, I'd like to meet her first. And I want to see Danny before he leaves. Between the two of you and work, it feels like we never see each other anymore."

Clark flinched, acknowledging that part of that was his fault. He had put Danny in Vlad's hands and he needed to deal with that failing for himself. But that was a guilt that would have to wait until Danny was recovering properly. He pulled out a tray and set the four steaming mugs on top of it. Unsatisfied, he fished through the pantry until he found a couple of chocolate chip cookies. It wasn't the healthiest offering, but if there was one thing that he had learned from Vlad it was that chocolate did Danny good.

His mom opened the kitchen door and led the way up into the barn, automatically knowing that Clark would have kept Danny in his 'Fortress of Solitude'. Clark picked up the tray, following close behind her. He didn't really know what to expect; this was the first time his mom would have met a ghost other than Danny on friendly terms. Still he followed her up the steps closely, pausing as he realised that neither Danny nor Ember had moved an inch since he left. Danny had slumped further into the sofa, and his exhaustion was clearly showing. His eyes were twin pools of swirling green, blue and silver now, flickering closed every few seconds before he would jerk them back open.

Ember opened her eyes fully, casting a cursory glance over the two of them before nudging Danny gently. Danny's eyes flickered open fully, settling into a strange mix of silver and cerulean. "You must be Martha Kent." Ember commented, her eyes fixed on Clark's mom. She extended a hand and his mom shook it, smiling slightly at her. "I'm Ember McLain, Ember for short. Nice to meet you."

Clark's mom smiled, clearly willing to accept the young female ghost for the time being. And soon the four of them were settled in. It took a bit of encouragement, but Danny eventually managed a few sips of the hot chocolate. Although Clark got the feeling it was more for his mom's sake than anything else. Still, a tiny bit of colour came back to his cheeks as he drank so Clark felt justified in giving it to him. Even Ember looked better for the chocolate she drank, something which both Clark and his mom noted. Still, it was clear that both ghost and halfa were fading and so Clark was quick to urge them onwards.

Danny was clearly on his last legs, and it took all his strength to summon a portal. It was a muted farewell as Ember carried a limp Danny through the swirling green vortex and into the Ghost Zone. But it was strangely cathartic. This time Clark felt as though he had trusted Danny to the right person, and as the portal closed on them he knew that Danny was finally safe. He had been hurt badly, nearly killed by the agents at the GIW before Vlad had taken hold of him. But Danny was a survivor, and his greatest strength was his compassion. Clark knew that Danny would recover in time, and that was what really mattered.

But as the darkness filled the barn he couldn't help but think. Danny had been badly hurt, but it was Clark himself that had made it worse by trusting the wrong person. Danny may not have told him about how dangerous Vlad was, but the truth was that Clark should have picked up on it. He had been disillusioned by billionaires before, so he should have been more wary. And his obliviousness had nearly gotten Danny killed, _ended_ as he would say. When they had taken Danny in they had sworn they would keep him safe, but Clark's poor judgement had put him at greater risk.

As he settled into bed that night he couldn't help the creeping doubts. So many times he had trusted people only to be proven wrong. While Danny may be well on the path to becoming a great king, Clark couldn't help but wonder where his path lay. He had always striven to make the right choices and do the right thing, but so often he was proven wrong. It should be easier now, to see things for how they really were and yet he was so often misled. There was still so much he needed to learn, so many failings that he had yet to face that he wondered what his true purpose was.

But at the end of the day he was still left with more doubts than answers, and he had so many problems that he needed to solve for himself. In the end they had all pulled through, and the imminent threat of Vlad was dealt with. Clark was encouraged by Danny's moral strength; he didn't know what he would have done in the same situation. It was a terrible choice to have been faced with, but if Danny, a boy of only sixteen was able to see through his own emotions and come to a conclusion like that then maybe he could learn from that.

Things in the world weren't always clear cut. He had known that for a while now. Vlad, a man who should have been like a father to Danny had only fostered hate. And Danny's birth father, someone who was fully human had held Danny's allegiance simply for his compassion. And maybe that was the most powerful lesson. For all that Danny said he was no longer human he proved it every day. It took more than genetics to make you human, it took more than DNA to show you belonged to the human race. The thing that proved Danny's humanity was his heart.

Danny had for so many months put up an impenetrable facade, showing to the world that he was invulnerable. But it was clear now who he was. He loved and looked out for all; his compassion went out to everyone. He had been hurt, and yet he still managed to stand tall. He continued on with courage despite the challenges that the world threw at him and he was somehow able to overcome every obstacle. He had strengths and failings, lessons to teach and more to learn.

When he had first met Danny, Clark had wondered how he was going to keep his secret from the younger boy. And yet now that concern seemed so small. In a few short months Danny had become an integral part of his life; for all that he was two years younger. Danny was similar to him in so many ways, and yet so very different. The boy had been there for him when he needed it, offered council from the perspective of someone who could truly understand. But that wasn't really what mattered. What did matter was who Danny had proven himself to be.

He wasn't the troubled child, black sheep in a family of geniuses. He wasn't the foolish klutz who bubbled through problems as only a fool could. He wasn't a delinquent who shirked responsibility. Those ideas had been disillusioned on the first day. But equally he wasn't an impenetrable force; he wasn't the unequalled ghost that could beat any enemy. He may be destined one day to be a great king, but he was more than just a title. He had failings, he had insecurities. He had strengths and he had weaknesses. He was just Danny; the kid who had come to the farm in his hour of need and opened Clark's eyes to so much more.

He was calm and collected, he was goofy and aloof. He was incredibly intelligent and impossibly clueless. He was clumsy and gracefully coordinated. He was a whole onslaught of paradoxical opposites all wrapped together into the strange bundle that was his cousin. Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom; both undeniably _Danny_. And that was all that mattered. While it wasn't what he'd expected when he was told his orphaned cousin was coming to live with them, he wasn't sure he would change that for the world.

And it was for that reason that his cousin, someone related to him only through his adoptive mom's sister, was so much more. This whole year was far from anything he had expected, and there was still so much unresolved. But what he did know was what was most important. His quirky cousin; dark haired with bright blue eyes or white haired with glowing green, had come to fill a role that Clark hadn't even known he was missing. And the revelation was as comforting as it was startling.

For all the strange uniqueness that was Danny, he had become Clark's brother. And for that Clark would defend him until the very end.

* * *

><p>AN: C'est finis? Did that make sense?<p>

Um, Vlad and Plasmius have been separated and Plasmius destroyed. But that doesn't necessitate that Vlad's out of the picture. I just hope it felt believable... Please tell me what you think.

This was really tough to write, I couldn't quite get the dynamics right. But now I'm happy enough with how it went. It wasn't the colossal confrontation I had initially envisaged, but this way is more meaningful to the overall progress of the story.

Oh well, so finishes the 'Season Finale' for the Danny half of this season.

'Till next we meet again,

Bluerose


	28. Fractures

Chapter 27

Fractures

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

_Hey, Danny. Sorry 'bout running off last night. That was a pretty wild storm, right? Anyway, um, I was sorta wondering if you'd like to catch up again? Call me. – Beep_

_Danny, hi. So, um, we're in Metropolis for the rest of the week, and I wanted to see if you were up for hanging out again? Say, tonight outside that Diner? Give me a call. – Beep_

_Hey Danny. It's been a few days since I heard from you. Are you okay? It's Wednesday now and we're checking out the Metropolis Museum today. I think Lancer'll let you come if I ask. Please call me. - Beep_

_Er, hi Danny. It's Val. Um, I missed you last night. Where are you? It's like you've dropped off the face of the planet. But, seriously, are you okay? I'm getting worried. See you soon? – Beep_

_Danny, please call back. You're scaring me. I haven't heard from you since Monday night. Nothing's happened, right? Call me when you get this. – Beep_

_Danny, it's Valerie again. The bus leaves in an hour and... I just wanted to say I'm sorry if I offended you. I didn't mean to run off the other night, so if you're avoiding me I'm sorry... But, please, just call back. I've missed you, and I was really looking to seeing you again this week. Um, anyway, hope you're okay. I'll see you... yeah. Goodbye. – Beep_

Danny sighed, staring at the screen of his phone as it darkened into blackness. He didn't know why he'd even pulled it out; it wasn't exactly like he could call anyone from inside the Ghost Zone. He wasn't even sure there was anyone to call. Both Clark and his aunt knew he was here, Chloe might worry but he'd gone weeks without speaking to her before. Lex, well, Lex was probably off gallivanting about with whatever project had recently taken fancy of. There was always Victor stone, but even Victor was becoming more accepting of his situation. And Valerie... well the idea of talking to her after everything that had happened just wasn't something he could handle.

It was clear, in retrospect, how Vlad had manipulated them all, how badly they'd all been played. Danny _knew_ that Vortex was supposed to have been on trial in the Observant's Council a fortnight ago and the only person desperate enough and clever enough to trick him into the Real World was Vlad. And Casper High had _never_ had an excursion to Metropolis before. Really, what were the odds that the one year that got the opportunity was the _exact same year_ that had the Red Huntress among the students? And the fact that not only Valerie but the GIW were ready and waiting at the end of his fight... it was all too obvious.

What hurt the most was Clark. Vlad had conned Clark into trusting Vlad with him. And that was... it was despicable on Vlad's part that he'd seen fit to manipulate Clark like that. Part of him wanted to get mad at Clark for falling for it, but in the end it was his own fault. Danny had never given Clark a warning about Vlad; thinking that it would keep Clark safe from the psychopathic billionaire. And Vlad had just walked on in and used that against him. Danny hated the fact that Vlad knew him so well, knew that Danny would do anything to keep the people around him safe and was still able to turn that to his advantage.

Danny sighed, his hand reaching absently to his stomach where the still healing scar from his... his vivisection remained. Painfully dazed as he was, the ghostly memories of white clad men with glimmering silver instruments still danced behind his eyes if he let them. It was horrifying, and dehumanising. The only way he could deal with that particular pain, the fact that he had been treated as little more than a lab rat was to reject a part of his human identity. But the fact that Vlad was behind it all and what Vlad had done afterwards... Vlad was responsible for so much pain in his life. So much misery. But at the end of the day Danny couldn't find it in himself to feel anything other than pity for the elder man.

He frowned, slouching over to stare at his hands, fisted firmly around his silent cell phone. He was human at the moment, as human as he ever could be. But it hardly mattered. Ghost in the Real World or human in the Ghost Zone he was a misfit. The only one of his kind and however he justified it, however good the action may have been, he was responsible for what had happened to Vlad. The man who had once been his arch-nemesis was only human now and nothing would change the fact that it was Danny that had destroyed the only other half-ghost in the world.

"Hey." Danny jerked at the feminine voice, looking up at the blue haired ghost who had come to stand in front of him. Ember had been so good to him, undeservedly so. She had taken him into her home while he was still lost somewhere on the verge of agonised unconsciousness. She'd welcomed him into her lair, offering him the only bed she had, kept hidden in the backstage props room. And when he'd woken up she'd been the one to help take care of his wounds, despite the pain she was still in from Vlad's attack on her core. He was grateful to her, so very grateful. But he couldn't help but wonder what he'd done to deserve such kindness from her.

Ember handed him a steaming cup of coffee, and Danny felt the sofa depress as she came to sit beside him. "You know you can't keep beating yourself up." Ember commented softly, gently nudging his shoulder. "Vlad is a jerk, we've always known that. But Plasmius was like a rabid dog. You did the right thing, you kept us all safe. And I know you're upset about what you had to do, but... I think it just shows what kind of person you are. That you can still care about him after what he's done."

Danny nodded, considering. He felt guilty, yes. But it wasn't really about destroying Plasmius. Ember was right in that respect; Plasmius had been as much a danger to himself as to anyone else and the world was better off without him. But... "Everything's just gotten so complicated." Danny whispered, more to himself than anything, but at Ember's questioning glance he continued.

"It's just, I don't know..." Danny paused. "Ever since I was fourteen I've sort of known what I was supposed to do. Known I was supposed to protect people and keep them safe. And it was easy, so easy. But things change and we all... humans grow up. And things weren't so easy anymore. Even before everyone died I started seeing that. I mean, it'd always been ghosts attacking humans and it was clear, then, who I was supposed to keep safe. But after everything that's happened... who am I to say that humans aren't the bigger monsters?"

Ember just nodded, laying a cautious hand supportively on his thigh. "And then there was the meteor strike." Danny sighed, his shoulders slouching over. "I woke up in one of Vlad's hospital rooms. He had the same doctors take care of me this time too. But back then... part of me wanted to stay with him. Vlad was like _me_, you know? And when I heard that they were all gone I just didn't wanna alone anymore."

He shook his head, ruefully looking into the coffee. "But I couldn't. I've seen what could happen if I did, if I let myself give into him. And I didn't want to take that risk. So I chose to stay away from him. Vlad never knew about Aunt Martha, about the Kents. Or if he did he ignored them. But they were, are, still family. Even if Mom and Aunt Martha hadn't really spoken properly for years. So I went to live with them. And that was fine, and I was okay with that."

He sighed, watching as the dark liquid swirled thickly about in the mug. "I promised myself I'd keep them safe. Keep everyone safe. I had to be strong, couldn't let myself feel the pain, couldn't let myself give in. I realise now it was stupid. I put on a mask. Convinced myself I was invincible so long as I kept the world at arm's length. I didn't trust them, not fully. Clark trusted me. He's told me everything, I think. But I never did the same. And he never knew. If I'd warned him about Vlad... maybe none of this would've happened. But I didn't, and I was stupid, and because of me not trusting anyone, they all got hurt. Even you."

Danny heard Ember sigh beside him, felt her hand shift to rest softly on his shoulder. "Danny..." she whispered sounding unsure. Danny couldn't bring himself to look at her. "I wish... You know, you're one of the bravest most confusingly stupid people I've ever met. I'm serious. Okay, fine you thought that the best way to keep people safe was to keep them in the dark. I get that. But really, they've known about your secret for months now. Not giving the heads up about Vlad was just asking for trouble."

Danny turned to look at her, watching her green eyes flash as she picked up speed. "And really, what did you expect. I know that things aren't the same as when you were the stupid little dipstick back in Amity Park. Even before you left you started seeing different and honestly I'm glad for that. But you don't have to pretend to be invincible. I don't expect that of you and nobody else would either. We both know you're not, and pretending is only gonna hurt _you_ more."

Ember paused, meeting his eyes firmly before she nodded once to herself. "The way I see it you have two choices. First, you can keep pretending and watch as everyone else gives up on you. Or you can get over it and realise that people care about _you_. I don't really give a damn about Phantom or Fenton, but I care about _Danny_. And I think Clark is the same. You're not perfect, no one is. But you'll get a lot more done if you don't pretend to be and focus on doing what needs to be done."

Danny half laughed, but something in Ember's rant had struck a chord. "It's strange." He commented. "When I was... out of it... I had this really weird dream. I was walking down a path in the darkness, and as I walked I saw little things that reminded me of all the people in my life. None of you were actually _there_, but you were all there in as much as you were with me... if that makes any sense." Danny shook his head to clear it, vaguely recalling the last part of the dream. He wasn't sure if he wanted to tell her, but it had been so significant to him.

"What happened then?" Ember asked.

Danny half smiled, her curiosity spurring him forward. This whole conversation was strangely cathartic and admitting all this to her... it made what he'd experienced easier to deal with. "I came across an altar type thing. And on the altar were three things; a dagger a shield and a sword."

"You've been spending time in Aragon again, haven't you?" Ember commented lightly, rolling her eyes. Danny fought the urge to laugh at her comment. He was a knight under Princess Dora after all. Not that he'd visited her recently.

"Maybe." He admitted. "But that's not really the point. When I saw them I could sort of understand. I mean, the dagger and the shield, they're sort of like me, who I have been. And the sword, I think that's a part of who I want to be."

Ember nodded, her eyes trying to understand. "Then..." She said, cocking her head to the side curiously. "I guess the question is, who are you gonna be for now?"

_Line Break_

Clark scowled as he stared across at the deputy officer. Earlier this evening his mom had asked him to pick up some papers from her chief of staff. Clark had been happy to oblige, glad to make himself more useful. But when he had arrived at Naomi's house he had been shocked. Every single downstairs window had been shattered, shards of glass glittering outside in the moonlight. The whole house was completely dark except for one of the upstairs bedrooms.

Fearful for the worst he had walked in, shocked at the sheer volume of shattered glass in the room. It was everywhere, piled in sharp shards three inches deep across the floor. But the underlying metallic scent of blood stained the air, and as the glass crunched beneath his boots he saw the lacerated corpse of Naomi. Even without checking he had known she was dead, and knowing that he had quickly proceeded upstairs. His mom was often talking about her chief of staff and her foster child, Maddie. With all the destruction downstairs he had been terrified that he'd find the young girl hurt.

But she was safe physically. Whoever had destroyed the downstairs floor had obviously left, and Clark had been quick to bring the young girl back to his home so she'd be safe. He may have failed Danny abysmally, but he wasn't about to leave a little girl in such a dangerous place. "I found Naomi in the kitchen." Clark explained, looking across at the deputy officer. "There was glass everywhere. What kind of person would commit such a brutal crime?"

The deputy looked briefly up from his notepad, sending Clark a carefully neutral look. "Whoever it was, the sound of your truck probably scared them off."

Both Clark and his mom shared a glance before looking into the lounge where Maddie was seated. She had been silent the whole ride home, and Clark just hoped that what she had seen didn't traumatise her permanently. She had been so quiet, barely looking at him at all. And as soon as they had gotten there she'd seated herself at the coffee table and pulled out a scrap of paper, her eyes fixed only on her drawing as she moved a black pencil across the page. Looking over at her, Clark couldn't help but be angry that anyone could do something so horrendous to someone so innocent.

"Well," his mom said, breaking the pondering silence. "Thank you for letting her stay with us tonight, deputy. After all she's been through there's no reason she should have to spend the night in some shelter."

The deputy nodded. "No problem, senator. Child services will come by in the morning to check in."

Clark watched his mom as she led the deputy out the door, but frowned as she turned around to look at him. "It makes no sense." His mom said, shaking her head in disbelief. "All Naomi wanted to do was help people. She was a foster parent, she ran a youth centre before she was my chief of staff."

Clark sighed, it was hard to imagine that Naomi was gone. While they'd only met a couple of times the bubbly woman had always seemed so kind. For someone to murder her like that was unimaginable. Clark looked back over to Maddie, still drawing in the lounge room with a melancholic sort of focus that weighed heavily in the air. "Maddie hasn't said a word since she got here." Clark whispered as his mom came to stand beside him. The both of them frowned, looking over at the young girl.

"Naomi told me she hasn't spoken since she was three years old." His mom answered quietly, directing a concerned frown at him. "That's when her birth mother was killed." Clark frowned, looking over at Maddie in a new light.

"Can't blame her." He murmured, although it was sad to think that the twelve year old girl hadn't spoken for nine years. "She's been through one tragedy after another."

"And countless foster homes." His mom added shaking her head. It was impossible not to feel bad for the poor girl. She looked so young, so alone. He heard his mom beside him sigh. "I should call Lionel in London."

Clark frowned. "Lionel?" He questioned. He still hadn't told his mom about his suspicions with Lionel. He didn't want her to worry. But at the same time he wanted to know what kind of game Lionel was playing. If he did know the secret, why hadn't he done anything about it yet? And if he didn't, what was he doing getting so close to his mom?

"Naomi used to run his children's foundation." His mom explained pulling away. "I really should let him know what happened..."

"Mom," Clark interrupted, not keen to involve Lionel in this. "Maybe you should wait." But she didn't listen, and really it was probably more for the distraction that she wanted to call him. Clark sighed, looking back over to Maddie as she drew. It was horrible, what had happened to her. And Clark couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Naomi was kind, and no doubt losing her had only hurt Maddie more.

Clark wandered over to her, taking a seat in the armchair beside her. Her shoulders were hunched over, her eyes fixed solely on the paper as she moved the pencil across the page. Her blue eyes looked dark in the firelight, weighted with a pain that Clark couldn't fathom. He didn't know what to do, how to help her. But she needed help, and Clark wanted to try.

With awkward curiosity Clark asked what she was drawing, but she gave him no response, her pencil not even slowing as it passed across the page. Clark twisted his neck a bit, trying to see. He frowned, unsure of exactly what to make of the image she was forming. The picture was black, a heavily shaded skeletal tree, with wiry branches clawing at the sky. And seated in one of the branches was a dark eyed crow. Automatically he drew the parallels between this girl and Danny. For all the beauty of his happier sketches, there were some in his books that were painful to look at, simply for the agony contained in each of the pencilled lines.

"You're quite the artist, aren't you?" he commented, not expecting her to answer him but he hoped she'd at least acknowledge his presence. When she didn't he pressed on anyway. "You know, I'm an artist too." This time she did look up, the half quirk of her eyebrow _almost_ in scepticism made him bite back a smile. Instead he sighed, shaking his head in mock aggrievance. "All right, well, I'll just have to prove it to you then."

He exaggeratedly pulled a piece of paper across to himself, and made a show of selecting exactly the right colour. Eventually he settled on a red crayon and invested all of twenty seconds in his 'artwork'. Quickly he concealed the sheet, careful to put on an air of mock professionalism. "Now, prepare yourself." He said, eliciting a half curious glance from Maddie. "'Cause this is gonna be a self portrait. And you might not be able to tell the difference between this, and an actual photograph."

He smiled, turning the page around to show her the picture. She raised an eyebrow in disbelief, and Clark grinned more. The little red waving stick figure on his page was really bad, and Clark could see Maddie's stoic facade beginning to crack. He smiled kindly at the little girl, and while she wouldn't let herself laugh, a warm lightness rose in his chest when she smiled back.

_Line Break_

Phantom smiled, it was a genuine smile and the first he'd had in days. His talk with Ember had helped him resolve a lot of issues, and the ectoplasm rich foods of the Ghost Zone were going a long way towards healing the remnants of the wounds inflicted by both Vlad and the GIW. He felt happy, a guiltless sort of happiness that he had almost forgotten how to experience. But somehow Ember had helped bring it out in him. So he was smiling easily and laughing as he flew through the Zone with Ember.

Now that he was feeling better he had thought it might be fun for Ember to come and meet Princess Dora. Something gave Phantom the feeling that for all her gothic punk exterior, Ember might have a bit of fun playing medieval lady for a day. And in a way Phantom was itching for a chance at training with his sword. While the dream had been a symbolic journey, he didn't mind taking up his sword in the literal sense. So both of them were now weaving their way through one of the more crowded areas of the Zone, taking the shortest route to the Kingdom of Aragon.

The two of them flew through the cloudy mist that marked the gateway to Aragon. While the archaically oppressive reign of Prince Aragon may be over, Dora was being tastefully slow with the reintroduction of modern conveniences and it still felt very much like a flourishing medieval metropolis. Phantom and Ember floated easily through the forest outlying the castle before floating down to the massive wooden door. As usual one of the two guardsmen outside noticed him and ducked inside, leaving Ember and Phantom waiting outside. But it wasn't for long and soon both of them were being escorted through the castle.

"Sir Phantom and the Lady Ember, your Highness." Their escort announced as they were led into the large great hall. It had been some months since Danny had last seen anyone in Aragon, but the Princess looked just as regal as ever.

"Sir Phantom!" She cried, gracefully standing from her throne and crossing the room. Danny knelt down to kiss the seal on her finger before standing again, as was convention. But as per usual Dora pulled him into a hug immediately after. She stepped back, smiling at him. "You have gotten taller, Sir Phantom." She teased. "You shall have to tell me what brings you here, but first I should rather like to be introduced to your young friend."

Phantom smiled before setting his shoulders back. Being in the great hall they were surrounded by a large number of Dora's subjects, so some protocols had to be followed. "Your Highness, may I introduce Lady Ember McLain, both ally and friend. This past week, events in the Real World became unfavourable, and Lady Ember proved herself through her loyalty and bravery. In fact, it is largely thanks to her that I can officially report that the threat of Plasmius is no more."

Dora gasped, pressing her dainty green fingers to her lips. All through the room an excited buzzing of whispers leapt up, and beside him Ember shifted awkwardly at the praise. Dora took a moment to compose herself, a small smile playing at her lips. "It appears, Sir Phantom; that we have much to discuss. Let a feast be prepared that we may celebrate this most joyful news." The last sentence was announced to the room and as Phantom watched there was a flurry of movement as the servants leapt to action. Phantom allowed himself a small smile as he clasped at Ember's hand in a soft gesture of support.

This too, the particularities of court had somehow managed to become a part of his life. And in a way he was glad to be able to share it with someone like Ember.

_Line Break_

Clark frowned worriedly as he watched Maddie's innocently sleeping figure. It was hard to believe what she had been through; he couldn't imagine having to listen as someone he cared for died in such a horrific way. And yet she was unreserved in her sleep, a restful smile playing on her lips as she tucked herself further under the blankets. They had set her up in Danny's room since it was the only free bed available. Looking around the room, Clark had once more been reminded of how minimally Danny intruded on the family. The room was as sparsely decorated as ever, his ever present backpack being the only sign that someone actually lived in the room.

Eventually he continued downstairs, watching as his mom finished pouring herself a cup of coffee. It was a weekend, but she still had work to do as state senator. Clark was happy to look out for Maddie for the day; at the moment she probably needed human contact more than anything else. His mom was out the door before Maddie was even out of bed, but that was only to be expected. Maddie had had a hard night and so sleeping in a bit would probably help her get back on her feet. He heard a floorboard creak upstairs and wasn't surprised when a fully dressed Maddie came downstairs five minutes later.

Clark pushed a cup of hot chocolate in front of her, eliciting a small grateful smile. "So..." Clark commented, putting a stack of toast on the table. "I was thinking after breakfast we might have a bit of a tour of the farm. You've already seen most of the house, but there's more to check out outside." Maddie looked up, giving him a reluctant nod before spreading a bit of honey on her toast. Clark sipped his coffee, silently wondering about how best to entertain the young girl. She may enjoy drawing, but focusing constantly on such dark images wasn't gonna help her move on any faster. The two of them finished up, and Clark guided Maddie out the front door towards the barn.

"This," Clark pronounced, sliding the main door open and guiding the twelve year old in. "Is the world-famous Kent barn." He paused, his eyes flickering up into the rafters where the hay was kept in storage. "You know when I was about your age, my dad used to let me jump in the haystacks in here." In fact, that was a great idea. He smiled at her, even though she still seemed a bit daunted by the whole situation. "Hey," he continued, and it probably sounded like he was rambling, but this was an opportunity to build her confidence in people back. "Why don't you close your eyes, and turn around. I got a surprise for you." Maddie still looked unsure, but with a small encouraging smile she acquiesced.

With Maddie's back turned Clark smiled, racing up to the hay bales at super-speed. At this velocity it took no time to make a ten foot hay stack. He smiled, remembering fondly hours spent jumping through the hay with his dad standing on to watch. He slowed back down beside it, waiting for Maddie to turn around. Feeling the slight breeze from his movement Maddie spun around. "So, what do you think?" Clark rambled, looking at her surprised face. While she didn't speak it was amazing how expressive she was with just her eyes.

"Wanna give it a shot?" Clark asked, but Maddie raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Let me guess," Clark continued "you're afraid of heights?" She didn't move, but the insecurity in her eyes suggested he was at least close. "I can relate." He reassured. Smiling he walked over to her, kneeling so that he could look her in the eye. "You know Maddie, you and I have a lot more in common than you think. I was an orphan too." He smiled at her, hoping to get any sign that she was willing to let him in.

Instead there was a soft whining, and Shelby ran into the barn. The dog immediately raced over to Maddie, sniffing her and checking the stranger out. Maddie beamed widely and immediately knelt down to give Shelby a thorough pet. A similar image from several months previous leapt to mind; Danny on his second day at the farm had reacted similarly to Shelby's appearance. Although Maddie was accepted a lot faster than Clark's cousin had been. Clark smiled as he watched the two, but creased his brow when he thought he saw Maddie's lips move.

And when he really listened for it, just on the edge of his hearing he picked up a soft feminine whisper. "Hey boy," Clark smiled; she had a beautiful voice, even if she was only whispering. "Good doggie."

"Looks like Shelby likes you." Clark commented, carefully not betraying that he had heard her. He wanted to prove to her that she could trust him, and let her make the choice to speak to him on her own terms. It was clear that she'd been through a lot, and had closed herself off to the world. Forcing the truth out of her would only force her to lose her faith in people altogether. Instead he chose a different tactic.

"Animals are great, aren't they?" Clark asked, still studying her even as she poked her eyes up from behind Shelby's ears. "They listen to you, don't say mean things back." Clark absently scratched Shelby's ears as he searched Maddie's eyes. "Look," he offered, sending her a hopeful smile. "I might not be as furry as Shelby, or wag my tail or bark, but I promise, I'll never say mean things to you."

Maddie didn't immediately respond, searching his eyes for any sign of deceit. When she was done her eyes went to the loft stairs. "What's up there?" She asked out loud, meeting his eyes with curious determination. Clark was too startled to answer, instead beaming as he followed her up the stairs.

"It's kinda like my clubhouse." He explained, standing back at the top of the stairs to watch her explore.

"Oh, you're so lucky." Maddie said, picking her way through the collection of mementos on his shelves.

"You can be lucky too Maddie." Clark replied, smiling at her. "It's not too late. We're gonna find you a good family."

"People don't like me." Maddie commented, idly spinning a globe.

"What? Well those people are crazy." Clark replied disbelievingly. "I like you."

Maddie's fingers absently went over Danny's sketchbook which had been absently left on the trunk over a week ago. Obviously recognising it for what it was she picked it up, flicking through the pages. Clark could guess what she was seeing, knowing what Danny's current sketchbook looked like. The first half was mostly filled with ghosts and places around Smallville, or pictures of friends and family both here and back in Amity Park. But the pages had become increasingly filled with aerial sketches, and Clark regretted that he hadn't seen what was on his cousin's mind just by looking at his sketches.

"Who did these?" Maddie asked with genuine curiosity. She set the book open on the trunk, left at a loose picture of Sam Manson.

"Danny, my cousin." Clark answered with a sad smile. "He's not here at the moment, he's out of state visiting friends." That was close enough to the truth, and was a lot easier than explaining Danny's connections to ghosts to the twelve year old. "I think you'd like him." Clark added, his own hand flipping through the countless pages of Danny's sketching. He paused, looking at one of the pictures of Lana. It was amazing the detail that Danny was able to capture, and Clark missed the last time he'd truly seen that smile.

Maddie had wandered over to the desk during his musings, coming to pick up the framed picture of Lana Lang that he still kept there. "Is this your girlfriend?" She asked, once again changing the subject.

"Well, she used to be." Clark answered, looking down at the picture still in his lap. "We kind of parted ways." He moved over to the desk, now looking for a distraction of his own. "Hey, you wanna go for a horseback ride?" He offered, smiling at her as he put the picture face down on his desk. "Just you and me?" Maddie smiled at him, a warm smile that made Clark's heart tingle in something akin to pride. She was gaining confidence. The young girl nodded eagerly, and Clark couldn't help but grin back.

"Let's go." He suggested, picking up her small hand to help guide her down the stairs. "You can chat up Buttercup all you want."

"You have horses?" Maddie asked eagerly, and Clark nodded, still smiling.

"So, you can talk." Clark frowned, immediately recognising the voice of Lois Lane. Just like that he felt Maddie pull away from him, closing back up on herself. But Lois, being Lois, barrelled on ahead anyway. "I knew that whole Marcel Marceau silence thing was just a rumour. I'm Lois." She held out her hand in introduction, but Maddie stepped back warily and sent a pleading glance at Clark.

"She's a little shy." Clark said by way of explanation.

"I understand." Lois replied, apparently nonplussed. "A lot of artists are. You should meet Smallville's cousin. Once you get him talking he'll chat your ears off, but I swear Casper's just like his namesake 'till you do. Anyway, I brought you some crayons and a colouring book, Maddie. Check it out." Lois thrust the box out towards Maddie, shaking it almost obnoxiously in her overly-keen way. Flustered, Maddie took it, but retreated back further straight afterwards.

Lois turned her attention to Clark, leaning in to attempt to catch some privacy. "Your mom called from Topeka." She explained. "With her chief of staff gone she's been in meetings all day. She asked if I could help out since Danny's not around. And I'm not even gonna ask where he's got to."

Well, that accounted for her sudden appearance, but Maddie was closing up on herself again in Lois' bold presence. "Actually, I think we got it under control." Clark said, hoping that'd convince her to leave the two of them alone at least for now.

Lois just scoffed. "I'm the one with the little sister, remember?" She patted his shoulder, almost condescendingly before turning her attention back to Maddie. Clark frowned, recalling exactly how badly things had gone last time Lois' sister was in town. While they may be related by blood, they weren't close at all, in fact probably Danny and he were a better example of 'sibling' relationships, but he wasn't about to bring that up in front of her.

Lois continued on, blustering ahead in her own way. "Okay, you ready for a few games of hopscotch? I'm a bit rusty, but you'll be the odds-on favourite." Clark caught Maddie's terrified glance as she continued backing away from Lois. Hoping to stop things because they got much worse he interrupted.

"Actually, we were just about to saddle up and hit the trails." Clark said, reaching an arm out to wrap around Maddie's shoulders comfortingly.

Lois wasn't deterred, clapping her hands together. "Great! Bust out the spurs. I'm game." This time she caught on as Maddie sent a beseeching look up at Clark. "Oh, how adorable." And now Lois' voice sounded vaguely hurt, but she quickly recovered. "You wanna be alone with Clark. Hey, no worries. I will be galloping way ahead of you guys." Maddie frowned, pressing herself further into Clark's side.

Maddie's eyes squinted suddenly, as though she was in terrible pain. And there was an electrical explosion as one of the lights overhead shattered, the yellow globe igniting in a shower of hot sparks that rained down to the floor. The bulb next to it shattered, and then the rest of the series blew, leaving the acrid scent of smoke in the barn as it gathered on the ceiling. And just as quick Maddie was barrelling past him, racing down the stairs in abject terror, or... guilt?

Clark shared a quick glance with Lois before following Maddie down the stairs. His mind was whirling. If he didn't know any better he might have thought that Maddie had blown all those light bulbs, but that was impossible, right? Then again, they were in Smallville which had been weird even before the ghosts showed up. And Maddie had looked so scared when she ran away, and he remembered seeing that face in the mirror, fourteen years old and just into high school. He remembered his dad telling him that he was from another planet, and he'd been terrified that his powers would make him some sort of monster.

"Maddie?" He called, pulling the back door open and following the young girl into the house. He found her, sitting in the window seat in the kitchen. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her knees and she looked so broken. She took one glance at him before ducking her head between her knees, sobbing softly. Clark pulled up a chair so they could talk equally. "Hey," he asked as gently as he could. "Hey, what just happened out there?" He paused, getting no response from the distraught young girl. "Did you break all those light bulbs?"

Maddie still didn't respond, didn't acknowledge him. Gentling his tone he tried a different tactic. "Listen, Maddie, I understand." He empathised. "You have powers, abilities that normal people can't even dream of. And it's okay. You can trust me. You can tell me the truth." He sent a soft smile her way when she finally looked up. Her eyes were puffy and red, and tear tracks ran down her cheeks.

Maddie sniffled, and Clark's heart throbbed as he saw the pain and fear in her eyes. "Ever since I was little, I could break glass." She finally admitted, sniffing tearfully.

"Yeah?" Clark prodded gently, hoping that admitting the truth would be therapeutic for her.

Maddie nodded once, still tucked in on herself. "And when I get upset I can't control it." She admitted. Clark frowned, his mind whirring.

"Were you upset with Naomi?" He asked guiltily. He didn't want to believe that such a young girl could have that sort of weight on her shoulders, but he needed to know.

Maddie looked at him with harrowed incredulity. "You think I killed her?"

"Maddie, you have the power to break glass." Clark pressed, trying to understand. "And the way she died..."

Maddie cut him off, shaking her head vehemently. "I didn't do it." Her eyes turned soft, pleading. "Clark, I wasn't in the same room and I can't do anything through walls. I liked Naomi. I would never hurt her." And Clark could see, in her eyes the confusion and the horror; the isolation that having an uncontrollable power brought and the abject fear of discovery, of hurting someone, of looking at yourself in the mirror and only seeing a monster. And he could see the desperate need for understanding, to have just _one_ person who accepted her for who she was. It was so very familiar, and he knew in that moment that he wanted to be that one person for Maddie.

"Clark, can I talk to you for just one minute?" Once more Lois' sharp voice made him jump, jerking from his musings. He sent Maddie a soft smile, silently promising that if nothing else he'd be there for her. He laid a comforting hand on her shoulder for just a second before stepping out into the hallway to talk to Lois.

"Look," Lois said bluntly, eyeing the doorway anxiously. "I'm gonna call the sheriff now, before we get sliced, diced and puréed."

Clark frowned, knowing that doing that wouldn't help. Maddie was innocent; he'd seen it in her eyes. And the problem was bigger than what Lois was seeing. "Lois, I'm not sure she killed anybody." He murmured, hoping to pull her off.

"Oh, yeah?" Lois retorted sceptically. "So someone else with the power to shatter glass just moseyed on in and murdered her foster-mom."

"Just because she has this ability doesn't make her a killer." Clark defended.

"Clark, I always knew you were naive, but come on." Lois replied, her head shaking. "Don't let her rosy cheeks and saucer eyes sway you. That girl's one step short of a demon seed."

"And what about Phantom?" Clark shot back almost automatically. Lois had never had any good experiences with meteor freaks, but lumping them all in the same category together was not fair to the good ones. "Phantom's a ghost, and most people say they're demons themselves."

"Phantom's different." Lois returned. "He uses his powers to help people, not shred them to pieces."

"Just give me an hour to see what I can find out." Clark asked, hoping that maybe Lois could at least give the girl a chance. At her dismissively raised eyebrow he tacked on "Then we'll go to the police."

Lois looked at him shocked. "Wait, you want me to babysit that little glass-smasher? Does my life mean nothing to you?"

Clark smiled encouragingly at her. "I don't think she's dangerous. If you're scared I can always call Chloe."

Predictably Lois took aggrievance at the barely veiled insult to her bravado. "Who said I was scared? I'm not scared." She defended, making Clark smile.

"Great. Thanks." He replied, sending a quick wave to Maddie in the kitchen as he ran out the door. He had a lot of work to do if he wanted to find out exactly what was going on. He really wished he had Danny in on this. Danny would probably be able to empathise with Maddie the same way Clark could, and with how Danny had encouraged Clark with his own powers it seemed likely that Danny could help Maddie find some control. But Danny was still recovering in the Zone, recovering from Clark's mistake. So even if he could get in contact he had to let Danny come back in his own time.

However, that didn't stop him from briefly x-raying the house to see Lois' flustered look of fear as she tried to compose herself. Smiling at Lois' overconfident nature he raced onwards, knowing that the best place to find information like this was Chloe.

_Line Break_

Phantom looked up to the tourney ground stands. In the royal box sat two female ghosts, one his liege and the other one of his closest friends. He stood in a line among nine other knights, all awaiting Dora's declaration to open the tournament. It was only a small one, but Dora had thought it would be a fun way to celebrate the end of Plasmius' imposing shadow in the Zone. Phantom was well aware that by the end of the week the whole Zone would know and that some things would necessarily change. No doubt Phantom would need to check in on Vlad someday, but for now the surge of adrenalin through his system made his heart rate quicken as he waited for Dora to open the tournament.

"It has been many years since we have had true cause to celebrate." Dora began, instantly drawing the attention of the whole crowd. Beside her Ember shifted almost shyly, unfamiliar with that sort of attention. "The end of my brother's reign marked the dawning of a new age for our peoples, however the shadow of Plasmius still remained. Today we have finally stepped out of this darkness, and it is thanks to Sir Danny Phantom, whose courage and just actions have freed not only us of Aragon, but the entire Ghost Zone of this dark threat. So it is with great joy that I declare this contest the mark of the beginning of a new era. Let the tournament begin!"

Phantom grinned, stepping out of the ring as the first two contestants faced each other. His eyes caught Ember's up in the stands and they shared a quick smile. Dora was right, with the imposing threat of Plasmius gone, and Vlad now fully human it could truly be the beginning of a new era.

_Line Break_

Chloe frowned, looking at the files that she'd pulled up. "I took a peek into Maddie Van Horn's Child Services files." Chloe commented, looking Clark firmly in the eye. "And I hate to break it to you, but there's more than just one reference to broken glass. I think Maddie's not just accident prone, she's disaster prone."

"Yeah, well that doesn't prove she's a killer." Clark defended. Chloe raised an eyebrow. Sometime's Clark's forgiving nature was a good thing, but it did tend to make him gloss over the facts. Clark quickly caught on, and sent a beseeching look back at her. "Chloe, if my parents hadn't found me out in that field it could've been me in the foster care system, scaring people with my powers." His eyes turned dark, meeting the floor. "Being accused of crimes I didn't commit."

Chloe sighed sadly. She hadn't ever thought of it like that. She knew that Clark had powers, but she'd never really thought about what it would have been like growing up with them. Her heart leapt in sympathy at her friend's admission, but it didn't change the facts that were staring at her from the officiated government files. "Yeah," She replied with saddened fondness. "And one of your greatest powers is your unrelenting faith in people."

She shook her head, eyes searching Clark's for any sign of understanding. "But I think when it comes to Maddie, the jury's in." She said as bluntly as possible. Clark was so good, so forgiving, but he needed to know everything about Maddie. She needed help, that much was certain, but it was possible she needed more help than even Clark could give. "When she was little, it wasn't just a car accident that killed her mother; it was a _freak_ car accident." Chloe explained. "Witnesses saw the front windshield mysteriously shatter right before the crash."

Clark raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "So you think Maddie's responsible for her own mother's death?"

Chloe frowned sympathetically, knowing how hard this would be on Clark. "Well, didn't she say she was having a hard time controlling her powers?"

"I know." Clark admitted. "But I just don't see it." Chloe looked confusedly at him, not understanding.

"How do you mean?" She asked, watching as her dark haired friend sat down heavily on her desk.

"It wasn't in her eyes." Clark explained. "She might not be in control of her powers, but she just didn't have that guilt in her eyes. She's scared; she doesn't understand what's happening to her. But I just don't think she did it."

"Okay." Chloe nodded. She wasn't convinced, but maybe she could give the benefit of the doubt for a bit longer. A bit more digging couldn't hurt, and maybe if Chloe could find out how Maddie had gotten her powers she could understand what exactly was wrong. "I'll keep digging."

"Thanks." Clark replied, smiling lightly. Just as he was about to leave Chloe called him back.

"Clark, wait." Clark turned, his blue eyes looking at her curiously. "I was wondering if you'd heard from Danny?"

"No, he's still out of contact." Clark replied carefully. Chloe nodded again, sighing heavily. She'd been thinking, and most of Clark's explanation about what had happened to Danny didn't make sense. And then there was the problem of where Danny had been when Phantom was in captivity, where Phantom was when Danny was trapped with Vlad Masters. From what she'd understood Masters' relationship with Danny was like Lex Luthor for Clark, but even there the story was lacking.

The annoying thing was that Danny wasn't here to answer her questions, and something gave her the feeling that Clark was dodging her. It felt like she was back in high school, when she was trying to figure out what Clark's secret was and he was somehow able to just explain it all away. But she already knew Danny's secret. Danny was an unusual meteor freak; prolonged exposure to the kryptonite from the meteor had imbued him with more powers than the typical meteor freak received. And he had picked up an affinity with ghosts from living in a haunted town with two Ghost Hunters as parents.

But as she watched Clark leave she couldn't escape the feeling that she was still missing something. And as much as she liked Danny, she really needed to have that proper chat with him. Chloe sighed, shaking her head. Danny would be back in his own time, and in the interim she had a hyalokinetic to research.

_Line Break_

Ember gasped as she watched Phantom weave easily through what had to be a complex series of blows. His current adversary, whose name she couldn't quite remember, had come so close to landing a blow that Ember was worried. But at the same time... Phantom was amazing. She would never have expected him to be able to wield a sword with sick skill. She may be a young ghost, more familiar with the age of guns and switch-blade knives, but she couldn't help but gasp in awe as Phantom deflected and rebuffed the sword of his competitor.

"It appears that your young Phantom is toying with our Sir Toren." Princess Dora commented as Phantom twirled around. It was all so strange. She had been vaguely aware that Phantom had been knighted, it was a story rumoured through the Zone. But being here, surrounded by all the medieval trappings and costume, seeing the determined confidence in Phantom's bright green eyes as he lunged with his sword; it was only to easy to believe that he was a true knight. Looking closer, Ember believed Dora was right. While the other knight blocked and defended, Phantom looked like he was dancing around his competitor, the cloak which by rights should have gotten in his way instead swirling gracefully around him and accentuating every movement as he drew out the fight.

Eventually though the knight's, Toren's, blade was thrown free of the fight, and Phantom's blade came to rest by the knight's neck as the crowd erupted into applause. "I'm surprised." Ember admitted, watching as Phantom gracefully waved before walking off the field to await his next match. "I knew he was good in a fight, I mean, I don't think he's been beaten hands on in years. But I'd never have guessed that he could look so... knightish."

The Princess laughed; her soft cultured voice like tinkling bells. "Yes he does look rather _knightish_. Phantom has a talent for combat, more precisely; he embodies what it means to have something to fight _for_. It may well be a bygone age in the Real World, but had young Danny been born in my time I have no doubt that he would have become a truly mighty warrior. In a way he was born to it, or at least he was born to _us_ to it. I am glad that he chose to fulfil the duties of his knighthood. It proves to me his worth, and that he is walking the path he needs to be on."

Ember blinked, her eyes moving from the current match to Princess Dora, taking in her stunning blue dress and tightly woven blonde braid. In the faux sunlight of her realm her red eyes glittered joyfully, taking in the tournament contestants. But Ember was curious. "What do you mean?" She asked, watching as the Princess turned to face her.

"Young Sir Phantom is just that; he is young." The princess sighed, her eyes darting to the arena as once more Phantom stepped in. "However two years past he set himself on a path. He is not ready to know of it, it is not in the way he was brought up, nor something that he has probably ever thought about. But in singlehandedly defeating Pariah Dark, Phantom earned Dark's crown. I am truly glad that he has proven himself to be of such valour, and in embracing his title as knight I have been able to impart on him some of the knowledge and duties that he must one day adhere to. One day he will no longer be knight or hero, but our King. And I for one believe that he will be ready when that day comes."

"Wait a minute." Ember denied, shaking her head. "You're telling me that the dipstick, pain-in-the-butt to half the ghosts that have visited the Real World in the last decade, is gonna be our _King_!?"

"Naturally." The princess answered dismissively. "That is one of the basic rules of inheritance upon which our society is founded. In proving his dominance over Pariah Dark, Phantom took on his responsibilities. I know I am not the only one preparing him for what he will one day face as our leader, but he is not yet ready." The two of them watched as Phantom blocked and parried, concentrating far more on this match than any of the others before. Ember gazed down at him, observing every move in a new light.

"That is where people such as you come in, my Lady Ember." The Princess continued. "He is not ready for this, and I acknowledge now that he has yet to pass his third year. He is so young and he deserves some time to find himself before he takes up his responsibilities. I, as one of his teachers can only do so much, but you are his friend... you can show him happiness and compassion in a way that I cannot. While I am not your liege in any way, please at least consider this request. Phantom is not yet ready to know of his responsibility, but you can be there as a friend for him. You can remind him of his humanity, keep him kind. He needs _kind_ people around him, and despite your differences I can see that you are good for him as he is good for you."

Ember frowned, pressing her lips tight. But a round of applause burst from the audience and Ember looked forward to watch as Phantom darted forward, twisting his silver and emerald sword around that of the orange clad knight in front of him. The swords clung together loudly before the orange knight's sword was flipped into the air, cutting a neat arc to land in Phantom's outreached hand. Beside her the Princess stood up, clapping unabashedly, but Ember just stared down into the arena.

Phantom was declared winner, beaming proudly as he looked up to meet her eyes. Ember sent him a small smile back, but dropped it when he looked away. It was almost too much to believe, Danny, the same scrawny kid who had stopped her on her world tour all that time ago, Danny, the flailing young ghost who more easily offended the ghosts than befriended them. He was meant, _destined_, to become king? Ember looked down, taking in the silvery hair as it flowed in the spectral wind of the tourney ground, his white cloak billowing around him. Ember smiled, he was still a kid, but if anyone had to be king, maybe it wouldn't be too bad if it was someone like him.

'_Besides,' _Ember mused as she watched him wave cheerfully to the crowd, standing proud and tall as his green eyes flashed in proud joy. _'At least he's a lot easier on the eyes than the last king.'_

_Line Break_

Phantom sighed as he floated through the Zone. He had escorted Ember back to her lair, but she had been reflectively silent the whole time. Seeing that he figured that maybe she needed some time to herself. These last days had to have been taxing on her and she deserved a break. His life, even before he'd made a conscious choice, had been intense these last few years. Not that he was ungrateful for all that Ember had done, and he didn't think he could ever let go of her friendship now that he had it. But he knew that she would need some time to think on her own, to spend time with her full ghost friends.

However he also knew that he wasn't quite ready to leave the Zone yet. He may have healed enough to compete in Dora's tournament, but it was only due to the ectoplasm rich environment that that was so. That's how he came to find himself drifting aimlessly through the cool green recesses of the Zone, just observing the floating purple doors as he passed by. It was beautiful in a way that he couldn't explain. There was no doubt that it was creepy, but over time he'd been coming to think of the Zone as home nearly as much as the Real World was.

He paused in midflight; it had been what, four, five days since he'd been in the Real World? Time in the Zone was always a bit... fuzzy. It probably had something to do with the fact that it was something of an infinitely endless environment and pretty much everyone who lived in it was immortal in some form. And that wasn't a thought he was quite ready for. The last two weeks had been packed with existential questions, answers, and epiphanies, but he didn't really want to delve into his own inner mortality debate today. Instead he altered his direction slightly, deciding that it would probably be wise to go and talk to Clockwork for a while. He wasn't going to question the necessity of what had happened, but spending a bit of time with the Ghostly Guardian of Time was usually informative.

And with all the decisions he'd come to recently he felt like talking to Clockwork could at least confirm that he's made some of the right choices. He did need to confirm that Plasmius was no longer a threat and that he'd done the right thing by him. And Phantom did also need advice; he knew that he had essentially blown off an important discussion with both Clark and Chloe, and that had partially resulted in Clark playing into Vlad's plans. However, now he was faced with the possible necessity of telling Chloe his secret, and he wanted some indication as to whether his hesitance was valid or if it was just driven by lingering fear. He still didn't exactly want her to know, but she was circling closer to the truth and had proven herself to be trustworthy with Clark's secret. Perhaps Clockwork could give him some council about whether to reveal the whole truth to Chloe.

Plus visiting Clockwork came with the benefit of being able to check in on the real world without actually being there.

_Line Break_

Lois was nervous. She'd never really been into the whole sister thing, and Lucy had never been interested either. But hanging around with a twelve year old who had the unstable ability to shatter glad, added into the fact that she was probably guilty of manslaughter, and, yeah, Lois felt that she was justified in feeling a little anxious.

"Whoever said you had to be indoors to have fun?" Lois commented, swinging her picnic basket as she led Maddie out towards one of the fields. "The best times I've ever had were way out in the boonies, as far away from breakables as possible." Nervously she looked over her shoulder, the girl was maybe twenty feet behind her, and clearly wanted to be with Lois nearly as much as Lois wanted to be around her.

"Where's Shelby?" Maddie whined, and Lois was just glad that they were away from well, everything. Maddie was dangerous, she may not mean it, maybe, but that didn't change the fact that she was unstable.

"Oh, I have no idea." Lois answered. "I'm allergic to him, and let's just say he's not too fond of me." Lois came to the crest of a hill and decided this was far away from the house. It was a sunny day, and the breeze was blowing lightly. Focusing solely on setting up she continued rambling, hoping to find something that would at least keep the little rug-rat in a happy mood. "Here, you know what, we're gonna have a good old time. We can, uh, pick flowers, or catch bugs. Whatever floats your boat. I even packed that little picnic for us. Granted, I'm not the greatest chef in the world, but how can you screw up PB&J?"

Lois paused, hearing a far off shout of "Shelby!" She turned around and inwardly groaned, watching as the girl's denim jacketed form disappeared back through the fence and towards the barn. Annoyed, she chased after her, hoping to catch up to the little brat before she caused too much trouble. Unfortunately, by the time she'd caught up Maddie was already well inside the barn.

"You can play with the pooch when Clark gets back." Lois stated firmly, laying a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Now turn around and we can..." Lois paused, realising that the silence of the barn had been interrupted by an eerie tremor. Lois backed off, realising how precarious her situation was. She'd never realised just how much glass was all around her until suddenly it became a deadly potential weapon. "Okay." Lois said, trying to calm the girl down. "Now why don't we both just ease on out of here before one of us gets hurt? Okay?"

"What do you mean 'gets hurt'?" Lois jerked at the sound of an unfamiliar man in the barn.

"Who are you?" She demanded, turning to face him. He was dressed in a black business suit, greying brown hair neatly cut and his hands were clutched around a clipboard.

"Frank Colbert, Child Services." He introduced, frowning disapprovingly at Lois. "What's going on here?"

Lois looked between Maddie and the man. "Okay, look." She began, unsure of how to convey exactly how much danger both of them were in. "I know this sounds crazy, but I'm trying to keep her as far away from glass as possible."

The man raised his eyebrow before turning his attention to Maddie, completely bypassing Lois. "Maddie, why don't you get in the car?" He asked, but Maddie vehemently shook her head and Lois could almost feel the tense potential in the air as those glass bottles threatened to shake again.

"No, no. Not the car." Lois blustered. She knew she hadn't explained it right, but Maddie really couldn't be anywhere near glass. And in a car, she'd be surrounded by it. "You don't understand. I am telling you, this girl, she can shatter glass just by looking at it."

Frank once more turned his attention to her, but his voice was cold and condescending. "Thank you for your concern. Maddie, I'm gonna take you back to the shelter where you can be _properly_ taken care of." Lois bristled, irked that the man was judging her like this. But he needed to see the truth. Lois couldn't let herself be if that man got hurt because he wasn't warned. And Lois had no doubt Maddie was dangerous. She may not have intended it, but Lois was now sure that Naomi's blood was on her hands. The girl was a killer, and she wasn't about to let Maddie get away with her runaway emotions when someone could get hurt.

Lois could do nothing but watch as Maddie went up to the car, led by the dark-suited man. The girl sent her a brief pleading look as the man closed the door behind her. Lois tried to ignore the guilty squirming in her stomach, focusing instead on trying to ensure Frank's safety. "Trust me." She beseeched, ignoring his disapproving gaze. "For your own safety, the girl can't be near glass."

"I heard you the first time." He replied emotionlessly. "Will you get her belongings, please?" Lois rolled her eyes, turning away in frustration. Unfortunately there was little she could do. The man was from Child Services, and if he decided that Maddie couldn't stay then Lois had to let her go. Irritated, she started making her way over to the house, mentally preparing her next rant. But she paused, there was a soft rattle in the air, gradually building.

Lois turned, eyes widening as she realised exactly what the rattling was coming from. "Oh God." She murmured, her mind screaming. "Maddie get out of the car!" She screeched, but there was no time, and before Lois could follow what was happening the glass exploded, Maddie only just ducking between the seats for safety. Lois lost her balance, trying to turn away from the glittering shards emanating out from the car. Lois flinched; there was something wrong with her shoulder but she didn't know what.

Dazedly Lois blinked, looking up from the ground. She heard the soft tinkling as shards of glass fell down off her. She looked up dizzily, noting the appearance of another man. He wore a dark leather jacket, and his blonde hair framed his face in an almost manic way. He shoved Maddie back inside the car, and Lois could only watch as he pulled out of the driveway, speeding off into the distance. The pain was mounting, and Lois' fingers searched her shoulder trying to find the source of the pain.

As her fingers touched two deeply embedded glass shards she felt the final dizzying edges of unconscious swoop in to take her. Fingers laced in blood and heart heavy with guilt she succumbed to the dark temptation of unconsciousness.

_Line Break_

Phantom frowned, watching the scene as it played out. It had been hard enough to just stand by and watch when that man, Tyler McKnight had come in and abducted Maddie. He knew he couldn't interfere. Clockwork had told him that this was Clark's lesson, and one he needed to learn on his own. His arrival at Clockworks had been anticipated, and his guardian had already been observing his viewing screens when Phantom had arrived. But it didn't make it any easier to watch, not when he knew that the man from Child Services had been killed and Lois would bleed out if she were left alone for too long.

"Why can't I help them?" Phantom begged, turning to face Clockwork. "They don't deserve this, and Tyler will hurt Maddie if they're left together too long."

"I am sorry, young Phantom." Clockwork replied, a sad frown on his elderly face. "But in this case such sacrifices need to be made."

"Why?" Phantom moaned. "If I was there..."

"If you were there you would have stopped Tyler by yourself." Clockwork interrupted. "Maddie would not have been abducted and the paths of three people would be drastically altered for your interference." Clockwork turned away from the screen, his elderly form morphing into a young adult. His eyes arched in sympathy as he stared across at Phantom.

"In your time, my charge, you will find many places where the simplest course seems to be for you to interfere." Clockwork advised "However we are not gods. It is not our place to impede and alter the lives of any mortal to one of our own design. You could have saved one man's life, yes. However in doing so you would have fated Maddie to a life of fear, your cousin would not find redemption in himself, and the one who is still unknown to Maddie would be robbed of the chance to meet her last blood-tie."

"But..." Phantom murmured.

"Danny, this is the charge of my position." Clockwork explained sadly. "There are many times where I wish to interfere, to change lives for what seems to be the better. But you know that this cannot be so. Even a small change can upset the course of time. This is one of the lessons you must remember."

Phantom frowned. He'd never really thought about it before. He knew about Clockwork's policy of not interfering but he'd never really thought of why. But in a way it made sense. Clockwork was powerful. And if he chose to interfere in every unfavourable path then it was possible that many of the good things in life wouldn't happen. Or they wouldn't be as meaningful. Clockwork had directly interfered in his life, but that was the exception to the rule. And in doing so he'd been taught a valuable lesson; one which he was being subtly reminded of now. Even the smallest change, like cheating on a test, could dramatically change the way things played out.

If there was a lesson that Clark needed to learn in this, then Clockwork wouldn't let Phantom leave until it had been learned. Sighing, he turned his attention back to the rippling screen. He watched as Tyler pulled up the car at an out of the way gas-station. Phantom knew exactly where it was, and he was immediately awed by Clockwork's willpower if he could watch this, _know _what was happening, and still hold back from meddling in pursuit of the greater good. Phantom's eyes scanned the screen; he wanted to know what Clark's lesson was, and how leaving Maddie in the hands of someone who was clearly psychotic would help him learn it.

_Maddie immediately jumped out of the car, not sparing a glance for the dark clothed man as she ran towards a payphone. Edgily she shoved a few coins in, her movements betraying her anxiousness as she picked up the handset. "Come on Clark, please pick up." She pleaded, becoming desperate as she paced in front of the phone. "Pick up, Clark, please. Come on, Clark. Clark, please, where are...?"_

_Suddenly the phone was grappled away from her, hastily shoved back onto the handset. "What are you doing, princess?" Tyler asked, pulling the terrified girl away from the handset. "Why are you running away from me?" Maddie squirmed in a desperate attempt to get away from the man. "Look," Tyler pleaded, holding his hand out in a sick mimicry of calmingly. "Look, I'm your dad. I'm your dad."_

_Maddie visibly flinched, finally pulling free of his grasp. "What!?" The terrified girl exclaimed, searching the man's face in desperate hope of deception._

"_With all those years locked up," Tyler explained, crouched down to meet her at eye level."You're the only thing that kept me going. I would do anything for you."_

"_You killed that man." Maddie accused, her eyes widening in horror. She ignored his objections, stepping back as she realised the full extent of what he'd done, of what she'd been blamed for. "You killed Naomi! You killed my real mom, didn't you?" She shook her head in muted disbelief. "You did." Her eyes filled with hurt and anger, blue eyes pooling with unsuppressed horror and betrayal._

"_Your mother didn't want me near you." Tyler explained in an attempt to placate her. "She thought I was some monster. I swear, all I wanted was for us to be together." The man paused, an unfamiliar softness in his eyes. "You like butterflies don't you?" He asked, pulling out a beautiful purple crystal butterfly. The cut glass glittered in the sunlight, dazzling in its simple beauty. "I made this for you." Tyler explained, holding the butterfly out appeasingly. _

_Maddie scowled at the thing, and with an angered glance broke it in half, the crystal wings severed. "It's okay." Tyler soothed. "I know this is a big change. All I wanna do is put our family back together." His hands closed around the butterfly, and when he pulled the top one away the butterfly was whole again. _

"_You belong to me." Tyler claimed, tugging his hand before looking edgily around. All too easily he dragged his daughter along, shoving her into a second car before pulling away. "Come on," he said, looking over at her as she struggled in her seat. "I've got a surprise for you."_

The screen swirled into misty blankness and Phantom scowled. While he may accept that he wasn't allowed to interfere, he didn't like the idea of leaving the innocent young girl in this man's hands. So much of what he'd said, and how he acted, reminded Phantom of Vlad. It rubbed against him in completely the wrong way, but for now there was little he could do but watch. "What's the _'surprise'_?" Phantom asked, turning to face his mentor.

"Tyler McKnight has been in the mental institution, Belle Reve, for the past twelve years." Clockwork explained evenly, shifting into his youngest form disconcertingly. "At the time of the first meteor shower he was a professional glassworker, in fact he was working on a stained glass project when it happened. Maddie has inherited her powers from her birth father, not from exposure to kryptonite. However, Tyler used his powers inappropriately and robbed a jewellery store. He was able to conceal the seven diamonds he stole in one of his designs before he was apprehended."

Clockwork turned away, moving out of the viewing room and through the hallway. Phantom followed behind, listening keenly to his guardian's explanations. "At the moment he is taking Maddie to the Talon, where the glass design has been installed. Here Maddie will face one of her first true moral dilemmas, and she will need to choose between the family that she has so desperately wanted and what is right. On this subject, I believe your visit was not merely to appropriate my viewing screens?"

Phantom nodded, realising that Clockwork had led him into the library where many of his own private lessons were taught. "I need to know, do you think I did the right thing with Plasmius?" Phantom asked, looking his guardian in the eye.

"You know that the timelines..." Clockwork began, but Phantom quickly cut him off.

"I'm not asking you as Clockwork, Guardian of Time. I'm asking you as Clockwork, _my_ guardian. One of the few ghosts I know that I can count on both as a friend and as council. I know there will be consequences, but do you think that I did the right thing in giving Vlad a second chance like this?"

Phantom looked up, studying his guardian's face. Clockwork was always so wise, and Phantom had come to look to him as something of a grandfatherly figure. He knew he couldn't ask about how it would affect the timeline, that wasn't what he wanted to know. What he needed most was to know that he'd done the right thing by someone objective to the circumstances. Clark, Ember and even Dora were all involved in some way, and none of them would have objected if he'd been too harsh in his judgement. But Clockwork's advice was always sound.

It was a long time before Clockwork spoke, but when he did Phantom could see the warm pride in his eyes. "Yes, Danny. I believe you did make the best possible choice."

_Line Break_

Clark frowned, running through the streets of Metropolis, mulling over all the news he'd been given. Lois had been taken to Smallville Medical Centre, the glass removed and her shoulder stitched up. But she was going to need to wear a shoulder brace for at least a week, and the four deep incisions from the glass were going to take longer to heal. Clark felt terrible for having left Lois like that. He couldn't help but feel that if he'd been there it wouldn't have happened. Maddie would still be safe and Lois wouldn't have gotten hurt. What was worse was that she was blaming herself for what had happened to Maddie when even Clark was at a loss for how to help the young blonde now.

After that Clark had headed into Metropolis, hoping to find out if Chloe had pulled up any more leads. And she had. It sounded like Maddie's abductor was a man called Tyler McKnight; a man who was conceivable Maddie's father. He's walked out of Belle Reve a model patient, but his actions after betrayed him. Kidnapping a twelve year old girl, even if the child was his, condemned him in Clark's eyes. Adding to the fact that he was still guilty for stealing seven five carat diamonds, Clark was worried. More than that, he was 'hyalokinetic' too, according to Chloe. So Maddie's meteor powers were second generation; which only served to further condemn Tyler for abusing his daughter like this.

The only lead they had was that Chloe had managed to find out that before his arrest, Tyler had been living with his mom in Smallville. With any luck, talking to Maddie's grandmother could give him a lead on how to find Maddie. So Clark found himself speeding through the darkening streets between Metropolis and Smallville, hoping to find the right house before Tyson took off completely with Maddie. Coming to a halt he knocked on the door, waiting a minute as a kind old lady came to open it. He smiled at her and gave a brief introduction, keen not to waste any time. She introduced herself as Maria, and Clark couldn't help but see Maddie's kindness in her eyes. At hearing that Clark was looking for Tyler she let him in, guiding him through a narrow hallway and towards the basement.

"I can't believe they let my son out." The woman commented, leading Clark down into Tyler's old glass-stain workshop. "Why didn't he come and see me?"

"Probably went straight to see his daughter." Clark replied, taking his first glance at the artistic panels that still hung from the roof.

"Daughter?" Maria questioned, looking strangely at him. "Tyler doesn't have a daughter."

"Her name is Maddie and she's twelve years old." Clark said quickly, offering her a small smile.

"I have a granddaughter?" Maria pressed, clutching her chest in disbelief.

Clark nodded, but he was in a hurry. "Yes, ma'am, and it's very important that we find her. She could be in danger." Clark kept looking. He wasn't sure of what he was looking for, but he'd take any clue about where Tyler may have taken Maddie at this point. And looking about his old home had seemed like a good start. His eyes caught on a particular design. It was just a paper outline, still on the light board. But he recognised the image.

"I've seen this before, at the Talon." Clark commented, switching the light board on. It was something that Lana had pointed out, years ago. The blonde knight's eyes closed in bliss as the fair blonde maid looked up to him lovingly. The two of them locked in an 'eternal sunset', loving each other forever. It had never fitted in with the Egyptian theme, being a medieval type of design. But Lana hadn't been able to take it out while she was manager, and it had stayed there ever since.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Maria asked, her voice soft as she brushed her fingers against the design. "Tyler made it right before he was arrested." She paused briefly, sighing heavily. "I don't have the finished piece. I had to sell it after my husband passed away."

Clark creased his eyebrow, his fingers hovering suspiciously over the seven circular dots on the woman's bodice. "Those seven diamonds he stole," Clark asked. "Did they ever find them?" Unsurprisingly Maria answered in the negative, but Clark had an idea of where to look now. It wasn't long before he was speeding his way through Smallville, hoping to get to the Talon in time.

_Line Break_

Maddie was scared. With all that had happened today she just wanted to run away. She wanted to be back at the farm. Back with Clark, where she felt safe. But instead this man, her _father_ had practically kidnapped her and had broken into the Talon. She was trying to be brave, but it was hard when she was scared what the man might do to her. He dragged her over towards a stained glass window. It was pretty, but with everything else going on it didn't seem important.

"I made this," The man explained, looking at the window with twisted fascination. "Right before they threw me into Belle Reve. But I always knew that I'd get out. We'd be together." He rubbed his palms together, almost eagerly. And Maddie couldn't help but stare as he held his palms out. "Watch this." He commanded, and then there was a soft snap, followed by another and another and suddenly there were seven glass shards, no, diamonds, sparkling in her father's hands. The man laughed, turning back to face her wearing a smile that made her squirm. "I hid these for you, Maddie. For us. These are the start of our new life." He held his hand out, offering them to her like he had with the butterfly. "Take them." But Maddie held back, and he waved his hand more desperately. "Go on, take them."

"No." Maddie replied, backing away. This was wrong. They shouldn't be here. The man said he was her dad, but he was scary. And his smile was far creepier than Clark's was. And everything about this was wrong. They had broken in, the diamonds weren't his. And she didn't believe he'd have hidden them if they weren't stolen in the first place. "You stole them." Maddie accused, stepping further back from the man.

"No I didn't." He defended, but Maddie didn't want to hear it.

"You stole them." She repeated. She may have been in more foster homes than she could count, but she knew right from wrong. And whatever this man claimed stealing was wrong.

"Please, take them." He begged, frowning. And Maddie was scared. But then there was a strange whooshing, like back in the barn when Clark had made the hay appear. And suddenly Clark was there.

"Let her go!" Clark demanded, and Maddie took the chance to pull away from the dark man. She ran behind a table, hiding herself from her father and the man who had been so kind to her. Suddenly there was a rumbling, and Maddie recognised that feeling in the air, the feeling that glass was about to shatter. But this time it wasn't her, it was the man, her father. The man who was in such control of his powers that he could create and destroy as he pleased, and Maddie knew it. And she was terrified that Clark was gonna be killed, like Naomi had been for getting in the way.

Maddie ducked her head, clasping her hands over her ears in a desperate attempt to block out the world. But it didn't help, and she still heard the rumbling tremor of the glass. But then there was a loud crash and a bright flash. And Maddie felt tears prickling in her eyes because she knew Clark was hurt. How could he not be? Her father was a monster and Clark got in the way.

"Maddie?" She heard, but she didn't dare to believe. That had sounded like Clark. It had sounded like Clark was okay. "It's okay." Clark called comfortingly and she smiled. She couldn't help herself.

"Clark!" Maddie whispered gladly, turning around and pulling him into a tight hug. She tucked herself into the crook of herself, squeezing her arms tightly around his warm, comforting back. She smiled as he closed his arms around her. "It's okay." He promised comfortingly. "It's okay. He'll never hurt anyone again." And Maddie felt safe, Clark's promises making her feel like nothing would ever hurt her again. For the first time in her life she felt wanted, and that was something that she'd never dared to hope for.

Happy tears pricked in her eyes as Maddie nestled into Clark's comforting shoulder. The warm man's words continuing to comfort her with the promise of safety.

_Line Break_

Clark came down the stairs, smiling. Today promised to be a great day, Maddie was safe, and was going to meet her grandmother tomorrow morning. Danny was due home today, it having been a week since he went into the Zone. And Clark was looking forward to introducing his cousin to Maddie. The two had a lot in common, and Clark got the feeling that Danny might be able to really encourage Maddie into embracing her powers. Danny was somehow able to do that, even if he didn't demonstrate his own powers.

So Clark was in a good mood as he came downstairs for breakfast. But he became confused when he heard a soft squeaking coming from the kitchen. "Maddie?" he asked, rounding a corner and seeing the young girl smiling as she cleaned the kitchen window. "What are you doing?"

"Clark," Maddie said, smiling as she turned to face him. And that small but confident smile made his heart feel so warm. "You saved my life. I just wanted to help out."

"Maddie?" Clark's mom called, coming into the kitchen. "Sweetie, you don't need to do that."

Maddie smiled at the both of them before saying "Don't worry. I'm used to cleaning up after myself." Clark shook his head, taking the rag off her and laying it aside.

"Well in this house, you're a guest." Clark insisted. "And guests always get a double helping of Mom's banana pancakes." Maddie smiled at him, her blue eyes sparkling mirthfully in the sunlight as she came over to the kitchen counter.

From just beside him he could hear his mom's proud whisper. "The way you are with her, your dad would be so proud." His mom walked off, shaking her head happily as she went to fetch the pancakes. Clark sent a fond smile after his mom before joining Maddie at the counter himself.

"Clark, did you ever meet your real dad?" Maddie asked with genuine curiosity.

"Sort of." Clark replied, frowning.

Maddie must have picked up on it because her next question was "Is he bad like mine?"

Clark sighed, meeting her in the eyes. "Maybe worse." Clark answered, and she looked sadly away. Clark took her petite hands in his offering her a comforting smile. "But just because he gave me life doesn't mean I'm anything like him. See, the thing is, Maddie, anyone can be a father. But it takes someone very special to be a dad." Clark paused, a warm smile on his face. He had loved his dad, and always would. Even though he was gone, Jonathan Kent still touched his life every day. "I wish you could've met the man who raised me. He was my real dad. And he would have liked you a lot."

"Clark, could I stay here with you?" Maddie asked, her blue watery eyes pleading.

"Maddie, you have a grandmother." Clark answered. "She's very excited for you to come live with her."

Maddie frowned, a hint of alarm crossing into her childish face." I don't know her," She beseeched. "I know you."

"Well, Maddie," Clark comforted, trying to calm her down. He didn't want her to panic; he wanted the girl to have a nice, fun day with them before she met her grandmother the next day. "It's just you're gonna have to give her time, to get to know her." Maddie nodded sullenly, but the orange juice jug on the table started trembling menacingly. "Maddie?" Clark interrupted himself, finally noticing the trembling of the glass jug. "Maddie, listen. Maddie, I would never let you go with anyone who's not gonna accept you for who you really are. Okay?" he paused, as she sniffled and finally met his eyes. "I promise. You're gonna be okay. I'll make sure of it. Okay." He smiled encouragingly, and was enthused when she had the courage to nod and smile back.

The two of them headed back upstairs, Clark raiding Danny's art supplies before they both headed across into his room. Maddie contented herself with drawing at Clark's desk, although he was happy to note that she was picking up a good number of coloured pencils as she worked. "Clark?" Maddie asked after a while, pausing in her drawing. "Where is Danny? It's just, you and Martha, you both speak about him, and..."

"And it seems kinda weird he's not here?" Clark finished. Maddie nodded, coming to sit at the edge of his bed. "He's still kinda new in Amity Park." Clark explained. "See, earlier this year he had to move in with us. He's my mom's nephew, and he lost a lot in a short amount of time."

"He's from Amity Park?" Maddie asked. "Is that why he drew all those ghosts?"

"Sort of." Clark answered.

"That's so cool. Do you think he knows Phantom?" Maddie pressed with a curious smile on her face. And Clark didn't have the heart to try and steer the conversation away from the subject.

"You know what? He's actually helped him." Clark answered conspirationally. "See, Danny's parents were some of Amity Park's best ghost hunters." Maddie gasped appropriately, eliciting a smile from Clark. "But Danny actually liked the ghosts. Instead of being afraid of them, he chose to make friends."

"Danny was friends with Phantom?" Maddie pressed.

"Something like that." Clark replied, smiling at the younger girl. She was so happy now, she'd opened herself up and managed to worm her way into his heart. And he wouldn't change that for the world. Looking across at the eager young girl he continued. "And when the ghosts came here, Danny was the person who was able to get Phantom to come and help us."

"That's so cool. When's he getting back?" Maddie asked.

"I'm not sure." Clark replied with a slight frown. He had hoped that Danny would be back by now, but since Danny was currently in another dimension he couldn't exactly ask to find out how far away he was. "He was gonna spend the last week of the holidays with some of his old friends, he's probably running late."

Maddie nodded once. "He's lucky." She commented. "He's got Martha, and he's got you."

"Maddie, you have me." Clark replied, brushing a stray hair out of her eyes. "No matter what. You're stuck with me, like a bad smell." Maddie smiled and laughed, Clark joining is soon after with her infectious laughter. Soon the tow of them stopped, but still smiled at each other. And Clark decided that it might be an idea to play a couple of board games. Unfortunately that mainly consisted of checkers since that was the only game he could find. And by the time it was dark Clark realised that Shelby had eaten a couple of cards from the deck in his room.

"Hey mom," Clark called, walking down into the kitchen. "We need another pack of cards." But as he stepped on the bottom landing his eyes widened. The glass panel on the kitchen door had been broken, looking as though a brick had been thrown through. But with no bricks about, and Maddie upstairs... "Maddie, stay here." Clark ordered, feeling the presence of the young girl behind him. He had a terrible suspicion that Tyler was back.

Clark raced out into the barn, hoping that he was wrong. "Mom?" He called, desperate for any sign that it was just chance that the window had broken.

"Clark!" His mom gasped just as Clark rounded a corner. His mom was pressed hard against a wooden support beam, a large glass shard glittering menacingly in the low light of the barn.

"You move a muscle, your mom gets her throat slashed." Tyler commented, cricking his neck as he stepped out of the shadows. His dark eyes were even more menacing now than they had been the previous night. "Bring me my daughter." He demanded, not even waiting a moment before he barked the order again. "Bring me my daughter! Now!"

Clark scowled. He had never cowed to intimidation before and he wasn't about to start. He sent a fiery heat blast at the shard, knocking it safely out of the way. His mom dropped to the floor, gasping for breath before fleeing to the safety of the farmhouse. Clark warily eyed Tyler, who became clearly incensed at this turn of events. Tyler cracked his neck, and suddenly every single jar or bottle or light bulb was floating eerily around him. He leered, his neck snapping upright in perfect sync with the cacophonous sound of hundreds of glass items shattering.

Clark stepped forward, confidently ignoring the torrent of glass as it surged towards him like a tidal wave. But something was wrong. He should have felt the glass touching his skin, even if it couldn't pierce the top layer. Clark froze when he realised exactly what was happening. Maddie stepped out of the shadows, one arm raised in the air as the glass gathered together in glassy icicles. Maddie turned the attack back on her father, four glittering blades of glass floating menacingly around the blonde man's head, occasionally digging and pressing against the thin layer of skin at his neck.

"Don't worry Clark. I'm not gonna let him hurt any more people." Maddie commanded, a dark look in her eye as her arm stayed motionless in the air.

"Maddie, no!" Clark beseeched. This wasn't who Maddie wanted to be. It was like Danny and Vlad, they had the same powers but they weren't the same.

"Princess," Tyler gulped, eyeing the glass warily. He was clearly afraid, realising that his daughter had taken control of his element. "What are you doing to me? Don't..." But he was forced to stop as another dagger-like icicle pressed against his neck.

"Maddie," Clark called, trying to stop her from destroying herself. It would crush her to think, after all this, that she was nothing more than a murdering monster. She deserved better than that, and Clark wasn't about to let her do that to herself. "If you kill him, you'll be just like him. You don't have to turn into your father."

"Maybe I don't have a choice." Maddie commented, her expressive blue eyes darkening with a shade of cruelty that stabbed at Clark's heart.

"Maddie," Clark pressed. "Just because you're his child does not mean that you're destined to follow in his footsteps."

"But I don't want him to hurt any more people." Maddie insisted, taking a step towards her father. In the air the glass trembled, awaiting her command to kill.

"I won't." Tyler gasped. "I promise. I made a mistake, Maddie."

"Maddie, your father has already destroyed his life. Don't destroy yours." Clark persevered, hoping he could just get through to her.

The glass dug further into Tyler's neck, drawing a thin line of blood that ran down the blonde man's neck. "Maddie, I promise, I won't..."

Clark continued over the top of Tyler's begging promises. Anything Tyler said now could only anger her, but Maddie was so much better than that. "You have too much to offer this world." Clark said, and he saw the precise moment that he got through to her. Her whole body sagged, her arm dropping to her side. The glass icicles collapsed, falling to the ground in a shower of glassy dust.

"I'm sorry Clark." Maddie murmured, tears in her eyes as she turned to face him.

Clark smiled proudly as he knelt down. He pulled Maddie into a tight hug. "It's okay." He whispered. "It's over now." And the two of them stood hugging, ignoring the other man in the room. He didn't matter now. All that mattered to Clark was this brave little girl. She had overcome her own fear, and he was so very proud of her. He squeezed tighter, feeling her squeeze back. "It's okay."

Eventually Maddie pulled back, nodding at Clark. Carefully avoiding the pool of glass he led the little girl back into the house. She settled down with a cup of hot chocolate in front of the fire and Clark watched her as he heard the sheriff come and go. It was his mom who gave the statement, and this time Tyler was going to be apprehended for good. Maddie smiled at him again, and Clark couldn't conceal his own grin as the young girl emitted a tired yawn. He picked her up, slinging an arm around his shoulder as he carried her up the stairs for bed.

Clark pulled the blankets up around her, tucking her in. He smiled at the innocent softness her face relaxed into in sleep. Looking over at the young girl fondly he switched out the light, whispering a quiet "goodnight" to her as he shut the door. Still smiling he made his way into his own room, looking around as he settled into bed himself. It had been a long couple of days, but seeing Maddie like that made it all worthwhile.

And in a way he was proud of himself. After what had happened with Danny he had sincerely doubted in his own sense of judgement. But with Maddie it was so different. She was a little girl who had been pushed around by the world, but Clark felt he'd been able to bring her out of herself. She seemed more confident, and her smiles were so light and genuine that every single one made Clark grin inside. And she was speaking; her delightful voice, which she had been afraid to use for nine years, was being embraced. And Clark was glad to have been some small part in that. To know that she had come into herself with him right there beside her.

Clark smiled as he switched his own light off. Maybe Clark himself had needed to meet Maddie. She had given him back some of his confidence, helped him feel like he wasn't the worst thing that could possibly be in people's lives. It was hard to be unique in this world, whether it was because of special powers or not. And helping Maddie prove herself had reminded Clark of why he tried to good in the first place. It was worth it, no matter what the personal cost, to help people; even if it was for something as small as a smile. The fact that Maddie was smiling at all was delight enough, and Clark drifted off to sleep with a completely guiltless conscience for the first time in over a week.

When the sun rose the next day he found he was the last to rise. Maddie and his mom were already downstairs eating breakfast, Maddie adding a thick layer of syrup to her pancakes. Clark beamed at her as he took the seat beside the young girl, and his mom shook her head affectionately at the sight of the two of them beside each other. Maddie had dressed herself in a pink coat, the hot pink jacket looking both artistic and warm all at the same time. Her golden hair was pinned back with two little butterfly clips, framing her soft little face beautifully.

He was slightly saddened when he heard a car pull up, and Maddie looked up at him with watery blue eyes. His mom went out to greet Maria, and Clark helped Maddie pack up the last of her things. Heading out the door he laid a hand gently on her back. "Go ahead Maddie." He encouraged when she seemed to hold back. "There's nothing to be scared about."

Maddie turned around just as the door closed behind them. "Yes there is." She whispered sadly. "You won't be with me. I'll have no one to talk to."

"That's not true." Clark replied, shaking his head as he knelt down beside the young girl to meet her in the eyes. "Maddie, your grandmother can't wait to talk to you. She wants to hear every word you have to say." Both of them looked out across the porch to the driveway where his mom and Maria were chatting amicably.

"What about my powers?" Maddie beseeched. "What if I can't control them?"

Clark smiled, laying a hand encouragingly on her shoulder. "But you can, Maddie. I've seen you. Just like you did in the barn, remember?" he paused, frowning for a moment before meeting her eyes with a soft smile. "But I'll tell you what. If you ever feel like you're gonna lose control, all you have to do is pick up the phone. You call me, I'll be right there to talk you through it, okay?" he promised, and it was one that he'd all too happily keep.

"I already miss you, Clark." Maddie whispered, her voice wavering as she smiled and gave him a tight hug.

Clark smiled gently back, meeting the girl in the eyes. "I miss you too. Your grandmother's waiting for you. She's gonna take good care of you." He encouraged, but was still slightly saddened as Maddie's hand pulled away from his. She turned away, jumping down two of the stairs before she turned back around.

"I almost forgot." Maddie said, pulling a piece of paper out of her sketchbook. Clark curiously unfolded it, blinking as he realised what he was seeing. It was his silly little stick figure, a goofy gesture to try and get Maddie to open up. But she'd added to it. It was the farm; the red barn sitting beneath a sunshiny rainbow. And his mom was there, holding a plate of muffins in front of a field of sunflowers, Shelby running by her legs. But what really touched his heart was the little blonde haired girl, smiling and holding hands with his little stick figure self. Clark couldn't help his delighted smile, and he watched as Maddie jumped down the stairs before running over to meet her grandmother.

Clark stood on; watching proudly as Maddie gracefully accepted a hug and a welcoming present from the elderly lady.

"You did a good job, Clark." Danny commented, the younger boy coming to stand beside him with a smile on his face. Somehow Clark wasn't surprised at his sudden appearance or the fact that he seemed to know what was going on with Maddie. "You should be proud."

Clark smiled back at him, his attention still on the blossoming relationship between Maddie and her Grandmother. Clark sent an inquiring look at his cousin, but Danny shook his head. "For now I'm invisible to anyone but you. Today is your day, Clark. And you need to go see Maddie off."

Clark nodded, heading down the porch steps just as Maddie hopped into the car. He came to stand by his mom, the two of them side by side on the driveway as the car pulled away. But Clark didn't miss the last smile that Maddie sent him, or the happy wave goodbye that she mouthed through the car glass as it drove down the driveway. His mom and he stood there smiling in the sunlight for a minute, content in their own company as Shelby raced around their feet.

And as they turned to head into the house he could have sworn he saw a proud smile in Danny's young face. So Clark couldn't help but feel warm inside. He had met a wonderful little girl, and his cousin was finally home. With a warm smile on his lips, Clark closed the front door behind him; ready to face anything once more.

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry for the late update. I just couldn't get this one to come together. But it is long, so I hope that goes towards making up for it. Plus, it's still Saturday here... Just... :

Okay, well hopefully that was a bit lighter than the last three. I'll admit that this is very different to how I imagined the episode when I originally conceived the series, but this is where the boys were up to.

As for Danny/Ember, I wanted to, I was so close to it, but Danny isn't ready for that yet. Plus he's still clueless. And he views both Chloe and Ember in similar ways. Plus, it would be unsporting if I just gave it to her while Ember has the monopoly. No?

To fool;- sorry if the last chapter was confuzzling. What happened was that Danny released a whole onslaught of pure electrical energy which immediately integrated into the electrical wiring of the house. In doing so he created a power surge that blew all the fuses in the house, but it didn't actually hit Vlad because the electricity had elsewhere to go. Danny was left in his ghost form, but as soon as he came to, Vlad slammed on the neutralising cuffs, thus forcing Danny back to human against his body's demands. I hope that makes it clearer.

Anyway, thanks to all for reading and I sincerely hope you enjoyed this paltry offering. I won't often have Danny and Clark on separate plotlines, but in this case it was necessary. Danny needed to recover and Clark needed his confidence back. Nothing like a twelve year old girl with watery doe-eyes to do that for Clark. :)

Fare thee well,

Bluerose


	29. Honesty

Chapter 28

Honesty

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Clark opened the door to Lois' apartment at the Talon, stepping aside so that Lois could head in herself. She'd grudgingly been forced to stay in the hospital the night prior, and had called to see if Clark could give her a lift back home. Clark was still in a good mood from that morning, what with seeing Maddie safely to a new home and Danny's safe return. The boy in question was currently with Clark's mom, probably talking about what he'd been up to during his week in the Zone.

"Now remember," Clark jocularly scolded, turning his attention back towards Lois as he guided her over towards the sofa. "The doctors told you to take it easy, so you might have to lay off the arm wrestling."

"My arm doesn't even hurt anymore." Lois replied. "What does hurt is knowing how badly I treated poor girl. I had no doubt she was a cold blooded killer."

Clark smiled as he went to fetch the brunette a glass of water. "Just goes to show you, people aren't always who you think they are." He commented, daring a glance at Lois' reflective eyes.

"I have to give you credit, Smallville." Lois commented. "Who would've known you were such a natural with kids.

Clark smiled happily as he reached for a glass. "Well, Maddie's pretty special." He commented honestly as he filled the glass. Maddie was truly amazing, and Clark was just glad to have been able to help her realise that.

"So, what happens to her now?" Lois asked, thanking him for the water. "Can't be easy to find a family that's willing to live without windows."

"Maddie's going to live with her grandmother who couldn't be happier" Clark replied. "She didn't even know she had a granddaughter until now."

Lois raised her eyebrows. "Wow, she must be pretty brave."

"Or excited." Clark countered. "Kinda like my parents when they adopted me."

"Yeah, but they didn't have to worry about their house getting destroyed." Lois retorted sceptically, and Clark couldn't help the wry smile that crossed his lips.

"Well, he had his moments." A third voice chimed in, and Clark smiled as he turned to face his mom. "Hi Clark." She greeted briefly before turning back to face Lois. "Since you're gonna be bedridden for a few days, I brought you some stuff to read." Clark watched as his mom handed Lois a thick manila file. In fact; it looked like the one she'd been working on just that morning.

"Thank you." Lois said appreciatively as she flipped open the file.

"The chief of staff for a state senator needs to be fully informed on all sides of the issues." His mom informed seriously. And Clark's mind froze. Did he really hear his mom imply that she wanted Lois Lane as her Chief of Staff?

"Wait a minute. You want me to be your Chief of Staff?" Lois asked, apparently echoing Clark's disbelieving sentiments.

"Mom," Clark interjected, freeing himself of the mental disconnect. "Are you sure you don't wanna think this through?" After all Lois had no qualifications, no experience. And her track record with jobs was less than stellar. There had to be a thousand other candidates better suited for the job. Heck, even Danny who wasn't out of school yet would be a safer bet.

"If it weren't for Lois Lane your father wouldn't have ever been elected." His mom answered calmly in a tone that left no room for movement. "And then I wouldn't be in office. Besides, Lois, it's pretty clear your destiny lies far beyond a cappuccino maker. What do you think?"

Lois took a moment to send him an almost smirk before she turned to face his mom full on. "I'd be honoured to." She answered, and the smile that crossed her face somehow managed to brighten the whole room. It was clear that she was thrilled at the opportunity.

Clark repressed the urge to shudder. This meant that he'd wind up seeing a whole lot more of Lois around the farm, he was sure of it. And that meant that he'd be subject to her own unique brand of bossiness. He'd lived with it for a whole year, but he'd thought he was free of it when Danny moved in. Lois was still flicking through the file, inquisitively studying whatever was written in the pages. Her arm looked uncomfortable in the shoulder-brace it was resting in but still she managed to balance the file on her lap so that she could read.

His mom smiled across at Lois, a proud glint in her eyes. "Thank you, Lois." She said and somehow it conveyed so much more than just thanks for agreeing to be Chief of Staff. "I have a meeting this afternoon, but I was hoping to meet up with you tomorrow to review the issues, then perhaps on Monday you can help me with going over a couple of proposals."

Lois nodded, and Clark could see the dedication in her eyes. He didn't want to worry, but Lois was too _Lois_ for him not to be at all concerned. He just hoped that Lois didn't get his mom impeached. But maybe it could work out. After all, if Lois got an idea in her head she tended to never let go, maybe his concern was unwarranted. Maybe.

But he wasn't about to stop worrying about her or his mom. Especially when he knew that Lionel Luthor was closing in. The man knew his secret, and had direct access to both Lois and his mom. So maybe part of his worry was _for_ Lois, and not just about her. Clark just doubted that Lois was up to the task, and probably she'd end up quitting long before she got into Lionel's treacherous sights. At least that's what Clark hoped.

Clark bid farewell to Lois, leaving her alone to do her study as he and his mom headed down the stairs to the coffee shop below where Chloe and Danny were waiting. He looked across at the two of them, tucked into a corner and sighed. It was finally time for them to have their talk. It had been forestalled by two weeks of trial and trauma, but it was finally time to get everything out in the air. The only thing that Clark was unsure of rested upon Danny's decision. It had come to the point where Chloe was no doubt suspicious, and Clark only hoped that Danny could make a clear choice; not only about telling them what had happened with Vlad, but also about his secret.

This time Clark didn't know what to do or how to help. This time the secret was not his own, and once more he had to trust Danny to decide whether or not to allow people into his life. Clark wasn't sure what the best outcome for all of them was. He shook his head briefly to clear it, walking across the room beside his mom. His head was a whirl of doubts and concerns, but he had to believe that this discussion would finally release all the pressure that had been mounting over all of their heads for so long.

_Line Break_

"You're back." Those two words, so softly uttered, sent a slight tremor down Danny's spine. He shuffled awkwardly, not daring to look at the green eyed blonde who had spoken so plainly to him. He felt terrible for all that had happened. It had been two weeks since he'd promised to sit down and talk with her, and with all that had happened in the meantime he'd almost forgotten about it. Almost. But now Chloe was here now, and she deserved a proper explanation.

"Yeah." Danny answered awkwardly. "I'm back." Danny couldn't resist the urge to rub the back of his neck as he felt Chloe's scrutinising glare. What he wasn't expecting was for her to wrap her arms around him in a tight hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay." She murmured. "God, Danny, I was so worried, with what Clark said I was terrified, and then you were gone for the week and he never explained what had happened properly." Confusedly Danny patted her back before taking the opportunity to sit down next to her on the Talon sofa. Clark was currently upstairs with Aunt Martha and Lois, and Danny was taking the opportunity to try and get things back on track with his blonde friend.

"I'm sorry for worrying you like that." He replied sincerely, finally meeting her in the eyes. "I... I don't even know where to start. I've been safe, with Ember. I guess after everything a few days of escapism were in order." Danny didn't miss the flash in Chloe's eyes when he mentioned Ember's name, but he didn't know what to make of it.

"So where were you?" Chloe pressed, settling back into the sofa.

Danny gave a half smile. "Something of a Renaissance Fair." He answered. It was a half truth, but he didn't want to tell Chloe the whole truth in the middle of the Talon. More than that... Clark was going to come down any minute, and there was no doubt in Danny's mind that he was going to be grilled about what had happened at Vlad's. And then there was both his and Clark's near death experiences to deal with. That was more than enough for Chloe to handle at this point, and while he had made his decision, now wasn't the time.

"How did you convince Ember to go to a renaissance fair?" Chloe asked.

Danny smiled, shaking his head as he recalled the way Ember had looked up in the stands in Dora's kingdom. "I think she thought it'd be funny to see all the knights bashing each other with swords."

"So it was a sadistic pleasure thing?" Chloe asked looking vaguely disgusted.

"No, more of an 'I-want-to-see-how-badly-Danny-goes-when-he-tries-to-show-off' thing." Danny replied with a light shrug.

Chloe pursed her lips, a half amused, and half scolding look in her eye. "And how did you go?"

"As well as could be expected." Danny replied, giving her a disarming smile. "But it was fun anyway, and Ember seemed to enjoy it all the same. Maybe sometime you can come along; it's entertaining to see how things used to be back in the day."

Chloe rolled her eyes at him. "I'm sure. And the fact that you were hanging out with a ghost doesn't mean anything to you."

"Not at all." Danny answered. "Besides, Ember's only been around since the eighties, so people running around in armour and mail is as unfamiliar to her as it is to us. She's actually one of the youngest sentient ghosts out there."

"Really?" Chloe asked, her green eyes flashing in curiosity. "So she's twenty years older than us?"

"Age doesn't really matter so much in the Zone." Danny replied with a shrug. "You die when you die, and if you're pretty much gonna be around forever then it doesn't make sense to care about how long you've actually existed. Skulker's been around since the eighteen hundreds I think, and that didn't stop him from dating Ember for a while. Ghosts have a weird philosophy when it comes to relationships of any kind."

Chloe frowned in thought as she pressed her lips to the coffee cup. She probably would have asked something, but it was then that Clark and his aunt came back down the stairs. "So how'd she take it?" Danny asked his aunt, curious about how Lois had reacted to the offer of being Chief of Staff.

"Take what?" Chloe asked, looking between Danny and his aunt in confusion.

"Aunt Martha thought Lois might like to try her hand at being Chief of Staff for a while." Danny answered, smiling at his aunt.

"And Lois looked delighted." Clark added on before turning back to face Danny's aunt. "Mom, are you really sure...?"

"Lighten up Clark." Danny interrupted. "We both know Lois can handle it, Remember how she took care of who was it? Uncle Jon's first campaign manager? Mr Sosnik? Give her half a chance Lois'll run circles around anyone in the capitol."

"That's really good of you, Mrs Kent." Chloe added in, offering her soft smile. "Thank you."

"See, Clark. You're outvoted." Danny tacked on with almost childish delight. It felt good to be back in the Real World, and for the first time in a long time he truly felt buoyant. Clark frowned, collapsing into the sofa next to Chloe exhaustedly. He shook his head almost disappointedly and Danny couldn't help but grin. There had always been a strange dynamic between Lois and Clark, and sometimes it was fun to just watch the way the two worked teasingly around each other.

"I need to be heading off now; there's a few people stirring trouble about the proposal we've been pushing." His aunt said with a tired smile. "I'll see you two later tonight?"

"We'll handle dinner." Clark offered, and Danny nodded in agreement. Although he'd probably end up doing most of the cooking... Danny shook his head in bemusement before turning his attention back to Chloe and Clark. Chloe was eyeing him and Clark significantly, and Danny knew that it was almost time. Before everything that had happened they'd planned on having a long talk, and they finally had a chance. However Danny knew that he needed to talk to Chloe on her own later. He wanted to do things properly and that meant finishing things properly without Clark to colour the conversation.

Danny watched as his aunt left, confidently striding through the Talon to the exit. But once she was gone he sighed. "So where are we gonna do this?" Danny asked, looking quickly between Clark and Chloe before setting his gaze firmly on the floor once more.

"The barn?" Clark offered with a shrug. "It's safe enough there."

Danny nodded absently, not really focusing anymore. He hadn't really thought about it, he hadn't really had the chance to. He wanted... he didn't exactly know what he wanted. He knew where he wanted everything to end up, but he didn't know what he was going to say to Chloe for now. He wanted to tell her the whole truth, he knew now that she could handle it. More than that, he needed someone human who knew. But... he wanted to tell her properly. And he couldn't do that if Clark was around.

The trip back to the farmhouse passed in a distracted blur as Danny mused over all the various half-truths he had told the blonde haired girl. All the half-truths he was going to have to give her until the time was right. And it sat uncomfortably in his stomach to realise exactly how much he'd been keeping everyone away from him. For all that he'd trusted Chloe and his cousin, he'd still kept them at arm's length, and in retrospect it was under the false assumption that everyone would be better for it. He shook his head, realising that the three of them were in the loft, and Danny wondered how they'd managed that without him being consciously aware of it. But they were all sitting; Clark on the desk chair and Chloe next to Danny on the worn sofa. He blinked, trying to clear his head of the gathering cobwebs and focus long enough to get through this.

"So where do you want to start?" Danny mumbled, his eyes darting between Clark and Chloe.

"Alley." Chloe answered unhesitatingly. "How did you save her and why did your eyes turn silver?"

Danny frowned. "Ah," he grunted; that wasn't where he had expected Chloe to start and he had pretty much forgotten about it with all that had happened since then. It sort of made sense though, after all it was where all of this mess had started. But that memory itself was a bit hazy. He loosely knew what he'd done but the event itself was a blur. "Alley was dying, right? I remember her coughing blood but then..."

"Then you put your hand over her heart, and the room went white, and next thing you were rambling about death's shadow and auras." Chloe finished, staring him down. Danny could feel Clark's pointed gaze on him.

"She was dying Clark!" He defended. "You know that I..." He cut himself off, but Clark at least had the decency to acknowledge him. Danny sighed pausing before shaking his head and turning his attention back to Chloe. "There's a lot about my powers that I don't understand." Danny said, his eyes pleading for understanding. "Sometimes it's like I'm making everything up as I go along. I might have been able to heal Alley, but I couldn't say how it worked. If I was talking about auras and death like that, well I think I probably tried to burn the sickness out, something like cauterising it. But... I'll admit my memory of that day is a little fuzzy until I got stabbed by the needle."

Danny shook his head. Memories of that experience, talking to his family from the other side brought tears to his eyes. "What did you see, Clark?" Danny asked, trying to give himself a chance to quell his own broiling emotions.

"I saw my dad." Clark answered with a small smile. "He was so warm and comforting. He said he was proud of me."

"Of course he would be, Clark." Chloe commented with sparkling green eyes. "You've done so much for all of us; I can't imagine your dad being anything but proud."

Clark nodded, smiling. But that dropped, and Danny caught the slight flicker of worry that entered his cousin's eyes. "What else?" Danny pressed, his own eyes creased in concern.

"He sent a warning." Clark admitted. "Lionel Luthor knows my secret."

"What!?" Danny and Chloe both exclaimed. But it was Chloe who pressed on. "How?" She asked, echoing Danny's feelings.

"I don't know." Clark replied, shaking his head. "But some of the things Lionel's said make more sense if he does know."

"You're gonna have to be really careful Clark." Chloe warned. "You don't know what Lionel's gonna do with this."

Danny frowned, considering everything that he knew. "I don't know, has Lionel actually talked to you about it?" Danny asked, meeting Clark square in the eyes.

"No." Clark admitted, confusion swirling into his blue eyes. "That's what I don't get. If he knows my secret why hasn't he done anything about it?"

"That's what I'm thinking." Danny said, shaking his head sceptically. "I would have thought if he was gonna use something like that against you, he'd let you know that he actually could."

"And since he hasn't...?" Chloe pressed, looking at him.

"Since he hasn't done that I think he's not interested in doing anything too public about it. If he wanted to throw you over to..." Danny froze, an image of a silver scalpel flashing into his eyes. But he shook it away quickly before he could finish that sentence. "If he was gonna do anything with your secret he would have done it already. He's patient, but he'd want to lord it over you if that was his plan. I think you're safe enough for now. He's not gonna do anything without at least rubbing it in your face a bit first." Danny finished with a shrug.

"But how could he have found out?" Chloe stressed and Clark shook his head in confusion.

"I don't know." The elder dark haired man replied. "But my dad warned me, and now all I can do is watch Lionel and hope he doesn't hurt my mom."

Danny bit his tongue, instantly reminded of hours of discussions with Tuck and Sam, worrying endlessly over Vlad and his plans. But Vlad wasn't a threat anymore. There wasn't anything he could really do. It wasn't like Vlad had his powers anymore, and with any luck he'd use his second chance as an opportunity to get himself back onto a healthier path. Danny shook his head, hoping to chase those thoughts away. In a month or so he'd try to visit Vlad in Wisconsin and check up on him and that would be that.

Obviously looking for a distraction Clark turned to face Danny. "And what did you see?" he asked.

"The Lab." Danny smiled, but clarified further at Clark's disgusted look. "Not the GIW one; my parents' lab. They were all there; mom, dad, Sam, everyone. And they forgave me, for everything. And then Sam gave me a good kick in the teeth and basically told me that I was being stupid and pushing everyone away and if I didn't stop I was gonna get myself in trouble."

Clark frowned, and Danny could see the beginnings of self-blame in his eyes. But Danny was quick to reassure him. "She was right. What happened was entirely my fault. I only let you guys in superficially, and I never trusted you the way I should've. You trusted me with your worries about the Luthors and Milton Fine, and I didn't see fit to do the same. That was my fault, and a lesson I needed to be reminded of."

Clark nodded sullenly, but it was clear that he wasn't entirely convinced. Danny turned to Chloe, seeing the strange mix of concern and pride in her eyes. "Seems she was right." Danny commented as lightly as possible.

"Seems so." Clark replied darkly after a minute, and Danny frowned. He didn't want to dwell on it. It had happened, and it was something that he would need to deal with. But there was nothing that either Clark or Chloe could do to change what the GIW had done, and the physical wounds were mostly gone. All that remained were the psychological scars from the fact that the white clad men had done so much to him, and he hadn't even been sedated for any of their experiments.

"What happened in the GIW lab?" Chloe asked quietly, and Danny felt a chill run up his spine.

"I..." he gulped, any semblance of his good mood vanishing in an instant. The fogged imprint of silver weaponry washed in front of his eyes, and his hand absently touched his abdomen where the remnants of the 'Y' shaped incision remained. Clark noticed and visibly flinched, making Danny shudder in remembered fear.

"I'm not really ready to talk about it." He whispered. "It was... it was a nightmare, and for now... if I don't have to repeat it... I can deal with what happened. I'm sorry." He paused, shaking his head to try and clear it of the horrendous memories. "I don't mean to shut you out. I really don't, but I can't..."

"It's okay." Chloe reassured, and Danny felt her arm wrap comfortingly around his shoulder. "It's okay." She repeated in a soft whisper. And Danny looked up at her kind green eyes. He hadn't even noticed the silent sobs that were racking through his body. "It's over." She murmured, and Danny found himself clinging to her, drinking in the comforting affection and the soft ripples of kindness in both her words and her sunlit-water aura. Chloe was safe, in a way that few other people Danny knew were. And he hadn't realised how very much he'd missed safe.

"What did Vlad do?" Clark asked, giving Danny an opportunity both too withdraw from Chloe and to compose himself.

"He... we have a long history. Lots of bad blood, lots of... I don't even know how to describe it." Danny replied slowly, interrupting himself partway through. Chloe's arm had moved to rest on his knee, and he was just grateful for the comforting contact. Danny sighed, his eyes looking out the loft window to the sky beyond. "Vlad knew my parents back in college. They were all in the Paranormal Society together, that's where mom and dad first met each other."

It was strange, always so strange; to imagine that once upon a time all three of them had gotten on so well. But that time was long gone. "There was an accident." Danny said, shaking his head. "The project they were working on backfired, and Vlad got hurt. He was hospitalised with a case of ecto-acne. It's supposed to be both untreatable and fatal, but he survived. He blamed the accident on my dad, blamed him for what happened to him. That was the start of it. And sure, the accident was partially my dad's fault. But all three of them should've known not to be near dangerous lab equipment when it was starting up."

He paused, frowning. "I don't even think that the accident was the real problem. Vlad had fallen in love with my mom, but even when they were working together mom and dad only had eyes for each other. But Vlad never saw it that way. He thought dad had taken his only chance at winning my mom. And he never moved on from that." Chloe and Clark were both silent, and Danny wasn't sure what to make of their continued silence.

Danny paused, meeting Clark's eyes with a significant look as he began the next part. "I never met Vlad until I was fourteen. It was after my parents had the Fenton Portal working properly. Vlad invited us all to his mansion in Wisconsin for their college reunion. And at first he was just creepy. He spent the first day flirting with mom and blatantly ignoring dad. It wasn't until that night that I found out there was anything really wrong."

Danny frowned, recalling in detail every aspect of their first encounter. How the blue skinned ghost had been so powerful, and for the first time Danny had been truly scared of a ghost. He hadn't even known that Vlad was only half-ghost back then. "After his accident Vlad made connections in the Ghost Zone. When mom and dad's portal was first opened he started sending ghosts to Amity Park. He wanted to test dad as a ghost hunter, but in the end they were only ever caught by... Phantom. The night before we left three new ghosts came; they were these ancient vultures and Vlad had sent them to kill my dad."

Danny shook his head ruefully. "It didn't work." He pointed out. "But then they appeared in the castle, chasing after dad again. So I stopped them. But then another ghost came out, and he was so powerful. So evil. He called himself Plasmius, and I didn't stand a chance. The next thing I knew I was waking up in my room, Vlad Masters looking over me to make sure I was alright. At the time I was thankful, I'd never really had an adult look out for me like that, and even if it was creepy it was nice to think that he cared."

He scoffed, closing his eyes in remembered betrayal. "But he didn't. Not in the right way. In trying to fight him, Plasmius, I managed to show him that we had something in common. He still blamed dad, wanted him dead. He wanted to marry my mom, the only thing he'd ever really wanted. But he also wanted to have me as his son, or his apprentice. He caught me. Trapped me in a box that I couldn't escape, and he just left me there."

Danny couldn't help the hurt anger that came into his eyes. "We were alike, and he only saw me as a pawn. There's so much that he could have done, but instead he threw it away because he couldn't accept that his accident was only an accident. In the end I escaped, and was able to convince him not to kill my dad then. But I remember, at the time, he said I was like him, manipulating Plasmius and using an opponent's weakness against them."

Danny sighed deeply, eyes focused on the past. Even now he couldn't believe the cruelties that Vlad had subjected him to over the past two years. It seemed like an eternity stretched between that brief meeting and the events barely over a week ago. "That was the start of it really." Danny emitted, almost sadly. "He'd plot, I'd evade. He'd trap me and I'd escape. Sort of like... like Warrior Angel and Devilicus." Danny finished with a sad sort of smile. He'd never drawn that parallel before, but the analogy fit. Almost. His parents had been friends with his Devilicus, but Vlad had offered exactly the same things that the comic book villain did.

"Warrior Angel, Danny?" Chloe interjected with a raised eyebrow. Danny sent her a half cheeky smile. Even now he was dancing around the truth, and it wasn't a good habit. But by now it was so ingrained that it would take a lot to say the words, to admit to the whole truth. He looked at Clark through the corner of his eyes, felt the kind gaze of his dark-haired cousin. And he was instantly reminded of the parallels between his story and that of Clark's with Lex and Lionel Luthor.

"It feels like that, looking back." Danny mused aloud. "He did a lot of terrible things. I mean, he never managed to actually kill my girlfriend, but he came close. When his ecto-acne came back he infected Sam and Tuck with it too; just so that I'd have motivation to save him. I was able to, in the end. But that took... abusing one of my friends in the Zone and travelling to an alternate timeline where Vlad had married mom."

"Alternate timeline?" Chloe pressed. "That's impossible. I don't think even meteor rocks can do that."

"Or you haven't seen them do that yet." Danny commented. "I have fairly liberal views of what's impossible. There're a lot of ghosts out there, and, well the Zone is about the weirdest place... no, it is the weirdest place that exists. You can go into a portal from there and end up a thousand years ago, or a thousand years in the future. And just a small change to an event, like knocking Vlad out of the way when the portal was starting up, can change everything. Maybe it wasn't a parallel dimension, but that's the best explanation I have."

Danny sighed. He'd let himself become distracted. "When the meteor hit..." He sighed, knowing that now he'd started he had to finish. "When the meteor hit it was like he'd won. Almost. Mom was gone, but dad was dead and I was alone. I couldn't go back to Amity Park and it looked like the options were either Vlad or the street. But then one of the lawyers found granddad. Mom's dad. From there Aunt Martha became an option, and well... now I'm just grateful for Clark and Aunt Martha."

Danny sent Clark a small smile. "You saved me, from more than you know. You both did. And I'm sorry for not trusting you with the truth when you did. I guess, I just got used to having to do things alone. And when I got a chance not to I didn't want to see it."

"Hey," Clark said, suddenly in front of him. Danny's blue eyes met Clark's and they shared a moment of silent understanding. Clark didn't need to say it; it was all in his eyes. Blue eyes that sparkled with kindness, with unassuming acceptance, with forgiveness, and with a brotherly sort of love that Danny desperately needed. And there was a swirl of softly encouraging pride that played against the depths of his sky blue eyes. Clark smiled at him, and nodded once. And Danny smiled; his own heart lighter for having admitted it.

There was a long way left to go, still a lot that needed to be said. But Chloe wrapped her arm around his shoulders, and Clark came to sit next to him, wrapping his arm around the both of them. And Danny couldn't help but feel, for the first time since his family and friends had died, that he had truly found somewhere that he belonged. The sun dipped behind the horizon, and in the last glowing remnants of the daylight Danny smiled, Chloe's head resting gently on his shoulder. And the three of them just sat, watching the sunset in each other's quiet company.

_Line Break_

Lana laughed as she pulled open the door to her dorm. She'd been having a great day, despite the heavy cognitive load of the actual work. She turned, smiling as she faced her taller companion, grinning as she watched him attempt to straighten his business suit after their half-run through the dorm halls. Half laughing she met his eyes, her voice light and airy as it hadn't been since before she broke up with Clark. "As long as we had to wade through a sea of government paperwork, at least we got to do it over spiced tuna rolls."

Lex Luthor smiled back at her, a fond glitter in his eyes. "Yeah, well I'm not too fond of working in the stacks." Lana couldn't help but laugh as she put her bag down on her desk.

"Well, I have to admit, I was pretty impressed when you ordered the entire meal in fluent Japanese." She sent him a wry look. "You could have warned me about the squid brains though."

"どういたしまして." Lex replied slightly smugly. "Come on, you can't fool me. You loved it."

Lana smiled, but it dropped when she turned her attention back to the files that he had handed over to her to study. "Lex," She commented. "I was thinking, I don't really feel comfortable hanging onto these. Some of these papers are marked 'Classified' and you could get into a lot of trouble even showing them to me." That was her biggest concern. Lex had told her about everything; how Milton Fine had involved Lex in his research into an extra-terrestrial threat. And it really worried her because she was just a civilian and she was learning a whole load of confidential government secrets.

She tried to hand them back to him, knowing that everything was far safer if he kept that file in his hands. What they were looking into was deep government secrets. Fine had given them information on the latest meteor shower; about what the extra-terrestrials were doing and the path of the ship that they'd been able to trace since it got to Earth. The government was developing a weapon to attempt to eradicate the threat and Lana got the feeling that it was delving deep into biological warfare. She didn't just want to leave the files lying around where anyone could find out about them. But Lex wouldn't hear of it.

"Lana," Lex reassured. "If Milton Fine is right about an extraterrestrial threat, the last thing the government's gonna be worried about is Lana Lang." Besides, you're the only one who knows of my transgression. I think I'm safe with my fate in your hands."

Lana smiled, but wasn't completely reassured. "You must really trust me." She commented, looking up to meet his eyes.

"Hundred percent." He answered firmly. And Lana's heart leapt. After so many months of worrying with Clark, of knowing than the man she loved... had loved... didn't trust her; it felt nice to be trusted so implicitly. "I hope you feel the same way about me." He continued expectantly.

"I do." Lana answered. And it was true. Over the years Lex had always been there to support her, always helped her when she needed it. More than that he genuinely cared for her, and had helped her find herself her own inner strength. He'd given her the confidence and the skills to defend herself mentally by training her in martial arts a few years ago, and given her the strength to think when he'd challenged her to earn the chance to turn the Talon into a coffee shop. She couldn't help but trust the young billionaire. She knew that no matter what he would always look out her. And she felt safe with him, safer than she ever had with all her doubts in Clark.

Suddenly the door flew open, and Chloe barged in. "Sorry," The blonde said, biting her lip as she looked dazedly between Lana and Lex. "I... um... I forgot my pencil in the library." She said, turning around abruptly and leaving the two blinking.

It was only then that Lana realised how close Lex and her were standing. Lana coughed taking an awkward step backwards. She bit her own lip anxiously as she looked at Lex."I should probably..." He said, but trailed off almost immediately.

"Yeah, and I..." Lana continued just as awkwardly. Chloe's interruption had thrown them both off kilter, and Lana wasn't sure what that actually meant. Lana looked down to the thick file that was still clutched tightly between her fingers. "Um, I'll look over this, try to see if I can find any patterns. Maybe figure out where the ship will show up next."

Lex nodded in agreement. "And I'll keep you posted about Fine. I'm trailing him to see if I can get anything more than what he's telling us."

"Okay..." Lana agreed.

"I should probably..." Lex repeated, glancing at the door.

"Yeah. Chloe will probably be back soon." Lana agreed. "See you soon?"

"Yeah." Lex agreed and then he was gone, the dorm door clicking closed behind him. Lana sat down heavily on her bed, completely confused. There was nothing going on between her and Lex. They were just working on a project together. So why did Chloe's interruption manage to make everything so awkward?

_Line Break_

Clark smiled as he watched the car pull up in the driveway. He'd invited Maddie over, partially because he already missed the little blonde haired girl, and also because he wanted her to meet Danny. The car door opened and the little blonde girl raced out, a bright smile on her lips as she unabashedly threw her arms around him in a tight hug.

"Hey Maddie." Clark commented with a smile, ruffling her hair slightly.

"Hi Clark." She replied with a bright smile as she took a step back. Clark briefly turned his attention to Maria as she stepped out of the car. The elder woman was going to have afternoon tea with his mom before heading back into Smallville herself. Clark would be dropping Maddie back at her new home later. He waved at Maria, and was heartened when Maddie sent her grandmother a smile and a bright wave as well.

"You're settling in then?" Clark asked as Maria stepped into the house with his mom.

Maddie smiled and nodded. "You were right Clark. I only had to give her a chance."

Clark smiled at the young girl. He was glad that she had found somewhere stable to call home. She beamed happily up at him, her art book resting loosely at her side. Clark decided to take her up to the loft where Danny was working. He had a bit of holiday work that he hadn't been able to catch up on, and with school going back on Tuesday he wanted to try to get it out of the way.

He pulled the barn door open, and immediately Shelby ran out to say hello to Maddie. The blonde girl crouched down to pet the dog, grinning as he snuffled against her hand. Clark couldn't help the light laugh that escaped his lips at the sight of the young girl and the dog. Maddie was the one who ran up the loft stairs, Shelby quickly racing after her feet. Clark shook his head fondly as he followed them up.

As his head crested the staircase he noted that Danny was sitting at the desk distinctly _not_ studying his textbooks. "Aren't you supposed to be working?" He scolded lightly, but didn't get much of a rise out of Danny who was avidly sketching in his own sketchpad.

"Probably, but to be honest I couldn't get my head around the cause of Vietnam." Danny explained, not appearing to notice the second visitor to the loft. "Well, I get _that_, it's just I can't help but think of Iraq, how it's pretty much the same story and that got me onto the non-progress of the human race which made me think of Dora."

"Who's Dora?" Maddie asked curiously. She had taken a seat on the loft sofa with Shelby right beside her.

Danny smiled and stood up, handing the sketchbook over to Maddie. "The blonde one is Dora." He said, gesturing to the page. "I'm guessing you're Maddie?"

Maddie nodded, apparently not shy around Danny. It was a huge step for her, but knowing Danny the dark haired boy was doing all he could to make her feel comfortable. Her eyes hungrily surveyed the page, and Clark wondered what exactly Danny had drawn.

The boy had taken a seat on the trunk, choosing to sit cross-legged on the top as he faced Maddie. "I'm Danny, but knowing Clark you'd already guessed that." Maddie looked up briefly before facing the page again.

"This is really good." She commented, her fingers lightly brushing across the page. "But why the dragon?"

Danny laughed lightly, a quirky smile playing on his lips. Clark took a seat next to Maddie, subtly looking over her shoulder at the picture. It looked like a medieval tournament ground, high wooden stands stretching up with a royal box stationed in the middle. Most of the people in the crowd were dressed in medieval clothing, except for Ember who was sitting smiling in the royal box beside a blonde haired princess. In the background was the shadowed form of a blue dragon, looking over all of them. But Clark noted that the same pendant seemed to be wrapped around the Princesses neck and around the wide neck of the blue dragon.

"It's a running joke between Dora and me." Danny commented lightly. "When I first met her she was a bit of a dragon and it started from there. I think she commissioned a picture of me wearing full armour and chainmail, but I've only been told about that."

"Chainmail?" Maddie asked at the same time as Clark asked "Armour?"

"I have weird friends." Danny commented with a shrug. "Not to mention this guy." Danny said, jerking his head towards Clark. "See, he seems to think that plaid is a good choice of uniform, even when he goes into the Metropolis. At night."

"Says the guy with the long sleeved t-shirts in summer." Clark bit back, nudging Danny's knee and toppling the boy from his perch on top of the trunk.

Danny mock scowled as he stood up from behind the trunk. "I happen to like them." He replied haughtily. "But if you really want I could switch to button up tops. Try the whole indie look for a while."

"You two act like brothers." Maddie commented, looking between the two, her eyes sparkling with silent laughter.

"Yep." Danny replied with a firm nod. "And since Clark has diligently served his duty as elder brother in trying to remind me to do my schoolwork, I'm gonna repay in kind and do the little brother thing and say, 'Maddie let's skip the work and go outside to do something else.'" He grinned cheekily at Clark before swinging Maddie up into his arms. She didn't seem distressed at all, and was happily laughing as Danny carried her down the staircase. But Clark didn't miss the quiet request for him to pick up a box from beneath the downstairs workbench.

By the time he'd caught up to Danny and Maddie they were sitting on one of the fences, looking back towards the farmhouse. Maddie waved as he approached and jumped down so that she could peek into the box. Clark put it down in the grass, surveying the young girl as she looked inside. Danny had filled the box with a number of glass jars, a couple of bits of broken glass and two glass animals. A little bluebird and a larger crystal butterfly.

"Now, I know you'll probably be mad at me." Danny commented, "But I thought you might like to have a bit of practice with your power. See if we can have some fun with it."

Maddie's face fell slightly, and she shot Clark an almost pleading look. Clark half glared at Danny; it was a good idea, but the execution was a little tasteless.

"Hey," Danny said, smiling at her as he came to crouch beside the young girl, he looked at her and spoke softly in a conspirational whisper. "I'll tell you a secret. Even people like Phantom have to practice sometimes. And do you know what? When they're still learning they have just as much trouble. I know for a fact that when Phantom was trying to get the hang of being intangible he lost his pants more than once."

Maddie cocked her head curiously at him, and Clark couldn't help but laugh at the admission. "Really?" Maddie asked.

"Really." Danny confirmed with a huge smile. "So, what do you say? Do you want to take a shot at it?"

There was a pregnant pause, and Maddie sent a fleeting look in Clark's direction. Clark sent her an encouraging smile and her face instantly brightened. She turned to Danny smiling and gave a quick eager nod.

"Okay," Danny said, clapping his hands together. "Well the first thing we need to do is figure out the exact trigger."

Maddie frowned. "Usually, if I get upset, I break glass. I can control it if I really focus. But it's hard."

"That's fine." Danny said easily with a smile. He pulled a small jar out of the box and set it on the fence post. "If it were easy then it wouldn't be worth it. You had to practice your drawing before you could do anything with it, didn't you?"

"Yeah." Maddie answered. "But things don't explode when I draw."

"And we'll help you so that you don't break glass without meaning to." Clark assured, finally realising what Danny was trying to do. He was trying to change the way Maddie saw her powers, so that she saw them as a skill rather than a curse. "I know you can do it. I've seen you."

Maddie nodded slowly before looking uncertainly at the jar on the fencepost. "So what do you want me to do?" She asked.

"I want you to break that." Danny said. "I need to see how you use your power before we figure out where to go from there." Maddie nodded and focused on the jar. Her gaze became an intense scowl before there was a sharp cracking sound and the glass broke.

"Okay." Danny nodded, smiling at her. He reached into the box again, but Clark noticed the way his eyes flared a brighter blue as he pulled out the next jar. "That's a good start." He continued, putting the new jar on the post. "Now let's try one more time."

Maddie nodded, and quickly that same sharp scowl came onto her little face. But it deepened as she became frustrated, the jar refusing to break. The glass in the box began to tremble threateningly, but still the jar on the post refused to budge. Danny laid a hand on her shoulder, giving a silent signal to stop.

"Thanks for that." He said as the glass in the box stopped still. "I needed to see exactly what your form of hyalokinesis – um, glass telekinesis – entails. You can control glass, and only glass." He explained. "The 'jar' there is made entirely of ice, but I needed to see how much control you had over something you believed _was_ glass. It gives us all a starting point; something to work from." He encouraged, giving Maddie a gentle smile.

"So the next thing we need to do is to practice control." Danny said. "Clark told me that the other night in the barn you got the glass to float in the air. I'd like to see if you can do that here without breaking it. Sound fair?"

"I think so." Maddie murmured. "But I don't know how I did it. I was angry, and I just wanted to protect Clark."

"I know." Danny smiled, holding a real jar up in his hands. "But it'll be worth it to try. What I'm gonna do is drop this jar. I want to see if you can catch it. Think you can do that?" Maddie nodded with determination and Danny smiled. "Ready?" he asked. "Okay, go!" The glass fell, but instead of stopping midair it shattered, first into sharp shards but then into a harmless ball of dust.

Maddie froze, looking fearfully between the two of them. But Danny just smiled. "Good." He encouraged gently. "That's perfect Maddie."

"How?" She croaked sadly. "I still broke it."

"Yes," Danny said. "But you controlled how you broke it. I saw you. At first it was uncontrolled, dangerous. But you saw your mistake and quickly turned it into something harmless. That's a big step, and you did it intuitively. I'm proud of you."

Clark smiled, settling back to watch the two of them. It was different to the way that Danny trained with Clark, but the gentle encouragement and subtle prodding that he gave Maddie gave Clark a whole new respect for the young boy. He was giving her confidence in her powers, teaching her how not only to control them but to turn them into an art form. Clark was amazed at Danny's imagination. After seeing the glass dust Danny had encouraged Maddie to work with that, and soon there was a sparkling stream of glass particles washing across the fence-post. It became a cascading waterfall and then fell into the shape of a growing flower at Danny's supportive suggestions.

Soon Maddie was laughing, taking delight in her powers as Danny helped her see the beauty in them. Her bright smile was a far cry from the scared little girl she'd been when Clark first met her. And Clark was heartened in not only her turn around, but the way that Danny was able to help her. The dark haired boy had a brave soul, and despite all that had happened to him he was still kind at heart. He seemed to be having almost fun as Maddie as he walked her through her powers.

It was many hours later when the three of them walked back towards the house, but Maddie was laughing happily as she made the glass bluebird which Danny had brought out with them fly around the three of them. Maddie ran into the house, eager to help Clark's mom in the kitchen with dinner, but Clark held Danny back outside.

"Thank you." He said quietly, meeting Danny's ice blue eyes. "I could never have helped her like this. My powers don't work like Maddie's do. I could have helped her control them, but you've shown her how to really use them."

Danny smiled at him, shaking his head. "I may have helped a bit." He commented just as quietly. "But Clark, you're the one who gave her the courage to try." And with that he was gone, the kitchen door closing behind his back as he stepped into the house. Clark stood for a moment, musing over what Danny was suggesting before he followed his dark haired cousin into the house.

_Line Break_

Lex Luthor frowned, leaning heavily onto his elbows as he surveyed his computer screen. He'd sent trails after Fine for nearly a month, but Fine always managed to elude him. It had gotten to the point where instead of trying to follow him, Lex had sent out scouts the world over to find him and report back. Milton Fine was very mobile, moving across the globe with astounding ease and speed. However it was the two latest reports that had him truly concerned. They'd both been taken on the same day, and the inferences he could make from them were unsettling.

The first was from a Somalian man, a helicopter pilot who had worked in one of the African subsidiaries for five years. As requested it was a video report with the time stamp embedded into the video. The report in itself was nothing special, saying that Milton Fine was spotted at 0200 Greenwich Mean Time near the Somalian border. That was unexceptional news. Fine would probably report that there had been an outbreak of some rare disease there within the next few days so that Lex could add the samples to their weapon.

What made the report exceptional was the second one. This too was a video report, with exactly the same time stamp. The problem was that the Asian man was in Myanmar, and the image of Fine was directly on screen. The report was exactly the same; 0200 GMT and both men were clearly observing Milton Fine. There was no mistake in their observations. The problem was how did a man like Fine, a secret operative of the State Department, wind up being able to be in two places at once. Lex rested his head against his knuckles, musing over his rapidly mounting suspicions.

The door to his office suddenly slammed open, and Lex was confronted with the view of a clearly irate Chloe Sullivan. Lex frowned, shutting his computer quickly to make sure that the blonde saw nothing of his investigations. "Chloe" he greeted with false calm, watching the way her green eyes flared in anger.

"I know your moral compass has a tendency to veer off course," The blonde spat. "But taking advantage of Lana at her most vulnerable is despicable."

Lex raised a condescending eyebrow. "I think your reporter's eye is getting a little cloudy." He commented superciliously, stepping away from his desk and across to the billiards table. Casually he picked up a cue before eyeing Chloe loftily. "You're starting to see things that aren't there." He confidently struck the cue, watching as the pool balls clacked across the table. It was all a game, his life, and at the moment all he needed to do was shift Chloe's attention away from him and onto something less fruitful.

"I don't have to work for the DWP to know that there was enough electricity in that room to light up the entire state of Kansas." Chloe cut back, and he could feel the heated anger in her gaze.

Lex looked up and scoffed. "It's interesting how perceptive you are about affairs of the heart considering you've never actually been in a serious relationship." He commented. And his antagonistic dig ruffled her exactly as he had intended it to, sending the blonde immediately onto the defensive. So many of the people in Smallville were easy to manipulate like this; easily swayed with subtle manoeuvres and careful misdirections.

"Do you really think that Lana would be even remotely interested in you if she wasn't swept up in her own emotional tornado?" Chloe bit back scathingly. "I mean, honestly." If that was the best defence she could come up with then Lex saw no need to rise to her bait.

He smirked at her, using his full height to stand intimidatingly over the shorter blonde. "I appreciate you looking out for your friend. I'd do the same. But your concern is unwarranted. We're friends, nothing more."

Chloe's eyes flared in anger once more, and unfazed she stood straighter, meeting his eyes daringly. "Lex, I know you're used to getting whatever you want without even thinking about the consequences, but I promise you, if you hurt my friend, there will be a consequence. And you're looking at her." Chloe threatened, her voice cold and much more intimidating than Lex had imagined from the young woman.

The blonde turned curtly to leave, clearly attempting to display her dominance in the situation. But Lex saw through it. "Chloe." He called after her, knowing that having the last word in this would give him the upper hand. "I think I'm getting an inkling why you've never had a boyfriend." And just as predicted she stormed off, the door slamming behind her with a glass rattling bang.

Lex smiled, watching as the billiard balls rolled across the table. All the little pieces were playing their parts. Chloe now would be distracted, focusing on a relationship between himself and Lana rather than a possible conspiracy about Milton Fine. Such a distraction was useful; it would no doubt keep Clark out of the way as well as the young man was distracted by Chloe's extrapolations. Lex watched as the red ball hit the blue ball, sending it skidding across the table. That was the only variable Lex was uncertain of; what would young Mr Fenton do.

Lex had been mildly concerned about the boy over recent weeks; he had apparently disappeared into the aether for a fortnight. The boy was one of the few people that Lex couldn't easily manipulate. In fact, sometimes it felt like they were playing games around each other. He would try to make Danny see his utilitarian view of the world and then Danny would use that to show Lex exactly how that could be exploited. Danny was clearly loyal to Clark as they had a familial bond, but at the same time the dark haired boy was keen to be friends with Lex.

The blue ball rolled across the table, colliding firmly with the black one and sinking it. Lex frowned, unsure of what Danny's role in everything would be. He didn't want to tell the boy about his work with Lana, but he got the inkling that if he did the puzzle pieces might slot together better. Fine was ever more becoming an unpredictable variable, and having two of those in the game was never a good thing. Lex picked the blue ball up, staring ponderingly at it. Danny may be clever and witty, but incorporating him into this game with Fine and Lana was not something that Lex was yet willing to do.

Lex walked back over to his desk, setting the blue billiard ball next to him. He once more opened the computer and set to work, musing over Lana, the problem of Milton Fine, and what to do about the unpredictable variable that was Danny Fenton.

_Line Break_

Chloe sighed, staring blankly at her computer screen. The article she was due to hand in was barely started, and she already had a pile of work a mile high to finish after it. But she couldn't concentrate. Instead her mind was oscillating between her confusion about Lana and Lex, and Danny. Lana had confronted her at work, attempting to reassure her that Lex and Lana weren't a couple in any way. But Chloe didn't entirely believe that. She wanted Lana to be safe, and running into the hands of a power hungry maniac like Lex was not safe. But there was nothing she could do except watch as Lex and Lana got closer.

Trying to warn Lex off hadn't helped anything. In fact all that it had achieved was getting her friend mad at Chloe. Lana's confrontation at work had done little to convince her otherwise. Lana was entirely too defensive, too cold. There was something going on and Lana wasn't even aware of it. Chloe didn't want Lana to fall into some cruel power game of Lex's. She didn't want Lana to be turned into some pawn that Lex would just take in his perceived battle with Clark. But she worried that that was exactly what had happened. And she hated that there was nothing she could do but watch as Lex played his deplorable power games with her friends.

And with Danny; the more she thought about the dark haired boy the more his story didn't add up. It was like there was one massive piece she was missing, but she just couldn't figure out what it was. She'd done this before with him, the constant doubt about whether or not he had powers and what it was. Danny was a meteor freak albeit a powerful one. And that should have been enough of an answer. But the things he'd said made it sound like he'd had his powers since even before the meteor had hit his home. And he'd compared himself to a comic book hero. Sure, she could see Clark filling that role, but just having meteor powers didn't quite explain it.

There was just something about Danny. Something more than met the eye. And even her investigating when she was trying to figure out his powers didn't cover it. The problem was ghosts, or rather one ghost; Phantom. Chloe couldn't help but think that there was some connection between the two boys. Danny had been with Phantom when the ghost was abducted by the GIW after all. And she still didn't understand that part of it fit in. Clark had made it sound like he'd rescued Phantom from Star City, not Danny. But Danny had been caught too, and it was all too confusing.

And how could there be a connection between Danny and Phantom? It didn't make sense. Danny was human, and for all that the meteor had given him a number of powers it shouldn't give a connection to Phantom. Phantom was a ghost, and really it seemed that his main aim in the human world was to keep humans safe from other ghosts. Danny was friendly with the ghosts, Ember was a good example, but that didn't account for everything.

That's what it came down to, really. How did a human boy, the son of two ghost hunters wind up being friends with any number of ghosts? Danny may be exceptional in his own way, but he was shy and mostly clumsy unless he was forced into action. How was it then that he attracted the attention of ghosts? More than that, given his family history, how could a human like Danny end up willingly spending enough time with ghosts to learn to get on? It didn't make sense, and every time she came close to an answer it eluded her. Danny was alive and ghosts were dead. There was no middle ground and yet he'd managed to cut a path of friendship between the two.

Chloe sighed, staring at the flicking cursor on her computer screen. She just couldn't figure the young boy out. Some of the things he said showed wisdom and experience far beyond his years, and then he'd ruin it with a clumsy movement or a sarcastic comment. But there had to be something more to him. It was a riddle that Chloe couldn't fathom. Danny had an explanation for everything, and it actually fit in with the truth a lot more than some of Clark's inconsistent explanations used to. But somehow it still felt like he was hiding something, something massive. And she was tired of not knowing what it was.

"Hey." The subdued voice interrupted her musings, making Chloe jerk backwards in her chair. She looked up, and was met with a set of determined ice blue eyes. She hadn't even heard Danny enter, and it was strange the way he had appeared just as she was thinking of him. "I was wondering... I was wondering if we could talk." He asked quietly. There was something nervous about him, and Chloe got the distinct feeling that he was about to jump of a high precipice despite his feet being firmly on the ground.

"Sure." She replied carefully. "Just let me pack up." Chloe saw him nod, almost absently out of the corner of her eye. But she quickly packed up, noting the late hour as she shut the computer down. Somehow it had passed six in the evening and she hadn't even noticed. Hers was the only station still occupied, and she made quick work of gathering a few loose files into a neat pile for the morning.

"So..." She trailed, shrugging on her jacket. Danny was quiet, his blue eyes studying her carefully. "What did you want to talk about?"

Danny sighed heavily, closing his eyes. For a moment he looked completely dejected, and Chloe only just subdued the urge to reach out and comfort him. "I think." Danny said slowly, as though each of the words carried its own immense weight. "That it's time I told you the truth."

Chloe froze a moment, unsure she had heard those words. There was a strange weight to them, as though she was the first person he'd ever said them to. All she could do was nod, searching his eyes for explanation. "Do you trust me?" He asked, but Chloe couldn't figure out if it was uncertainty or determination that coloured his tone. All she really saw was the strong hand, reaching out towards her. She looked in his eyes, those kind blue eyes that sparkled so brightly when he smiled, and she knew. Whatever it was that Danny was hiding, whatever the truth was; he was Danny. And that was all that mattered.

She took his hand, feeling his strong grip wrap tenderly around her hand. There was the promise of protection in his hand, a feeling that with Danny there she would be alright no matter what. She blinked, and instantly they were standing on the clock-tower that overlooked all of Metropolis. Chloe gasped, awestruck by the view. The city at night looked amazing, thousands of glittering lights leaping up in the sky as the people bustled around below on busy streets. The sounds of the traffic were muted, distant. It was as though the life of the city was simultaneously all encompassing and completely separated from the two of them as they stood hand in hand overlooking the city.

Chloe felt Danny's hand leave hers, and she watched him as he looked speculatively over the city. "You've probably guessed." Danny finally emitted after a long minute. "That there's more to the story than what I told you yesterday."

Chloe nodded, and when Danny turned to face him she admitted that it didn't make sense to her. There was just too much that didn't mesh together. Danny only smiled ruefully. "I figured." He sighed. "My story is a lot more complicated than what I told you and Clark yesterday in the loft. It's a lot longer than just since last summer's meteor shower, and parts of it are a lot stranger than anything you've seen; with or without meteor rocks."

Chloe stared at him, taking in the tension in every muscle as he stared over the city. In the moonlight his blue eyes sparkled, and there was a strange rolling depth to them that Chloe couldn't fathom, couldn't begin to understand. But in the tension there was strength. It seemed paradoxical, but even in his distress Danny seemed both strong and safe. Chloe bit her lip, trying to figure out what was the right thing to say. It seemed like his words had just passed over her, like she was just observing the strange paradoxical boy that had come into their lives just over nine months ago.

"So where do you want to start?" Danny asked, and Chloe noted the sad echo of his exact words from the day before. She frowned, pondering over the thousands of questions she had about him. Sometimes he seemed a bigger puzzle than Clark ever had; his actions a constant paradoxical dichotomy that both managed to contrast and complement his personality perfectly. There was something about Danny, and for the first time she truly felt like she was going to find out exactly what it was.

"How about in the beginning?" Chloe suggested helpfully, sending him a softly encouraging smile. But she frowned at the self-derisive scoff that passed through the boy's lips.

"In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth." Danny replied slowly, scarcely daring to meet her eyes. Chloe creased her eyes in confusion, wondering what Danny was trying to get at by quoting the bible. "He created all that is known to Man and all that is known to the Angels. However this was never enough. As Man grew so too did his fear, and above all was the fear of the unknown. As a small mercy God created a third realm, for those who had passed on but weren't ready or able to give up their ties to the living world. For me, that's where everything starts; with the world of Ghosts."

She felt a chill hand on her shoulder, and suddenly the world blurred around them. When Chloe opened her eyes she found herself looking at an unfamiliar street. The buildings around her were tall and narrow. Long strings of tightly packed town houses lined either side of the asphalt road. But it was completely foreign to any street she knew. Beside her Danny sighed, drawing her attention to the charred remnants of a house at the end of the street. Chloe gasped at the destruction, there was almost nothing left, only a blackened crater half visible in the moonlight.

Danny took a step towards the crater, and Chloe kept pace with him. It was only when the moonlight shifted and she saw the watery sheen of his eyes that everything clicked. "This is Amity Park? Isn't it?" she asked in a hushed whisper. Danny nodded slowly, stopping almost dejectedly at the edge of the crater.

"This is Amity Park." He murmured; his voice as gentle and sad as a midnight zephyr. "One of few places in the United States where the barrier between this world and the Ghost Zone is narrow enough to break through easily. Amity Park has always been a ghost town of sorts, but it only really became renowned for it two years ago." He paused slightly, his gaze staring down into the bottom of the crater.

Chloe followed his gaze, noting a strange hexagonal doorway that was half buried in the rubble. The framework was blackened, and stray wires frayed out, rusting in the wind. Chloe looked back to Danny, his eyes watery as he stared down into the crater. He licked his lips in obvious agitation, sighing deeply before he could start again. "For me, this is where it all started. This is all that is left of Fentonworks. My mom and dad's home business. When I was in my freshman year they finished their biggest project; the Fenton Ghost Portal. It was supposed to be a stable link between the two worlds, available solely for research and exploratory purposes."

Danny shook his head, and Chloe just watched the boy as he continued staring down into the crater. "They finished in August." He continued after a minute's silence. "Four years of constant work and calculations. And they were so proud of themselves. But when they plugged it in it didn't work. There was a spark, and then nothing. Coming back here, seeing the portal like it is now... it's almost possible to believe that I'm back then. That none of it ever happened."

Chloe heard Danny sigh, and felt more than saw as he swung his legs over the edge of the crater. Somehow he managed to trace his way down to the flat base, picking his way through the rocks until he was standing just on the outside of the gateway. With morbid curiosity Chloe followed, realising that for all that this was the place where Danny had grown up, it was also all that remained of where he had lost his whole family. Chloe picked her way through the crater's bottom, puzzled to find that the bottom was perfectly flat. Looking down she saw rubble scattered across a tiled floor, somehow the tiles had survived the onslaught of the meteor rock.

"You asked, ages ago about my powers." Danny whispered, brushing the edge of the portal with his fingers. "About how exactly my _meteor exposure_ affected me." Danny turned to face her. "But I wasn't. I am not, nor could I ever be a meteor freak. I can be affected be the same properties of kryptonite that Clark can, but I can't be infected by them."

Chloe frowned, creasing her eyes in confusion. "What do you mean?" She asked.

Danny sighed, and his eyes became cold, distant. "My birth name is Danny Fenton. I was born on the twentieth of July of 1989 in Amity Park General hospital. But there's more to it than that. On the seventeenth of September of 2003 Danny Fenton stepped into this portal. And this is where Danny Fenton, the human fourteen year old died."

Chloe gasped and shivered involuntarily, taking a step backwards. She couldn't help it; she was horrified by what Danny was saying. She stared at the dark haired boy, studying every part of him, trying to solve the riddle that was Danny Fenton, while still battling down a primal urge to back away. But at the look in his eye, the abject pain and misery that swirled through those clouded blue eyes, she felt her fear crumble. She took a tentative step forward, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. Danny's lips curved upwards in a half smile as he turned back to face her.

"I'm sorry." He murmured. "I wanted to do this properly, but I feel like I'm making a mess of it." Chloe couldn't find the right words to say, but sent him an encouraging smile, eliciting a faint twinkling of silvery happiness in those deep azure pools of his eyes.

"I remember once," Danny continued, with a twinkling of bygone laugher in his eyes. "Ages ago, you said _'you're not the weirdest person out there'_ but... I think I have to disagree with that. I'm actually a lot weirder than even Clark, if you're going on a scale of what is more impossible. See, Clark is the last free member of the Kryptonian race. He is the last son of Krypton, and is the only Kryptonian on Earth. But he's not the first of his kind, or technically the last. There are still members of Krypton out there, imprisoned where they're unable to be freed. But we do know they're out there."

"But for all the good they do..." Chloe interrupted, keen to defend her friend.

"I'm not saying that they're good people." Danny denied adamantly. "I'm simply saying that they _exist_. Clark's presence on Earth is not impossible, merely an improbable outcome caused by a horrific event on Krypton." Chloe frowned, realising once more that Danny sometimes to be more of an expert on Krypton than even Clark was, but that wasn't the point of this discussion.

"So you think that Clark..." Chloe began, but was quickly cut off by Danny.

"Clark fits within the parameters of plausible and even conventional science." The dark haired boy stated bluntly.

"And you think that you don't?" Chloe pressed, a sceptical eyebrow raised.

"I know that I don't." Danny assured with confidant ruefulness. "See, nearly three years ago I walked into that portal, and I turned it on from the inside. I was electrocuted, and I died. Those are the prerequisite conditions for the creation of a ghost. However, here's the kicker. The fact that I was in a highly ectoplasm rich environment prevented me from passing on. I never actually died."

"But that doesn't make sense." Chloe replied, shaking her head. She was seriously starting to doubt the sanity of the young boy. "You can't both die and not die. That's impossible. You're either one or the other."

"And therein lies the reason I say I'm weirder than our Kryptonian friend. For two and a half years I have literally been both alive and dead; in that accident my genetic structure was rewritten." He paused, frowning slightly. "It... hurt." He said simply, shaking his head. "Half of my DNA was replaced by ectoplasm and when I woke up I was a ghost."

"So you're dead." Chloe concluded, cocking her head in curiosity. "Wait, that's why you get on with the other ghosts, isn't it? That's how you know Phantom. You're a ghost too and..." But Danny was shaking his head with a half affectionate smile. He held out his hand, wrist facing up.

"Ghosts may be capable of many things, but ectoplasm is unable to replicate a heartbeat, or a pulse." Danny said, with a quick nod towards his wrist. Chloe nodded once, recalling that fact from among the research on ghosts she'd done after Undergrowth had attacked Smallville. Curious, Chloe took the boy's wrist, carefully studying his eyes. She gasped, withdrawing her hand when she felt the first thrum of blood pushing through his veins.

"I'm not a ghost capable of maintaining a fully humanoid form. They do exist, but I am not among them." Danny explained. "I'm half-human, half-ghost. The coined term is halfa. I'm alive and fully human, but at the same time I'm dead and fully ghost. I'm a scientific impossibility, a product of an un-replicable accident involving ectoplasm and electricity. I know it is _possible_ to create other half-ghosts. But it would be impossible to recreate the exact circumstances that rendered the fourteen year old Danny Fenton a halfa."

Chloe's head whirled. She'd thought; when she discovered the extent of Clark's secret, that that was it in the impossible category. But the proof of something even more seemed to be in front of her. Danny was a living ghost, and that thought blew her mind away. And Danny was smiling at her, a soft smile that seemed paradoxical with the weight of what he was saying.

"How...?" Chloe began, but she didn't know what to say. Her eyes caught on the metallic structure of the portal, the loose wires and the darkened crevasse behind the scorched metallic archway. Noticing her gaze Danny sighed pensively.

"How is it possible?" Danny asked with one eyebrow raised. "It's not. But I know that it is because I exist. I told you that I have pretty liberal views of what's impossible and now you know why." Danny shook his head, a strange sort of smile playing on his lips. Chloe didn't know what to say to that. What he was saying, it was impossible; completely outside the realms of epistemic science or even pseudoscience. Hell, it was outside the realms of even the most extremist paranormal science. Chloe's mind swam with explanations, but everything reduced down to the mind boggling impossibility of what Danny was saying.

"Being here now;" Danny continued, apparently unaware of Chloe's inner mental anguish. "I actually think it's the portal that saved me when the meteor hit. So the invention that should've killed me nearly three years ago ended up saving me twice." Danny commented absently. He sighed, turning to face her with those unfathomable blue eyes. "See, in the Ghost Zone there's hearsay of one element that is so destructive to ectoplasm that no ghost can safely touch it. The two are polar opposites. The funny thing is, ectoranium is a radioactive green rock, completely alien to the planet Earth."

"Kryptonite." Chloe whispered, her eyes widening in realisation. This was something she could work with, something she could focus on because she understood.

"Exactly." Danny replied, smiling. "I think I know what happened that day. Why I survived when none of the others did." The younger boy paused, cocking his head curiously back towards her. "Did Clark ever tell you about his old spaceship, what happened if kryptonite got too close?"

Chloe nodded. "He didn't know how, but the ship managed to neutralise the kryptonite. The ship was able to produce a field which nullified the solar charge of green kryptonite permanently."

"Right." Danny nodded smiling. "And I think something similar happened here. Ectoplasm and kryptonite are pretty much polar opposites, and with a kryptonite charged meteor heading straight towards the gateway to the Zone... well I think the ectoplasm in the portal emitted a similar field to Clark's ship."

"To me," Danny continued with reflective blue eyes. "It sort of makes sense. See, no matter what I do, what I try, I can't remember the actual meteor strike. I remember a loud roar, and I remember a vague fog before I woke up in the hospital two weeks later. But the meteor strike itself... I think it's possible that, at that point of the meteor strike I literally became a part of the field. I didn't exist at that moment in time, not as a corporeal or even true ectoplasmic form. It's the only way I can explain it. I mean, the paramedics who came said I wasn't hurt, not as bad as I should have been."

"That's..." Chloe began, unsure of what exactly that theory was.

"Impossible, I know." Danny admitted almost callously. "A true ghost would have been reduced to ectoplasmic remnants, ended completely. But I survived, because I am human and I do have a physical body to return to. I'm used to the impossible, I have to be. Ghosts aren't alive, and living people aren't ghosts. But I'm both. And somehow, despite it all I know I exist."

Danny smiled a strange smile that Chloe couldn't quite place. It was somewhere between self-derision and genuine happiness. "I think, therefore I am?" Chloe asked, raising an eyebrow at the near Descartes reference.

"Something like that." Danny replied with a half smile. "Believe me; I've done the existential crisis bit more than once. It's sort of hard to get used to the idea that one morning everything's normal, and the next you wake up halfway through the kitchen ceiling."

"Is that how you met Phantom?" Chloe asked, her mind spinning off on a tangent at the strange anecdote. "He helped you when you first found out what had happened?"

"Yes and no." Danny replied slowly. "In a way, Phantom did help me get used to my powers, but not because he was helping me with them. See, when Danny Fenton walked into this portal all that time ago, it wasn't a human who walked out. When I came out of the portal I was a ghost, in my fully spectral form. When I came out I didn't have blue eyes or black hair. Ectoplasm changes things like that. When I came out of the portal I had glowing green eyes, and my hair was pure white."

Chloe watched the boy in front of her closely, thousands of pieces suddenly aligning perfectly. All the tiny little paradoxes that had kept her wondering; how a clumsy boy could move with such agility, how someone so behind at school could conceal a bright mind, how a goofy child could morph instantly into a wizened warrior. Why Danny always walked around in long-sleeved clothes as though the weather was superfluous to him, the strange necklace that hung around his neck, immovable even when he had been wounded nearly to the point of death, how he could walk away from a mortal wound and still play games the same night. How sweet, innocent, human Danny Fenton was impossibly, undeniably a ghost.

And somehow Chloe was unsurprised when two majestic halos of white-blue light erupted around Danny's waist. And she watched in fascination as they travelled across his body, his outfit morphing beneath the bright light. She watched, almost unsurprised, as a soft white cloak fluttered down around his shoulders, somehow swaying in a nonexistent breeze. And perhaps she was beyond the point of surprise when soft snow hair settled around his exotically paled face. It was somehow natural to observe that the young farm boy had morphed into an ethereal knight, standing with the regal poise of a prince. And as those eyes, those wondrously amazing bright green eyes opened, all she could do was smile as everything fell into place.

Kind green eyes beamed at her, possessing soft gentle warmth and a shining light that outstripped the stars in youthful wonderment. "Chloe," he said, his voice echoing softly against the night. Somehow it was still the same; it had that gentle enchanting strength that was undeniably his, whatever form he took. His feet hovered perhaps an inch above the ground, and he had taken on an air of unearthly mystery. But at the same time Chloe could see the young blue-eyed boy in those bright green eyes. And she saw the powerful man with silver eyes there too, both dancing just beneath the surface of those brightly glowing neon green orbs.

He smiled at her, a kind welcoming smile that warmed Chloe's heart and made her feel safe and protected all at the same time. "My name is Danny Phantom."

* * *

><p>AN; Yep, the Chloe Reveal is finally here. I hope you liked it, I wanted it to be special and I sort of think Danny inviting Chloe to find out in the place where Phantom was 'born' counts as special.<p>

I wasn't sure how to play it when I started writing, but I'm happy with how it ended up. I was going for warm and fuzzy with a hint of dark uncertainty so I sort of think it worked. In the end. Maybe.

Anyhow, thank you all for reading. I'll admit I'm delighted with the feedback you've all been giving me, and I'm glad that I haven't yet earned anyone's ire.

Translation; どういたしまして means 'You're welcome' In Japanese according to Google Translate.

Oh, and for anyone who's annoyed at the Genesis quote, it's more of a loose explanation of how the three worlds fit together than an actual creationist account. I figure it's along the lines of how Clockwork would try to explain things to Danny, given that it would have been among the first 'lessons' they had together.

Thankyou kindly,

Bluerose


	30. Cognition

Chapter 29

Cognition

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Danny smiled, slinging his backpack over his shoulder as he walked through the doors of Smallville High. It was Friday of the first week of term four, and that meant that he was graduating school in just a few short weeks. He felt genuinely buoyant, having told Chloe his secret and cleared a lot of the air between them he couldn't help but feel genuinely happy. Even a visit from the Corn Ghost hadn't bothered him, he'd just opened a portal to the Zone and pushed him in. He hadn't even needed to change into his ghost form to do it.

Still grinning he came to his locker, pulling out one of his textbooks before heading off for class. Passing by the door of the chemistry lab he could have sworn that he heard hushed whispers, but the loud ring of the bell interrupted him and he pressed his way on and into his history class. The only bad thing was that there was a round of post-vacation tests in the lead up to the final exams, and judging by the annoyed groans of his peers he was not the only one who had not prepared for it.

Still, as the paper slid in front of him Danny vowed to do his best. He'd been skipped ahead for a reason, and it would only be himself he was disappointing if he fell behind again. Besides, looking at the first question; 'Why did the US Army feel the need to contribute to the Vietnam War?' he couldn't help but feel it would be alright. This test was more about the politics behind the war than the specific events, and he was able to understand political disputes very well thanks to Clockwork's intense lessons. Smiling faintly he picked up his pen, confidently in his answers.

Danny finished well before the bell and took a moment to look around. Three other people finished within five minutes of him, but everyone else was scribbling right until the teacher called time. Murmuring softly the class filed out, handing their papers to the teacher as they left. Danny, as was his habit, was one of the last to leave but he quickly made his way to his next class. Mr Taylor smiled as Danny came in, and Danny smiled back.

For the last term they were studying the Romantic Poets, and Danny found himself actually looking forward to the unit. They were some of the best known poets for inspiring emotion with words, and Danny, being the half ghost that he was, found that an amazing skill. So Danny found himself smiling contentedly as Mr Taylor read through Wordsworth's _'Daffodils'_. Even though only half the class was paying attention there was a happy buzz in the air that gave his ghost half a much appreciated stamina boost.

Lunchtime soon came, and Danny found himself wandering aimlessly around the school. The sun was warm today, bringing the soft scent of spring as the wind rustled through the trees. Eventually he got bored of walking and just decided to flop, sprawled out on the grass and letting the sun warm him up. His eyes closed as he let his mind wander.

"You know you really are strange." Danny heard a voice say as a shadow crossed his face, effectively blocking the sun.

"Hi Chloe." Danny said with half lidded eyes. "What brings you to Smallville High?"

"Curiosity." Chloe answered, taking a seat beside him. "I had time off and I've been meaning to visit the Torch here for a while. See how my successor has been holding the reins. That sort of thing."

"Really?" Danny asked, rolling onto his side. Peering through one eyelid he saw Chloe nod. "'cos last I checked the Torch was inside the school, not way out here in the sun."

"Okay, fine." Chloe admitted. "I wanted to come and see you."

Danny immediately sat up, ruffling his hair to clear the grass that had gotten caught. He knew what Chloe meant. While he had revealed his secret to her they hadn't really talked about it. She had said she needed a bit of time to process, and Danny was only too happy to give her that. He'd expected her to need a week. He had in a way betrayed her trust, and he knew he wasn't the first to do so. But for her to be here only the day after his revelation, well, he wasn't sure what to expect.

"When I found out," The blonde began before pausing "When I first found out about your powers, why didn't you tell me then?"

Danny sighed. "You're thinking about Clark, aren't you?" He asked, looking musingly back towards the school. "Chloe, Clark and I may be similar in some ways but we have very different pasts. I've made enemies, real enemies, who would stop at nothing to get at Phantom. It wasn't safe for you to know."

"The GIW?" Chloe pressed.

"Partially." Danny admitted with a sad shrug. He gulped, recounting his last experiences with the sole government officiated ghost hunting agency and his fingers automatically pressed to his abdomen. He wasn't sure if that scar would ever disappear. "They're ruthless. They don't see ghosts as people; to them we don't have feelings, we can't feel pain. They're... just beyond anything."

Danny paused, feeling his eyes stinging; whether from remembered pain or emotion he didn't know. "But if they were the only problem I would have told you about me right then. The GIW don't particularly care who gets in the way, but they do have some issues with abusing humans to get what they want. Given the right spin you'd be safe from them. But they're not my only enemies."

"Is this where Vlad comes in?" Chloe asked.

Danny sighed. "Yeah. He was, in a way, like me. Vlad Masters was Vlad Plasmius. He was technically the first half-ghost to exist. But he was always different, sorta like the meteor infected people here are different from Clark. The accident in college, it infected him with ectoplasm and that gave him a ghost half. But he was always different from me. He never died; he was only ever a human with ghost powers. And now he's just human."

"What do you mean?" Chloe prodded. Danny leaned back, staring up into the clouds.

"It's hard to explain. For me, my ghost half is as much a part of me as my blood is. It's _possible_ to separate ghostly material from human material, so in theory half-ghosts can be separated from their human and ghost halves. That's what I did to Vlad; I took Plasmius out so now he's just plain Vlad Masters. But for me, I know that to try and separate my halves doesn't work. I've done it before, tried it before."

Chloe hummed curiously.

Danny frowned, truth was he'd done it twice, but Chloe probably wasn't ready to hear the darker story. So he decided to talk about the first time it had happened. "It was back when I first got seriously into the whole double life thing. I was getting sick of trying to be in two places at once, it was like every time I wanted to be a kid, hang with my friends, there'd be another ghost. Mom and dad had made this dream-catcher type thing that was able to separate ghosts and human things. So I went through it."

Danny paused, biting his lip. "You know that I can be in two places at once and can be in both forms at the same time." Danny said.

"Like Christmas?" Chloe interjected, "I was wondering how you managed that."

"Duplication. It's a useful power to have." Danny explained with a quick smile. "Well the thing is that when I do that, I'm still entirely me. It's sort of an overly complicated form of multitasking, but each of me is at least loosely aware of what each of the others is doing. Anyway, the dream-catcher was entirely different. I was able to separate myself, but not properly. Parts of my personality split between my two halves. So human me was a fun but casual slacker, and ghost me was courageous and heroic."

"So you can't go back to fully human?" Chloe asked.

"Nope." Danny replied. "To be honest, I've sort of forgotten what it's like. I mean, at first I completely rejected the idea; who wants to be a ghost? But now I don't think I could live without it."

"You know, Clark was given the chance to be human for a while last summer." Chloe mused.

"Yeah, and I know he loved it." Danny replied. "But it wasn't to be, not forever. I've had the same chance, you know." Danny commented. "Not that I knew it at the time."

"Really?" Chloe asked with genuine curiosity.

"Yeah." Danny smiled. "A couple of months after the accident Sam and I got into a really big fight, and she made a wish that she never met me. Unfortunately Desiree was around the time and thought it'd be fun to work with that wish. Desiree was able to lock away my powers and my memory of ever being Phantom, she couldn't change the genetics but she made me forget everything about how to be a ghost." A genuine smile crossed his lips. Those had been a chaotic few days filled with mayhem and Sam acting completely out of character.

"In retrospect it seems pretty funny, but at the time I just thought it was crazy. But I did learn my lesson, and since then I've appreciated the friends that I do have." Danny paused, his fingers brushing the ring on his necklace, his knuckles touching the silver DP symbol. "Sam created my symbol, you know. That's when it first became a part of my ghost form."

"You know you're the subject of a lot of speculation online because of your costume changes." Chloe commented, sending him a teasing smile.

"Yeah, most ghosts don't bother much." Danny said, hearing the bell for classes ringing in the distance. "And you try wearing latex half the time. It's uncomfortable." He stood up, turning around to offer Chloe a hand herself. "Talk later?" He asked, noting the other students milling back towards the school building.

"Later." Chloe nodded.

"Promise to tell you more about Phantom's powers then." Danny called back to her. "And about the 'Renaissance Fair'."

"I'll hold you to it." Chloe replied, sending him a smile. Danny beamed as he headed back into the halls of Smallville High. For the first time in months things genuinely seemed like they were running smoothly.

_Line Break_

Konan Sykes scowled as he surveyed the darkened chemistry lab. His friends Zack and Ash were both running late, and if they mixed their next dose then everything would go to waste. It had started the previous year as a simple project, little more than speculation. But amongst the research of the previous years' seniors he'd come across a paper about the way that meteor rocks effected the chemical phenylethylamine. He wasn't particularly interested in love, or teenage lust as that project was more directed at.

But it had gotten him thinking; if the meteor rocks could help some prissy cheerleaders score dates, then why couldn't he use the same principles to help himself get ahead in life. So he'd spoken it over with Zack and Ash who were both nearly as good at chemistry as him and they'd all agreed to try it out. It had taken a while, but they'd managed to successfully infuse piracetam with meteor rock. In the end it made a powerful nootropic and had made the world of difference to him and his friends.

They say that at any given point in time the average human only uses five percent of their brain. With the meteor rock infused piracetam they were able to access fifteen, and somehow it changed everything. Reading a textbook took next to no time, and the words just stuck. But more than that, their enhanced brainpower had the amusing side effect of giving each of them a form of telekinesis. It was an awesome feeling, to know that they were above anyone else in their year group, to know that they were superior to the other peons that they worked with. An experiment like this was groundbreaking; it gave them the mental agility to get ahead and the physical power to enforce it. And none of them were willing to share their success with anyone outside their group.

The chemistry lab door shut with a soft click, and Konan snapped around to face the other two. "You're late." He spat.

"Sorry, K." Ash replied with a shrug. "We got held up outside by some of the football team."

"They shouldn't be a problem anymore." Konan replied, his brown eyes flashing in anger.

"And they're not." Zack assured. "However, as the decision was against making the general public aware of our current experiment, it seemed unwise to persist in anything further than a verbal sparring."

Konan frowned, looking between his two old friends. Ash had always been the smallest of the group, and had often been the target of bullying. Even now his glasses were held together by a piece of Sellotape, rather than forking over the cash to have them repaired again. Zack on the other hand was tall and lean. His red hair was a feature uncommon in Smallville, and his naturally pale skin had kept him inside and away from a lot of sporting ventures.

That was part of why Konan had first become friends with the two; together the three of them were stronger than they were apart. While Konan wasn't as tall as Zack, he was the natural leader of their triad, having always had a confidence that neither of the others possessed. It was annoying that they had been late, but acceptable. Konan nodded. "Fine, we should get started then." He sighed, turning his attention to the locked cupboard where their version of piracetam was held.

Cocking his head to the side he made the door fly open, and he relished in the empowering feeling as the reinforced container flew out to land in his hands. He had adapted the quickest to the telekinesis, quickly understanding how their enhanced cognition was allowing them to reach out into the environment and to manipulate it to their will. Smiling he opened the box, slipping the key back into his pocket as he dished out three little green pills.

"This is the third last dose." He commented, watching the euphoric expressions on his friends' faces as they swallowed down the pills. "After the course is run, the effects should be permanent." The other two smiled at him, and Ash pulled a textbook from across the room over to him. That was the purpose in the whole thing; use the resources available to them now to ensure superior scores on their exit exams, and then ace through college. After all, all three of them agreed that high school didn't matter; it was only the first stepping stone to their future.

Konan looked at the little green pill. It was hard to believe how much such a simple thing could do, but he knew it inside and out. The rush they gave him just after taking it was beyond anything else, the way it accelerated the neurotransmitters in the brain to the point where reality almost slowed down around them. It was empowering. Konan grinned as he swallowed the little green pill, savouring the experience as the meteor rock amplified the effects of the nootropic.

Sending a secretive smile to his two friends he marched past them, leading them out of the lab and towards their next class. Those first few minutes after taking a dose were always exhilarating; it was like seeing the world through the eyes of a raptor. Every little thing jumped out in sharp detail, and information whirled through his mind, educating and enhancing it. But the most empowering thing was that it did not overload him. He remembered every instant of the buzz, and it had lasted longer with every dose.

He filed into their last class of the day; a simple physics lesson. But he had long since memorised the textbook. In fact the only reason that he or his friends bothered coming to any of their classes anymore was to be on the roll, although occasionally the teachers did have some insights that were not included in their textbooks. Konan took a moment to look around the room; most of his peers were still in a post-lunch daze and stared stupefied at the front of the room. He sighed; glad to be beyond that level of stupefaction. It was as though none of them cared for anything beyond their social lives, and that turned the class into a vacuous waste.

Just as the bell rang a dark haired teen walked in. Konan frowned; it was Danny Fenton. The dark haired boy was a variable that Konan neither understood nor appreciated. At the beginning of the year the sixteen year old had been enrolled in the junior class, but after the winter break he'd been skipped ahead into Konan's own year. He had thought little of it, but over time the boy had proven his own quiet academic achievement. The test that morning was further proof of it; Konan and his two friends had of course finished early, but Fenton had finished even before that.

It was even more puzzling given the boy's constant absences and frequent disappearances from the school premises. And yet somehow the dark haired sixteen-year-old was getting the top marks in their year. He would have assumed that Fenton was somehow cheating, but if he was ever asked a question in class his answers were always accurate. He watched with slitted eyes as the younger boy took a seat at the back of the room, but for a second he could have sworn that those blue eyes fixed piercingly on him.

Even still, the class began and Konan pulled out a book. He'd borrowed it from the library seeing as how the teacher wasn't able to go into detail on the principles. So he'd found a book that went further into quantum theory and passed the class between reading that and talking with Ash and Zack. However when the class bell rang the teacher requested that the three of them stayed back. He frowned as a note was pressed into his hands, requiring him to go to the history teacher's office promptly. He inwardly groaned, annoyed that he was being held back.

Frowning he knocked on the door, his two companions behind his shoulders as he stepped in. He had not anticipated the Fenton boy being in there too, but it would at least dissipate the pressure on his trio.

"Please sit." Mr Paige, the history teacher commanded sternly. Konan took a seat on one of the three spindly chairs left in the room.

"Mr Fenton," Mr Paige commented. "If it weren't for the fact that your academic performance has previously come into question you would not be here. However, as it is the four of you were the only ones to actually complete the recent in-class test." Mr Paige frowned, turning to face Konan and his friends. "As it is, I find it peculiar that you three were able to perfectly answer the questions word-for-word from your textbook."

"There's nothing wrong with rote memory." Ash objected.

"Not specifically." Mr Paige acknowledged. "However it is unusual, I have never seen three students have such faultless answers in my entire teaching career. As such you should be prepared to take an additional test. Until such a time as I am convinced that the three of you have answers of your own then you can consider yourself on academic probation."

"That's not fair!" Zack exclaimed. "How can doing well in a test possibly deserve us being put on probation."

"Because I am not convinced of your academic honesty." Mr Paige replied bluntly.

"Mr Paige," Konan said calmly, despite his inner turmoil. "Please be assured, we did not cheat or bring prohibited material into the test. Our answers were merely the result of intensive group study over the holiday break and last term."

"And I would believe that if the three of you had shown this sort of aptitude in history before now." Mr Paige countered. "Honestly Konan, I know that your strength is in the sciences. And you have demonstrated more than once your scorn for the more philosophical courses. You will be sitting an additional test, and this time I encourage you invest more thought into your study habits."

"Well what about Fenton?" Zack asked, clearly annoyed at this development.

"Mr Fenton is here for similar reasons. Daniel, please tell me that you did not look at the questions before you entered the test room this morning."

"No sir." Fenton replied vehemently, as though he were offended by the thought of cheating. "I have been receiving some tutoring in history, and my opinions of historical events have been influenced by those of my tutor."

"Mr Fenton, your responses were well articulated, but in too much detail for me to believe you made them up on the spot." Mr Paige pressed. "I would prefer if you too sat the additional test. All four of you will report to my classroom at lunchtime tomorrow, and be warned, I will not accept answers that show no deeper understanding. You are in your senior year, and much more is expected of you than simple rote learning."

Like that they were dismissed, and Konan groused as he left the room. Part of him wanted to talk to Fenton, to ask what the hell his story really was. But the dark haired boy was already gone. Konan scowled, the door to the chemistry room blowing open in his anger. Ash and Zack followed behind him, equally as annoyed by this turn of events.

"How it that fair?" Zack complained, mentally tugging a chair behind himself as he sat down.

"We did the work." Ash added. "It's not like he can complain that we don't know the stuff."

"I can't afford to be on academic probation." Zack bemoaned. "My only way outta here depends on the exit exams."

"Calm down you two." Konan instructed, his attention fixed on a distillation tube as a beaker floated beneath it. As he watched the colourful liquid drip into the green beaker he smiled, like the neutralisation reaction in his beaker a plan came to mind. "We won't need to worry about the test if Paige is out of the picture."

_Line Break_

Chloe sighed as she sat on the sofa in the barn loft. Since she was in Smallville she'd decided to wait for Danny to get home, although she hadn't expected the half hour whinge from Clark about Lois being around so often. Clark was currently heading into town to fetch some supplies for around the farm. And now Chloe was waiting for a very different dark-haired boy to arrive in the loft.

Chloe sighed, absently pulling open her laptop. She had accepted to a degree what she had seen last night. Her scientific mind wanted to reject the idea; it didn't make sense for Danny to claim to be both alive and dead simultaneously. But the proof before her eyes had been more than enough. She had felt his pulse just last night, but she had equally watched as the boy morphed into a green eyed ghost. 'Halfa' he had called himself, and perhaps that was the best way for her to deal with it. Instead of seeing him as an impossible being, if she treated him like Clark then maybe it would make sense.

Chloe distractedly pulled up the _Hunter's Almanac_ online website. It had been nearly four months since she last looked at it, just after Jonathan Kent had died. But her curiosity got the better of her and she pulled up the page on Phantom. It had changed a bit since she last visited, but she wasn't sure how recent it was. There was a new power on the list, and Chloe was awed at the record of a sonic attack.

_Inviso-Bill (aka Danny Phantom/Ghost Kid/Whelp)_

_Level 9 ectoplasmic entity_

_First observed 1.9 years ago; physical assault of citizens with ecto-blasts, observed as Level 4._

_Rapidly accelerating power levels; cause unknown – hypothesised unstable power source_

_First sighted regularly in Amity Park, Colorado, usually in the company of additional ectoplasmic entities_

_Currently commonly observed in Smallville and Metropolis, Kansas, usually in the presence of ectoplasmic entities. Reasons for apparent location change, unknown _

_Appearance_

_Appears as a young teenage boy; White Hair, Pale Skin (Unusually human tone), Glowing Green Eyes._

_Originally observed wearing a black Hazmat Suit, White Gloves and Boots_

_White "DP" Symbol on its chest appeared after 4__th__ month of observation_

_Appearance changed again after 16__th__ month of observation. White Cloak, Black Tunic and Trousers, White Fingerless Gloves, Silver Boots. Occasionally bearing Silver and Green Sword_

_Changed appearance hypothesised as related to power, also a potential ploy for sympathy, posing as a "white knight"._

_Has been observed as having black tipped hair and silver eyes, labelled as "Phantom Angel" by media._

_Abilities_

_Basic Ectoplasm Manipulation (Energy Blasts) – Standard _

_Paranormal Strength, Speed, Agility, and Durability__ – Standard _

_Flight – Standard_

_Intangibility – Standard_

_Invisibility – Standard_

_Overshadowing – Standard_

_Regeneration – Standard_

_Advanced Ectoplasm Manipulation (Inc. Projection, Shielding etc) – Particular_

_Bodily Manipulation (Inc. Flexibility, Mist Like "Spectral Tail" and Reshaping Own Body) – Particular _

_Cyrokinesis – Particular _

_Duplication – Particular_

_Electrical Charge Generation – Particular_

_High Speed Flight (Observed at +250mph) – Particular_

_Sonic Attack (Recorded at 190dB) – Particular_

_Sword – Particular _

_Hypothesised Enhanced Senses – Standard _

_Hypothesised High Energy Manipulation (Pure Energy, not Ectoplasmic Energy) – Particular_

_Hypothesised Signature Concealment – Particular_

_Hypothesised High Intelligence (Comparable to Human IQ 145) – Particular_

_Hypothesised Precognition – Particular_

_Obsession (Confirmed)_

_Violence, Destruction, or Power; Confirmed _

_(After the destruction wrought over Metropolis on the 5__th__ of April it has been confirmed that this entity's obsession is destructive, although unrelated to territorial disputes. However there s a minority that still suggests that the entity's obsession is Human Life, Living Relatives or Protection and that the destruction is a by-product)_

_Notes_

_Phantom is a highly dangerous entity; it causes great destruction with its obsession. Known to eliminate other ectoplasmic threats, it is unsafe to be near. Has been known to endanger civilians; reported to have released entities to endanger human life and property (see Axion Labs public data files 3976, 4601, 4837, 5003). Do not approach; ectoplasmic being cannot easily be contained and there are no known captures. _

_Sources_

_Spectators/Civilians_

_The Daily Planet; _"Wild Weather over Metropolis"_ (6__th__ Apr, 2006)_

_The Smallville Ledger; _"The Phantom Angel" _(1__st__ Nov, 2005)_

_Hunters Alliance Members: ID B15, E16, F01, F02, G67, L08, Q12, R14, S12, Y01 (J92, R03)_

Chloe jumped as she heard someone come up into the loft, but she smiled when she realised that it was just Danny. The halfa waved at her, and came to take a seat atop the large green trunk that served as a coffee table in the loft. "Hey," the halfa commented "Sorry I'm late."

"It's okay." Chloe replied semi-distractedly. "I guess you had to take care of a..." She trailed off unsure of whether she wanted to finish that statement.

"No, actually." Danny replied, shaking his head. "I got held back after school 'cos a couple of guys had suspicious answers on a test. But because I managed to finish where everyone else didn't I got lumped in with them." The half-ghost shrugged.

Chloe creased her eyebrow in concern. "You think something's going on?" She asked. It had been a while since she dealt with a meteor mystery at school, but something in Danny's tone made her wonder.

"I know something's going on." He replied sadly. "I just don't know exactly what. Nobody can recite their textbooks word perfect, but Mr Paige says that's what they've done."

"Want me to look into it?" Chloe asked.

Danny shook his head. "Maybe later" the blue eyed boy answered. "Actually I was hoping to talk. We didn't get much of a chance when you came to school at lunch."

Chloe flushed embarrassedly, but was able to focus again. "Right. Well, I had originally planned to try something like twenty questions but now..." She trailed off looking at the webpage displayed on her computer screen. "There's a couple of 'hypothesiseds' on here that I was hoping you could clear up." Chloe handed the laptop over and watched as he read the screen. After a minute he laughed, blue eyes twinkling in delight.

"Gotta love Ghost Hunters." He commented. "They're so terribly good at completely missing the truth. And I see I've gone from an 'approach with caution' to a 'do not approach'."

Chloe couldn't help but roll her eyes at him before she snatched the laptop back. "So..." she trailed hopefully. Danny instantly sobered up.

"Okay fine." He said "I'll start with the all the things they hypothesised and then run through some of the other stuff they messed up. Enhanced senses; confirmed. All us ghosts have better senses than humans in some form, but I'm not quite as good at Clark. And so far as I know, none of us can do x-ray vision like he can."

He frowned before continuing. "The energy manipulation thing, that's sorta true but at the same time not. I'm more aware of the energy around me than a lot of ghosts are; that's part of what allows me to be aware of auras. I can work with electricity a bit, in fact I think soon I'll need to practice with that a bit, but that's pretty much the extent of my ability to manipulate energy."

Chloe nodded, she was still struggling to understand but she felt like she was getting there, "And the signature concealment thing?"

Danny smiled. "Okay, when I first looked up that page I thought it was a joke." He commented. "They've been bashing on about that since they first found out I existed. But it's really something they'd never figure out."

"You're human too." Chloe guessed, smiling herself.

"Yep." The boy beamed with sparkling blue eyes. "They could never figure out where I'd gone when all I really had to do was switch back to human. Of course now I can control my ecto-signature to the point where it may as well be concealed, but that's beside the point. Actually, the only people who had trackers that could find me in both forms were my parents."

Chloe raised an eyebrow. She didn't want to push the topic of the Fenton parents since it was still a relatively raw issue, but she was admittedly curious as to how they had never figured him out if that was the case.

"As for high IQ..." The boy shrugged. "I'm not convinced of the institution. Strictly speaking I can only ever have an IQ of 100 since my brain is wired different to both humans and ghosts. I don't really fit on the standard bell curve."

Chloe decided not to prod into that one. She was partially curious as to Danny's intelligence, but that complete deflection told her that either he wasn't interested to know himself, or that he was trying to be humble in his answer. "Precognition?" Chloe asked instead, looking to the bottom of the list.

"Hecate, no." The boy replied. "I'm not a psychic and nor would I want to be. I have a ghost sense which tells me when ghosts are near, and a general... I guess you could call it a 'danger sense' that tells me if there's anyone nearby who needs help."

"Danger sense?" Chloe prodded curiously.

"Related to my obsession and no, I'm not telling you what it is." Danny replied shortly. There was a dangerous flare in his eyes, a silent warning. "If you can guess it I'm happy, but I'm not telling anyone else. But it isn't destruction like they say there."

Chloe frowned, and Danny seemed to understand her disappointment. "I'm not trying to block you out, but a ghost's obsession is a private thing. Vlad exploited mine and he used Clark to do it, probably it's a wounded pride thing, but I'm not ready to just say it anymore."

"Okay. Fine." Chloe replied. She wasn't entirely happy with that, but if Danny didn't want to share what his obsession was then she didn't have the right to force it out of him. "Then can I ask about the sonic attack. Last time I checked it was only hypothesised."

"Sonic... my Ghostly Wail." Danny realised. "Yeah, I was hoping that one wouldn't get out officially."

"Why not?" Chloe asked, her eyebrows creased in confusion. "Why wouldn't you want people to know about it?"

"Chloe, look at the decibel reading next to it." Danny instructed. And Chloe's eyes widened as she realised what 190Hz meant. "Exactly. The loudest possible sound is 194dB; that power has the potential to literally kill people. I don't want that, in fact I hate using that power at all. But it's sort of my trump card. I used it to face off against Vortex, but... well pretty much everything in that fight went wrong."

Chloe blinked. Hearing that brought something home. She'd seen Danny change into Phantom, but she hadn't really thought about what that meant. The boy in front of her was powerful, immensely powerful. "Oh my god, you're Phantom." She said as it finally caught up to her. All those fights, battles that nobody should be able to survive, and then there was the fact that Clark had rescued Phantom from a GIW lab. Chloe gulped at the awing thought that that was the same person as the blue-eyed boy who did farm chores alongside Clark. Danny however was just looking at her curiously.

"I thought we'd established that." The boy commented with a concerned frown.

"No," Chloe said. "It's just I think it finally hit me. You're really him, he's you... you're..."

"Chloe," He said, looking her in the eye. "You've met me as Fenton, and you've met me as Phantom. It doesn't matter to me which form I'm in." He huffed, blowing the dark locks out of his eyes. "Look, maybe that wasn't the best place to start. " Shaking his head the boy held out his hand. "Hello Chloe Sullivan, I'm _Danny_."

And the way he stressed his name, combined with the strange mixture of bemusement and irritation in his eyes made her pause. She spent a moment looking into those swirling blue eyes before cracking a smile. She unhesitatingly shook his hand. "Hello Danny, I'm pleased to meet you." She replied, still looking him in the eyes. A moment passed before she burst into laughter at ridiculousness of the whole situation. A second later he joined her, and Chloe couldn't help but smile inwardly in amusement. He was right; Fenton or Phantom he was still just Danny. And Chloe relaxed happily as she laughed alongside her blue eyed friend.

_Line Break_

Clark scowled as he eyed the figure on the far side of the field. He had been working out on the back quarter all morning, trying to get the field ploughed so that they could sow it for the next season. He'd only been halfway through when this guy had popped up and decided to try and clog up the tractor engines. Emphasis on try. As soon as the specter had tried he'd immediately jumped back as the engine sparked bright green. Clark had just smiled at Danny's forethought; apparently he'd ghost-proofed the tractor while he was going about improving the engine.

That had however enraged the ghost, and now Clark stood facing an irate Corn Ghost. Despite having never met the ghost in person, Clark recognised him from Danny's many sketches of him. "You!" The ghost cried, his dead blue eyes flashing angrily. "How Dare You Defy The Corn Ghost?!" Clark couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. He sounded exactly like the Box Ghost had all those months ago.

The ghost glared at him, but his gaze quickly became more intense as the specter surveyed him. "You look like the halfa." The ghost commented before breaking into a grin. "But you are not. I shall enjoy playing with you, man-who-looks-like-the-halfa-but-is-human." He clapped his hands together as a wicked flash sparked through his eyes.

The ghost smirked as he threw a thin hand out in front of him, and suddenly the grass around them was twisting itself around Clark's legs. But this time Clark knew what he was doing. After the debacle with the box ghost in Metropolis Danny had given Clark a quick rundown of how to handle ghosts like the Box Ghost and the Corn ghost. Instead of worrying Clark raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you were the Corn Ghost, not the grass Ghost." Clark commented.

"The Corn Ghost has dominion over all things agricultural. This field once grew corn, and I shall make sure you are the first to witness my deliverance of Sweet Corn Doom!" The ghost ranted and Clark couldn't help but wonder how Danny put up with the repetitive nature of ghosts like him.

Clark pulled free of the grass easily and walked over to stand in front of the ghost who was still shouting his plans to take over the world through corn. Clark just shook his head before hitting the ghost with a blast of his heat vision. Like the Box Ghost before him, the Corn Ghost was rendered harmless as he fell unconscious to the ground. Clark sighed as he pulled out his phone. While the ghost might be out for the count, Danny was still the only one who could contain them long term.

"_Hey Clark."_ The boy answered on the second ring.

"Danny." Clark acknowledged. "I ran into the Corn Ghost this morning. He's out cold for the moment, but..."

"_But you were wondering if I could come and send him home?" _Danny surmised. There was a hint of distraction in his voice that made Clark worried. He heard a sigh from the other end of the phone before the boy continued. _"I've got a duplicate coming your way, but I really gotta go. Class is gonna start and I really can't afford to get into the black books more than I already am."_

"Then I'll see you when the duplicate gets here." Clark replied before pulling the phone away. He was about to disconnect the phone when he heard Danny speak in an almost panicked rush.

"_Wait Clark?" _The younger boy's voice came. _"Can you pull a favour with Chloe and get her to look into something called piracetam? Thanks, gotta go, bye."_ And the line cut out. Clark frowned, looking between the ghost and the phone. Sighing he dialled Chloe's number, hoping that she wasn't too busy herself to oblige to Danny's strange request.

_Line Break_

Danny frowned as he slipped into the school. It was nearly an hour before classes started but he hadn't really been bothered to head back home after a rogue cow ghost had ended up near the school. It wasn't causing much harm, in fact it was probably just lost and had wandered through a portal accidentally. Danny had just sent it back to the Zone towards one of the farming areas there. His feet tapped loudly in the empty corridor as Danny made his way towards his locker, but Danny had decided to use the extra hour to try and get ahead on his English Lit work before he got bogged down with other work.

He was still very much mindful of the fact that he had to take a history test at lunch, but he figured that that sort of complication was just a part of his life. What did confuse him was the other three students who had been held back after school. Going into the holidays they'd been normal, if a little on the nerdy side. But now that they were back for the final term the three of them seemed to have picked up an attitude problem and... Danny frowned. It actually felt like the three of them were meteor infected.

Danny changed course, veering off towards the chem. Lab where the three of them spent most of their time. He didn't know what he was looking for, but the chances of all three of them becoming meteor infected separately over the break seemed unlikely, even to Danny. Absently he phased through the door, his eyes surveying the darkened room. He frowned once more, trying to figure out a good place to start.

Danny walked across to the bookshelf, noting which ones had more dust on them than others. Unfortunately that didn't tell him much other than that someone had been frequenting the books on the molecular structure of different drugs. That wasn't the most useful piece of information since those could have been pursued by any students, not just Konan, Zack and Ash. He shoved the book back on the shelf and moved over to the files of reports that students had written.

Here he had more success. Before the break the three of them had been looking into stimulants, specifically the field of nootropics. Danny wasn't particularly well versed in human medicine and what he did know was closer to trench medicine. But that did ring a vague bell. Danny half remembered Jazz going on about drugs in the nootropic family being used to treat things like dementia or concussions, basically neurological problems. But that didn't tell him much other than that they were looking at brain functioning.

Danny huffed, blowing long black strands out of his eyes as he put that file back. However he paused when he saw the file behind it. It was a research paper from a girl called Mandy Walsh to do with phenylethylamine. But Danny had heard about this one; the previous year some of the smarter cheerleaders had hashed onto the fact that kryptonite could affect and amplify the effects of the so called 'love drug'. It those three guys had seen that then it wasn't too much of a leap to guess that they were trying to replicate the effects with another drug.

Danny went back to the first paper, searching through it more thoroughly this time. He settled on a single product name; piracetam, and determined to do his own bit of investigation. Noting how close it was to the bell Danny slipped out of the classroom and made his way invisibly to a storage closet. Just as he was leaving his phone vibrated, and clanking at the caller he figured that it was probably something important.

"Hey Clark." He said, slipping through the crowd and back towards his locker.

"_Danny." _Clark replied _"I ran into the Corn Ghost this morning. He's out cold for the moment, but..."_

"But you were wondering if I could come and send him home?" Danny surmised, careful not to let anyone overhear him. He sighed, and slipped into an empty bathroom before duplicating. "I've got a duplicate coming your way, but I really gotta go." He told Clark. He was a bit distracted by the mystery of the chemistry boys, but couldn't do much about it just now. "Class is gonna start and I really can't afford to get into the black books more than I already am."

"_Then I'll see you when the duplicate gets here."_ Clark replied. Danny frowned before he realised that maybe getting someone else in on this could help.

"Wait Clark?" Danny rushed, hopeful to catch Clark before his cousin hung up. "Can you pull a favour with Chloe and get her to look into something called piracetam?" He asked just as the bell rang. Hoping that it wouldn't come off as too rude, he rushed a goodbye before slipping out of the bathroom and off to math.

As usual he took his seat at the back of the room, but this time he felt the clear presence of three sets of eyes from across the room. Feigning nonchalance Danny focused on the teacher's steady drone, but he was highly aware that the gaze of those three boys did not leave him throughout the whole period. When the bell rand Danny deliberately waited; fully aware that those three were going to tail him until their test at lunch otherwise.

"Can I help you?" Danny asked, turning to face the self appointed ringleader Konan.

"Depends." The brown eyed boy replied. "What'd you do on the test yesterday?"

Danny raised an eyebrow. "I answered the questions."

"And yet you're stuck taking a retest with us at lunch." Zack added in.

"Seems so." Danny replied warily. He was certain of it now; all three of them were meteor infected. Danny just didn't know the exact specifics of their infection. "But I don't really care. They want to see we understand the stuff; it shouldn't matter if there's a retest. I'd prefer that to having Mr Paige thinking I cheated."

"See we have a different approach." Konan replied.

"We took the test, like everyone else." Ash supplemented. "It shouldn't matter that we know the textbook so well, only that we answered the question at all."

Danny shook his head disbelievingly. "So what? You can quote the textbook. The point of being here at all is to prove that you can learn, take deeper meaning from what we're being taught. If they want to test me again, that's fine. It doesn't hurt me to prove that I can meet their challenges."

"We're on academic probation." Zack hissed. "That's not a challenge, it's a mark of condemnation."

Danny sighed and turned to leave. "See it your way then." Danny commented. "I'll catch you all at lunch." He was halfway through the door when it slammed shut in front of him with a loud bang. Danny spun around to face the three chemistry boys once more. However he wasn't overly surprised by this development.

"Telekinesis, huh?" He commented mildly, meeting the three of them in the eyes. He grinned, flashing the three of them a bemused smile. "Intentional or side-effect?" But he didn't give them a chance to answer. Instead he pulled the door open and moved off to his next class.

He was halfway through his Lit class when his phone vibrated saying that he had a message. It was a simple request to give her a call in his next break which he was only too happy to oblige. The class ended quickly enough, and as soon as Danny was through the door he called his friend.

"Hey Chloe." He said upon hearing the blonde's cheerful answer. "Find anything?"

"_A little." _Chloe replied shortly. _"You know it's sort of hard when you don't give me a direction to look in."_

"I have my suspicions," Danny replied frowning. "I just hope I'm not right."

Chloe sighed audibly over the phone. _"You're gonna have to catch me up later, Phantom, but I guess you wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."_

"You happen to be fantastic at finding information in the Real World." Danny replied wryly. "Why would I pass up such a valuable resource?"

"_Flattery will get you nowhere." _The blonde flatly replied. _"You owe me."_

"So piracetam?" Danny pressed, shaking his head absently as he got back to the topic at hand.

"_Piracetam is a common name for one of the most accessible drugs in the racetam family of nootropics." _Chloe replied. _"Chemical name 2-oxo-1-pyrrolidineacetamide, it's mostly used for the treatment of cognitive impairments and disorders."_

"Anything about the effects on healthy people?" Danny pressed.

Chloe hummed once before replying. _"The whole family is useful for helping memory. Recall, short term and long term memory, they can basically boost mental functioning."_

"That's what I was afraid of." Danny frowned.

"_What's going on, Danny?"_ Chloe's worried voice came over the phone.

Danny rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I think some of the people in my year have been playing with chemicals." He replied, shaking his head as he got to his locker. "Meteor rock and piracetam. At least now I know how the three of them quoted the textbook in history."

"_They're using it to cheat?" _Chloe demanded incredulously. _"And they got away with it?"_

"No actually." Danny replied, pulling out his next textbook and stuffing it in his bag. "Mr Paige is suspicious of them. All four of us are taking a retest at lunch."

"_Why are you being included?"_ Chloe pushed. And Danny could almost hear an echo of Sam in her sceptical disbelief.

"'Cos apparently the answers I gave were too well thought out. I don't really care, it's just extra practice." Danny shrugged, slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

"_Alright Danny"_ Chloe replied, and Danny could tell she was rolling her eyes from wherever she was currently working. _"Just be careful."_

"When am I not?" Danny retorted, grinning. "See you later Chloe." He said before hanging up and sliding into his third period class. He wasn't late yet, but the glare the teacher gave him told Danny that he was cutting it a bit fine. Danny shook his head as he pulled out the textbook, sighing heavily as he stared blankly at the projector. Now he pretty much knew what Konan and his friends were up to. He just hoped that they would take this advantage for what it was, not abuse what they'd done to themselves.

However, as the bell signalling the beginning of lunch rung he froze; a deep chill running down his spine and telling him that someone nearby was in danger. Danny gulped, racing to follow the trace, but there were too many eyes and the hallways were too crowded for him to use any of his powers. So he ran, pushing through the crowd with barely present touches of intangibility. Absently he noted that the pull was drawing him towards Mr Paige's office, and his eyes widened in realisation. With a final burst of speed he pushed his way through the last vestiges of the lunch crowd and sent Mr Paige's office door flying open.

Mr Paige was pressed back against the far wall, his eyes wide in fear as he met Danny's gaze. Konan Zack and Ash were standing aggressively in front of Mr Paige, Konan's hand stretched menacingly as a sharp shard of metal floated dangerously close to the teacher's neck. As he watched the sharp tip pressed in, drawing a thin line of blood.

"Fenton!" Ash exclaimed, spinning around abruptly at the sound of the door slamming against the wall. Konan however seemed unaffected by Danny's entrance.

"So nice of you to join us, Danny-boy." The brown eyed boy said coldly, turning to face Danny with his hand still stretched towards Mr Paige's throat. The look of menace in the teen's eyes mounted and Danny stepped forward just as the office door slammed closed behind him.

"What do you want, Konan." Danny replied, carefully edging his way towards the teacher. However the wasn't expecting a quick gesture from Zack which sent a chair crashing into him. Danny's back slammed hard against the wall, but he was beside Mr Paige now.

"Not much." Konan replied, cocking his neck dangerously to the side. "Just the academic respect for the effort we have put in. This is our final year, Fenton, and everything in our future comes from what happens now."

Danny slid up the wall until he was standing beside his teacher. He hated this, at the moment there was very little he could do. His core was screaming for him to protect his teacher, but nearly everything he could think of would involve seriously hurting his human peers.

"You should have tried to earn it, not take shortcuts." Danny replied hotly.

"What would you know Fenton? You come here and manage to get yourself skipped ahead." Zack retorted angrily.

Danny felt his eyes darken as the memory of an aborted dark future crossed his mind. The blackened skeleton of the Nasty Burger and a world laid to waste in unrepentant vengeance. "I know plenty." Danny replied darkly. "Enough to know that what you want won't get you anywhere."

"And whose gonna stop us?" Konan asked. "You?" Suddenly there was a broken chair leg floating before his eyes, the splintered end jutting out towards him menacingly. Danny frowned and knocked the chair leg out of the way. And suddenly things were happening very quickly.

Ash threw his arm up and the desk wobbled as it pulled up from the floor. A strained look crossed the boy's eyes as he pushed the limits of his telekinetic power. Zack saw what he was trying to do and joined in, the desk hovering over the floor. Danny saw a silent signal pass between them and all he got was an intense demand from his core to _PROTECT_. And suddenly the desk was slamming into his back as Danny protected his teacher with his body.

He felt the desk splinter around him, pushing him further into the wall as his arms braced protectively around the middle-aged teacher. Sensing that the danger was gone Danny pushed back, stumbling slightly on the debris as he backed up. He offered a hand to his dazed teacher, helping the man stand up.

"What just happened?" Mr Paige asked, staring blankly at his destroyed office.

"You're safe." Danny replied. "I'm gonna take you to the nurse, okay?" Mr Paige just nodded blankly and let Danny half carry him towards the nurse's office. Mercifully the hallways were clear, most of the students seemed to have determined that it was nicer outside today so there was no one to ask questions about why Danny was carrying a limping teacher through the school.

Danny left Mr Paige in the nurse's office with a quick explanation that some of the students had gotten aggressive about a retest and had started throwing furniture around. Mr Paige still looked out of it, and Danny was starting to wonder if he had been hit on the head before Danny arrived. Danny frowned, focusing on the next task at hand. He needed to find Konan and his friends before they took things any further than they already had.

He sped through the deserted corridors of Smallville high, trying to pick up on where the three of them could have gone. He skidded to an abrupt stop when he sensed them; three meteor infected people close together, and all mentally unstable and borderline psychopathic. He turned around and raced towards them, shaking his head when he realised that they were in the chemistry lab. He pushed the door open, startling the three of them away from a lab table, a single green pill left in between them.

"How...?" Ash began, staring confusedly at him, but he was quickly cut off by Konan.

"You just don't know when to quit, do you Fenton?" The brown eyed boy hissed, jerking his neck sideways. A glass beaker filled with bubbling blue liquid came flying towards Danny, but Danny wasn't taking any chances. He ducked and heard the glass shatter behind him, and the scent of burning paint leapt into the air.

"Never have." Danny replied, as though that hadn't just happened. "You should stop this, Konan." Danny reasoned. "It's not gonna help you get ahead. That's why you wanted this, isn't it?" Konan paused, staring at Danny. But Danny couldn't figure out what was going through the senior's mind. "I promise you that this isn't gonna work. People won't respect you, they'll fear you, hate you for being different."

"What makes you think that?" Zack hissed. "We're smarter, than them, better."

"Humans are predictable." Danny replied sadly. "If they can't understand something they either destroy it or try to overcome it."

"Enough!" Konan interrupted. "We are superior to them, and nothing is gonna stop us from taking the future we want!" He flicked his wrist and another beaker suddenly flew towards Danny, shattering loudly as he dodged it. What he hadn't expected was the second beaker which crashed right into his chest, eating away at the fabric of his shirt and scorching at his flesh as the acid bit into him.

There was a shocked silence from the three chemistry boys as his shirt disappeared, revealing the still healing scar from his vivisection. Three sets of eyes widened in simultaneous horror as they recognised it for what it was. Ash gasped, his glasses crashing to the floor as he backed away in revulsion.

Danny however chose to use this, ignoring the pain as the acid still burned at his skin. "Superior gets you nowhere if you get caught."

"Christ, Fenton. What happened?" Zack murmured in dumbfounded horror.

"Eventful holidays" Danny replied. He didn't think he could handle the mental scars from what had happened, and at the moment he had other things to worry about.

"We won't get caught." Konan spat, coming out of his shock. "I don't know what you did to yourself, but if you're stupid enough to end up like that then you don't deserve any sort of power." Konan smirked darkly, his arm held out towards a rack of chemicals. Suddenly large tubs of acid were flying towards Danny who only turned intangible to avoid them. What he hadn't expected was for the acid to hit a store of bases behind him. Suddenly there was a loud explosion as the opposing chemicals attempted to neutralise each other, and Danny found himself defending the three boys with an ectoplasmic shield as an explosion rocked out from the epicentre of their carelessness.

The green shield dropped, but Danny gasped as a shard of glass stabbed into his back. He turned around and saw the wide eyed stare of Ask and Zack as they glanced between Konan and Danny. They backed away, retreating to the far corner of the room and leaving Danny facing a seething Konan. The brown eyed boy was panting heavily, and beads of sweat laced his forehead. But undeterred he jerked his head, and Danny was assaulted by an onslaught of Lab equipment.

Danny closed his eyes, trying very hard not to lose his temper. Konan was human, and using ghost powers on a human was not something Danny was ready to do. Danny turned intangible, allowing the equipment to phase through him and crash harmlessly against the wall. The shard of glass still lodged deeply in his back fell to the floor with a loud clamour. Konan's eyes seethed with rage, and suddenly the air was filled with a whirling vortex of debris. It whirled around the two of them as Konan circled Danny almost predatorily.

"I've had enough." Danny said coldly. Danny felt his eyes flare into a dark shade of silver as everything in the room froze. Konan's eyes widened as he tried to force his telekinesis to work, Danny felt the tug as the debris strained against his control, but he was in power now. Konan grunted, his eyebrow creased in concentration.

"I have tried negotiating with you, but you will not listen." Danny continued, lowering everything down to the ground. "If you continue down this path you will only hurt yourself so I'm gonna give you one last chance."

"Never, freak!" Konan hissed and with one last burst of concentration the entire storage cabinet came away from the wall, flying solidly towards the two of them. There was an almighty crash as it slammed into the two of them. Danny tried to phase through, but cried out in agony as he felt like he was being assaulted with vicious electricity. A small shower of kryptonite pebbles flew out over the two of them, and Danny felt reality blur as the pain overwhelmed him.

Danny gasped, his eyes forced shut in agony but he somehow gained enough sentience to pull himself away from the cabinet. The kryptonite fell off him; landing with soft plinks on the floor. Danny stepped away, warily eyeing the far corner of the room where Ash and Zack were huddled fearfully in the corner. Danny took in a deep breath before turning back to the cabinet. Carefully he pushed it off Konan who was now unconscious, a large gash on his head.

Danny pulled the unconscious boy away from the debris before carefully going over his injuries. Danny frowned before looking over at Ash and Zack. "In my backpack is a first aid kit." Danny commented, indicating the part of the room near the door where his backpack had been thrown free. His own wounds were already healing to the point where they were superficial at worst, but Konan was in pretty bad shape. Zack raced over to get it, but Ash hesitantly stepped over towards Danny.

"Why?" Ash asked, his eyes were slightly unfocused as the short-sighted boy watched Danny strip off Konan's shirt. There was a large bruise blossoming on his chest, probably indicative of cracked ribs, and the boy's left arm had a greenstick fracture.

"Because it's the right thing to do." Danny replied softly, taking the first aid kit off of Zack. Danny did the best he could in patching the battered boy up, but he would still need a visit to Smallville Medical Centre. The two conscious meteor infected boys watched him silently as he worked over their friend. However without Konan there to lead them they weren't quite so volatile.

"I still don't get it." Zack said. "I mean, I saw that shield, and the way you just stopped Konan's telekinesis. If you have that sort of power, why don't you use it to your advantage? Why help Konan after what he did to you?"

"Look," Danny said eventually. "To me it doesn't matter what he's done; only that he needs help and I can give it. There's no point in revenge since it only hurts you worse in the end." Danny sighed and shifted mental gears. "I get what you wanted to achieve, but toying with meteor rocks is never a good idea. They have a negative impact on human psychology, and I'm sorry to say but the more you rely on a meteor power, the more it changes you."

Danny turned his attention fully towards Ash and Zack who both seemed to have been disillusioned by Konan's display. "What do you... what do you mean?" Zack gulped, eyeing his fallen comrade.

"The short answer is that the meteor rocks push people towards the psychopathic end of the personality scale." Danny replied.

"Then how are you not affected?" Ash asked. "I mean, you clearly use your power all the time."

Danny chose not to answer as he pulled his spare shirt from his backpack. Instead he shook his head as he dialled 911. Konan would need serious medical attention soon, and Danny wasn't able to give it to him. Unfortunately the three of them would probably wind up in Belle Reve. And the sad thing was that in talking to Zack and Ash Danny could see that they were more level headed than Konan was.

Danny looked between them sadly. "The three of you attacked a teacher." He said despondently. "And unfortunately that means that you're gonna have to deal with the consequences."

Zack frowned and nodded. "I don't really even know why we thought it would be a good idea." He said, his red hair flopping into his eyes. Both he and Ash were covered in shallow cuts from the flying debris, and Danny carefully pulled a bit of glass out from some of the cuts. It seemed like all three of them would end up in Smallville Medical, but maybe Danny could change what happened from there.

"Do you mean that?" Danny asked, looking Zack in the eyes. The red haired boy nodded determinedly, and Ash did the same. Danny sighed, running a hand through his hair. "What exactly did you do to get your powers?" He asked.

"We combined 2-oxo-1-pyrrolidineacetamide with a powder made from refined meteor rocks." Ash supplied. "Condensed the two together and then made them into a pill that would deliver a small dose equally over twelve daily instalments. Konan said that would make it permanent."

"And how many have you had?" Danny asked.

"We suspect that Konan started two days before us, but we were all close to the end." Zack answered, eyeing Konan sadly.

"I don't know what I can do for Konan." Danny commented sadly. It wasn't an idea that he liked, but he had to accept that Konan was too far gone. "And the meteor rocks are probably integrated into your system now. I don't think I can change that. But you're not the first people to become meteor infected and need help for it, there're a lot of people in Belle Reve that are in the same situation."

Danny rubbed his eyes tiredly, trying to come up with a viable solution. "I don't know how you can escape some form of psycho-evaluation. That'd happen regardless of your powers." They both nodded in saddened understanding, it was a harsh reality but there was little any of them could do as things were. "The best I can recommend is to keep a level head. You can still use your powers, but don't rely on them. If you do that then it's possible the effects of your piracetam usage will fade, and hopefully you can come back to school."

"Thanks, Fenton." Zack said with a sad smile. "We'll try that."

"Thanks for..." Ash trailed, but it was clear that he didn't know how to finish. And Danny felt a guilty twinge that he wasn't able to do more. He opened his mouth to say anything, but was unable to continue the paramedics arrived, pushing the lab door open with a loud bang and moving Konan's limp form onto a stretcher.

Danny followed them out of the building and watched as Ash and Zack took a seat beside Konan in the ambulance. The two conscious boys waved at him as the ambulance pulled away, disappearing through the small confused crowd that had gathered around at the sight of the emergency vehicle. Danny turned away slowly, making his way back towards his locker. His secret was still largely safe, and Mr Paige was in good health. Ash and Zack would get treatment that could really help them and they'd probably even be able to come back to school. So why did it feel so much like he'd failed?

_Line Break_

Clark sighed as he padded up to the barn loft. Chloe had driven around as soon as she finished work at the _Planet _and they had decided to meet up in the barn. Clark had been working all day, ever since Danny's duplicate had appeared to send the Corn Ghost back into the Zone. It was still weird to think that Danny could be in two places at once, but the fact that the duplicate disappeared as soon as the ghost was gone reminded Clark of the high cognitive load that doing that must take.

Clark shook his head as he reached the top of the stairs, surprised to see Danny and Chloe talking together side by side on the sofa. Danny looked tired, as though the day had been more exhausting than usual. That in itself was unusual since the boy seemed to have a near endless reserve of energy unless he was facing a major ghost.

"Mr Paige is fine now," Danny said with a small shrug as he answered Chloe. "And Konan is probably gonna wind up in Belle Reve. It's Zack and Ash I'm worried about."

"What happened?" Clark asked, pulling out the desk chair so he could sit facing them. He was a bit lost since really the last he'd heard from either of them had been that morning when Danny had asked him to call Chloe about piracetam.

"A couple of the kids at the school infected themselves with kryptonite and then went psychotic on one of the teachers." Chloe explained.

"The sad thing is that two of them seemed to have been duped into it." Danny added on.

"They'll be okay." Chloe consoled. "You did your best and now they're in professional care."

"That's usually the best you can hope for when it comes to meteor freaks." Clark added on.

Danny sighed heavily. "I know." He admitted. "It's just a different reality to Amity Park used to be."

"You don't get to choose who you save." Chloe commented sagely. "That's just a part of the hero business. But sometimes you need to be ready to let other people do the saving."

Clark nodded in agreement. "Sometimes I hate that I can't do more." He admitted. "But I know it's better to let people get the help they really need than for me to do it myself and end up doing more damage."

"Clark's right." Chloe said, laying a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. "You've kept them safe from themselves for now, and it sounds like you showed Ash and Zack where they were wrong. Now it has to be up to them to make the choice for themself."

Danny smiled. "I guess they did deserve a second chance."

Clark smiled at his cousin, glad to see that he was okay. "Right, and you've given that to them."

Chloe smiled. "Now, I think that yesterday you promised to tell me about taking Ember to a renaissance fair?"

Chloe creased his eyebrow at the non-sequitur, but understood when Danny's face immediately brightened. Clark was aware that Danny had told Chloe his secret, and he was glad that Danny had finally decided to trust them enough to do it. It seemed to have taken a large weight off his shoulders, and despite what had happened earlier in the day, there was a new sparkle in his eyes. He seemed more relaxed, and Clark was happy that his younger cousin was letting himself be himself around them.

"Well..." Danny trailed. "It's not precisely a renaissance fair so much as a medieval kingdom located in the Zone."

Clark understood immediately and latched onto what Danny was saying. "It's called Aragon, and apparently Danny is a knight there." Clark added, happy to be able to embarrass his cousin a little. Predictably the boy blushed and Clark couldn't help but laugh a little at his discomfort.

"You're a knight?" Chloe asked. "I thought the costume change was just for looks."

Danny shook his head. "Not entirely." He explained. "A few months before the meteor strike Tuck made a comment that the Hazmat suit was... not really appropriate... anymore." His ears reddened as he admitted it. "So Sam, Tuck and I tried a couple of things out, but stuff from the human world didn't want to stick to my ghost form. Sam suggested we look in the Zone, and so I went to Aragon."

Danny shifted into his ghost form almost absently. "Dora and Sam had a lot of fun designing the new costume, although I think Sam wanted it to be a bit more contemporary looking, but Dora won that argument. That said; Sam was the one who designed my cloak and that's probably my favourite part of this outfit."

"It actually suits you." Chloe commented.

"That's what Sam said when Dora was finished with me." Danny replies, cocking his head curiously to the side. Clark was intrigued, it seemed like maybe there was more to the relationship between the two of them was strictly platonic if Danny was drawing parallels between Chloe and Sam. Danny shook his head, absently touching his hand to his necklace. It was visible now, pulled out from beneath where it usually hid under his shirt.

"Where'd the ring go?" Chloe asked, looking at the necklace. Danny blinked.

"It's a real world object." Danny replied. "The sword and the symbol were both made in the Zone, but the ring was made here. When I shift forms the necklace stays because it was designed to, but the ring was a later addition. It was Sam's."

Clark already knew that, having asked some months before. Chloe nodded, hearing the undertone in Danny's slightly sad voice. It may have been over nine months since they had died, but it still affected him to live without his childhood friends and his family.

"And you said that Ember was probably went along to 'see-how-badly-Danny-goes-when-he-tries-to-show-off'." Chloe pressed as a seeming distraction, but Clark saw the clear interest as well as perhaps a slight twinge of jealousy in her voice.

"Well, it was a spur of the moment contest." Danny said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Dora wanted to celebrate and there weren't many people around."

"So you beat what, fifteen people?" Clark asked.

"There were only ten of us." Danny defended. "It wasn't like I had much competition."

Clark grinned at Danny's embarrassment. "Months ago I ended up in the Zone when he was learning a new power." Clark explained, looking more at Chloe and ignoring Danny's discomfort. "While he was training he ended up having a sword fight with his teacher. It was... pretty amazing." Clark admitted.

"I think Frostbite was just going easy on me." Danny groused.

"You've been into the Ghost Zone?" Chloe pressed, immediately latching onto Clark's comment.

Clark nodded. "But only once." He conceded after a moment.

"And only under extraneous circumstances" Danny added. "For the most part humans, or well, anything from the Real World isn't allowed in the Zone. In a ghost's private lair there are exceptions, and the rulers of various principalities can make their own rules, but it's a huge transgression to allow living people free access to the Zone in general."

"Do you have a lair?" Chloe asked. "Wait; how do you even get into the Ghost Zone? Is it like Clark's Fortress where you can only get in by a special access like the keyhole in the cave?"

"I can get into the Zone whenever I want; I know how to make portals between the two worlds." Danny answered. "And no, I don't have a lair. I actually haven't been a ghost for all that long and with the amount of time I spend in the Real World there's a lot about ghost culture and rules that I'm behind on."

"Really?" Chloe pressed. "'cos you seem to know a lot. I mean, you had that book all that time ago, and you get on well with ghosts like Ember."

Danny laughed. "I didn't used to. Back in Amity she hated my guts. A lot of my earliest problems with the ghosts were down to me accidentally treading on peoples' toes."

Clark and Chloe shared a look before the two of them laughed. It was so different from the Danny they knew, but at the same time Clark could see that in him. For all the power that he had as a half ghost, there were times where he was a bit clueless. So his saying that he offended people just for not knowing the rules was not much of a surprise.

Danny just shook his head at the two of them before slipping off the couch. "I'm gonna go make dinner." He said, shifting back to his human form. "Chloe, you're welcome to stay, but can you ask Clark to stop being such a jerk."

Chloe shook his head as the two of them watched him leave. "I'm glad he told me." Chloe admitted after a minute. "I mean, not just because I prefer not being kept in the dark, but because it means that he's ready to trust again."

"I know what you mean." Clark replied, staring down the stairs where his cousin had just passed. "I'm glad he did too. I never realised how much he was bottling up until it was too late."

"He wanted to handle things alone." Chloe said. "You've done the same thing."

"Yeah, but now he has us. He doesn't have to do things alone." Clark replied.

"You're right." Chloe agreed, stepping up from the sofa and heading across towards the stairs. "He does have us. And now it's our turn to prove that he was right to put his trust in us."

Clark smiled before following after her. It was clear to Clark now that Danny did the right thing in telling Chloe. Clark had been worried that all she'd see was the hero 'Phantom', and that the human side of Danny would be lost in that huge shadow. But it was clear that not only did Chloe accept Danny for whom and what he was; she saw that for all his heroics he was still _Danny_. He was still the boy who had come to their home all those months ago when his family was gone, still the boy who had helped her on Christmas eve and had helped out when Simone was hypnotising people. And for all his own worries, for himself, his cousin and the rest of Smallville, Clark was glad to know that despite everything he could always rely on Chloe.

Clark smiled at that thought. His blonde friend, who had kissed him all those years ago in this very loft, was one of the most remarkable people he had ever known. And every day he was glad to have her in his life. Clark smiled as he heard Danny call out to say that dinner was ready. Few people could learn what Chloe had about both him and his cousin and see through it to the people they were belief. For him and Danny, trust was one of the most sacred aspects of their lives. To have someone as amazing as Chloe, who could know about them and accept them as the people they were, it was one of the most wonderful feelings in the world.

Clark smiled as he came into the house; watching the way seamless Danny and Chloe seemed to work around each other in setting up and serving the meal. Danny was special, unique to the world as the only halfa in existence. But Chloe was amazing just for being the kind and accepting person that she was. And as they sat down for a meal together Clark couldn't help the warm sensation of contentment that rose in his chest, a feeling telling him that, for the first time in a long time, everything was somehow going to work out alright.

* * *

><p>AN; I wanted a break from the real serious stuff that we've been having so far and this is sorta what happened...<p>

Anyway, nootropics are a type of performance enhancing drug specifically designed to enhance brain function. Lots of stimulants fall under the same category, but there are some that are genuinely designed to help people remember things faster and more reliably.

I acknowledge that this plot is not up to my usual standard, but I _am_ supposed to be studying for exams so was a little distracted.

Thank you all for reading,

Bluerose


	31. Chameleon

Chapter 30

Chameleon

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Danny groaned, staring hatefully at the whitewashed ceiling. He felt sick, as though he was going to throw up if he so much as moved a muscle. It was disturbing, mostly because he hadn't been sick since just after he first got his powers nearly three years ago. His Aunt had called him in sick from school before heading out to her meetings for the day, and Clark had said that he was going in to town for supplies. Danny, however, hadn't been able to move ever since he woke up that morning, instead he was curled in an uncomfortable ball as he tried to figure out why he was sick.

Aunt Martha had recommended that if he started feeling better he should head downstairs and fetch himself a piece of dry toast, but the mere thought of that made Danny feel even more nauseated. So he was feeling incredibly bored on top of feeling sick. And the light intruding through a slit in the curtains was only adding to a rapidly building headache. Danny rolled himself over into a sitting position, glaring hatefully at the curtains. He couldn't muster up the energy to get up to close them better, and even the idea of trying to close them telekinetically made him feel ill.

It had been a fortnight since the incident with Konan, Zack and Ash. Mr Paige had still asked Danny to take the retest, despite realising that whatever Konan and his friends had done, Danny wasn't a part of it. Danny had passed with distinction, and had ended up spending an entire lunchtime talking to Mr Paige about parallels in human behaviour that led up to some of the more recent wars. That was a good thing; with everything that had happened recently Danny had been concerned that school was going to fall by the wayside. However he was still on track to graduate come the end of term.

Then a week ago the whole family had been hit hard by the cold confirmation that Lionel Luthor knew about Clark's powers. Danny had been disturbed to find out that someone was so disgusted by the elder Luthor's business tactics that they'd locked both him and Aunt Martha up in a high stakes game for freedom. Danny couldn't believe the psychological trauma that one man had wrought on his Aunt.

"_He gave us a gun." _His aunt had sobbed once it was all over. _"And he said that only one of us could leave. I couldn't... I could never. But Lionel took the gun, and he had it to his head._" Her eyes had gone dark, fearful. _"It was blank. But what kind of sick person could do that? I had to just _stand_ there and watch as Lionel tried to kill himself for me."_

Danny had been appalled. He knew that there were horrible people out there, people with no morality or care for other people's welfare. His own treatment from the GIW had disillusioned him about the inherent goodness of _all_ humanity. But this man had proceeded to cut the elevator in which both Lionel and his Aunt were trapped. He had tried to kill them, even after the trauma of his twisted version of Russian roulette.

But Clark had saved them both, catching the broken elevator as it crashed down to earth. Clark had saved them, but at the expense of his secret. Lionel had walked away with the absolute certainty that Clark had powers. Danny's cousin had gone to talk to Lionel afterwards, in his office at LuthorCorp. But he hadn't told any of them about what had been said. He had just come back with a darkly disturbed look on his face and said that he didn't want to talk about it. After that he'd gone out to the barn, and the sound of Clark's repressed anger as he worked on the motorbike had echoed through the house late into the night.

Danny himself had been caught up in the Zone during the event. Clockwork had scheduled another lesson, still about political tactics, and hadn't let Danny keep up with news from the Real World until it was all too late. Although in retrospect, that could have been one of Clockwork's less subtle manipulations of the timeline; after all if Danny had been there he probably would have been the one to save the both of them, and he would have found them sooner than Clark had been able too with Danny's obsession to guide him. Danny would have stepped in as Phantom, and Clark's secret would have been safe.

That Clockwork had interfered the way he had said that it was important for that discovery to have been made. For the moment all that Danny could see was the dependability of certainty; now they all knew that Lionel knew for sure, and they could deal with it on those terms rather than second guessing themselves about his actions. If there was an actual advantage to the confirmation then Danny was still unaware of it, but with anything involving Clockwork, no doubt it would be revealed in time.

Danny flinched at the sudden shrill noise of his cell phone, sitting in its cradle at the far side of the room. He struggled across the room just in time to catch it before the phone directed to voicemail.

"Hello." Danny answered wearily.

"_Hey Danny"_ His aunt's gentle voice came from the other end of the phone. _"How're you feeling?"_

Danny flopped heavily back down onto the bed. "Still sick." He replied dazedly. "And I don't know why."

"_Have you had anything to eat?" _His aunt asked. _"Having something small might help, and I think there's peppermint tea in the cupboard."_

"Thanks Aunt Martha." Danny replied. He was really glad that she cared, but the idea of having human food at the moment just made him feel worse.

"_I was mostly calling to tell you that Lois is coming over."_ His aunt said, eliciting a tired groan from the young boy. _"Danny"_ She reprimanded before sighing dismissively. _"There's a bit of paperwork that I need her to do, it should still be on the kitchen bench. She won't impose, but Lois will probably check in when she arrives."_

Danny sighed, but was able to send his aunt a respectful farewell before he hung up. He warily eyed the desk where the phone cradle was sitting tauntingly. He probably should go put the phone back where it belonged. Instead he rolled over as another wave of nausea racked his body. The phone came to rest just by Danny's ear as he tiredly drifted off to sleep.

_Line Break_

"C'mon Clark," Chloe huffed as she led the way down the busy Metropolis street. Clark frowned, fumbling with the finicky press pass that Chloe had somehow managed to get for him. It was the first time he'd really left the farm in over a week, and he still didn't really want to be in the city, surrounded by all these people. They could live their lives free from the fear of persecution, free from self doubt about what they were. Ever since Clark had confronted Lionel he'd backed away from everything, deeply concerned for the safety of both himself and his family as Lionel swung the proverbial Sword of Damocles precariously over his head.

It had not been a pleasant conversation. After rescuing both Lionel and his mom, Clark had gone in to LuthorCorp to talk things over with Lionel, hoping to come to some agreement. But in the end Clark had accomplished what needed to be done, even if doing so left the Kryptonian feeling disgusted in himself.

_Clark scowled, glaring at the frosted glass doors before him. He hated the fact that he had to do this, but after months of uncertainty Clark needed some certainty. Clark breathed out heavily, setting his shoulders firmly before pushing the glass door wide open. Ever since he'd saved his mom and Lionel from falling to their death in the elevator shaft his emotions had been tumultuous, oscillating rapidly between anger, frustration and deep rooted concern. Seeing Lionel, tall, proud and with an air of condescending indifference as he gazed out his office window only made his anger roil. _

"_I've been expecting you, Kal-El." The elder Luthor commented, turning around to face him. Clark was careful not to display his concern at that statement; he was not prepared for Lionel to know about his Kryptonian heritage. _

"_How long have you known?" Clark asked coldly. He knew he was nowhere as good at emotional manipulation ad Lionel or Lex were, and even Danny was better able to do it. But Danny wasn't here; this was something that Clark needed to do alone. _

_Lionel looked at him, meeting his eyes with a beguiling level of calmness in his posture. "From the moment I held in my hand the crystal that helped to form your Fortress of Solitude."_

_Clark raised an eyebrow. "The one that put you in a coma?" He pressed, not sure of what to think of Lionel's remark. _

"_Coma?" The grey-haired billionaire asked, as though the notion of such a bland description was insufficient. "I like to think of it as a... a state of contemplative repose." _

"_You've known my secret for almost a year." Clark stated bluntly, trying hard to control the anger that was bubbling so close to the surface. The man had always been cruel and cold, but the notion of being caught up in some long reaching plot like that, again, made Clark feel disgusted. He had already been used by Vlad Masters, and did not plan on letting Lionel Luthor walk all over him as well. _

"_Yes." The man replied simply, but Clark could not understand the emotion in those dark eyes._

"_Why haven't you done anything?" Clark pressed. _

"_What?" Lionel countered; his tone dismissive despite the nature of the topic. "Expose you to the world, some strange visitor from another planet." Clark's eyes sparked in anger at hearing something so dangerously close to what had happened to Danny. "I've tried to tell you, I am not your enemy. To reveal your secret would change your destiny. And it would harm someone I care about very deeply."_

_Clark scowled. "You had a choice; to kill my mother or to kill yourself."_

"_I could never harm your mother." Lionel answered vehemently. "There was no choice."_

"_Yeah?" Clark replied, unconvinced of Lionel's motivations. "Unless you knew the gun wasn't loaded." He accused, glaring down at the elder Luthor, using his full height to stand over him. _

"_You have no reason to believe anything I say," Lionel dismissed, walking away. "I realise that. But I hope that eventually you will come to trust me. I only want what's best for you and your mother, son." Clark's anger spiked at that statement, so reminiscent of what Vlad Masters said to Danny in Wisconsin. _

"_You don't call me that." Clark spat between gritted teeth as he came to stand bare inches from the billionaire's chest. "Jonathan Kent was my father."_

"_No," Lionel defended, backing off slightly at Clark's unspoken threat. "I'm not trying to take his place."_

"_You couldn't." Clark caustically replied, glaring down at the elder billionaire. "My mother seems to think there may be some good in you." Clark said, searching the man's eyes for anything worthy of being called good. "But I'm not so sure."_

"_It takes time, Clark." Lionel placated. "Maybe you will be."_

_Clark sucked his teeth, trying to quell the urge to punch the man. "Or maybe you'll just show your true colours." Clark replied coldly, his eyes flashing in warning. "Secret or no secret, you stay away from my family." He threatened darkly. He hated resorting to such a technique, but it was his only option. Now that Lionel knew there was little to stop him trying to worm his way into the family, uncovering more than just Clark's secret while he was at it. Clark couldn't allow it; not after what he had seen Vlad to Danny. _

"_Or you'll wish I never saved your life." Clark concluded coldly, glaring icily down at the man before he strode out. He didn't want Lionel anywhere near his mom, and Lionel finding out the truth about Danny as well was unthinkable. With that dark threat delivered, Clark had done all he could short of resorting to Lionel's own level to ensure the safety of his family._

"Pick up the pace," Chloe complained, jerking Clark's mind back to the present. "Somewhere between a brisk walk and super-speed. The star witness testifies in fifteen minutes." Clark rolled his eyes, speeding up slightly to match his blonde haired friend's pace. The two of them were headed towards the Metropolis courthouse, where Chloe was supposed to be getting information about a high profile case. A large company had been accused of significant fraudulent and unconscionable conduct, and Chloe was the reporter assigned to the story by the _Daily Planet_.

"Not that I mind being your boy Friday," Clark commented, struggling to attach the laminated press pass to his jacket pocket. "But I don't understand why you need an escort."

"I don't." Chloe admitted, taking the press pass and clipping it firmly onto his pocket. "I just thought that a nice little courthouse fieldtrip might reignite the journalism spark."

"Well I hate to break it to you, but my ace reporter days ended when I left the_ Torch_." Clark replied.

"Alright," Chloe placated, holding her hands up in surrender. "Then consider it a much needed get off the farm pass. Look, Clark, I know this has been the year from hell and that was before you broke up with Lana. But there are only so many days that you can hole yourself up in that loft before I pull an intervention."

"Wait, I am not holed up!" Clark denied, but Chloe was already walking. Clark took two large steps to catch up to her. "It's just, ever since I found out that Lionel knows my secret, I've been waiting for a bomb to go off."

"Yeah, well don't duck and cover yet." Chloe consoled. "I mean, for all we know, he may never light the fuse."

"You're starting to sound like Danny." Clark mused, after all that was what Danny had said when Clark first raised concerns about Lionel knowing his secret.

"And he's probably right." Chloe replied. "Look, Clark I know you're worried, but I don't think Lionel's gonna blind sight you about this."

"This is Lionel Luthor we're talking about." Clark replied, shaking his head in disbelief. However all further thought was cut off by the unmistakable screech of failing brakes. The world slowed around him as Clark shifted into super-speed. Immediately seeing the danger Clark ran, leaping over a motionless taxi as he made the shortest path to the problem. Clark threw himself around the pedestrian, forcing both of them out of the way of a huge cement-truck as it skidded past.

"You okay?" Clark asked, taking in the appearance of the slightly breathless man. He was tall, so far as men went. He had short dark hair and dark brown eyes. A black trench coat hung from his shoulders, bespeaking fine tailoring. In fact the only thing that really stood out about him was the dark red gemstone on his lapel. It was in the shape of an oval, and Clark would have called it ruby in colour if not for the dark flecks of opalescent black that laced through the stone like spider webs.

"You" The man gasped, looking between the truck and Clark, "You saved my life. I don't know how to thank you."

"You don't have to." Clark replied, looking briefly at the road. It was clear anyway, but the black skid marks on the asphalt only highlighted the fact that this man had nearly died. "I did what anybody else would have."

The man sent him a grateful smile, but a heckled look pooled into his eyes as the man glanced down at his watch. "I'm sorry," He said urgently. "I really have to go. Thank you again, really." He smiled sincerely at Clark before racing off, vanishing into the crowd of the busy Metropolis streets.

"Hey." Clark heard Chloe's dulcet voice call as she approached from the other side of the street. Chloe pushed through a break in the traffic before coming to stop at Clark's side. "Now you couldn't do that on the farm." Chloe commented, gesturing in the direction the trench-coated man had disappeared. "Thanks to you, that guy's got a new lease on life."

Clark couldn't help the small smile that crept onto his lips. There were many things he hated about his gifts, he hated the need for secrecy and loathed much of his Kryptonian heritage. But this was made it worthwhile, to be able to help someone, save someone who would have been much worse off if he hadn't interfered. Chloe beamed back at him before grabbing his arm and taking an exaggerated step towards the courthouses.

They arrived to a sea of photographers and reporters, all eagerly gathered around the steps. However the dark clad security guards in front of the doors were not letting anyone in. Chloe frowned, pushing her way towards the front of the crowd, Clark following closely behind her. By the time they were through the crowd the guards were urging them all away, their radios crackling with fragmented conversations.

The crowd built for a full half hour, during which several police officers entered the building and an ambulance pulled ominously around the corner. A sharp instruction crackled through the radio of the nearest guard, ordering them to send the crowd away. Chloe's court case had been pushed back, but no one was willing to make a statement as to why.

Suddenly it was like a pressure valve had been released and the crowd dispersed. Chloe frowned, sending a half-hearted querying glance towards the courthouse door before leading back towards the _Planet_. "Well so much for that then." Chloe commented, flopping heavily down into her desk chair as soon as they arrived.

Clark raised an eyebrow. "The case was just pushed back, Chloe. I'm sure you'll get your piece."

"I'm more worried that you're just gonna head back to the loft and stare at the cows." Chloe replied.

Clark rolled his eyes. "I don't stare at the cows." Clark groused and Chloe raised a disbelieving eyebrow, staring him down forcefully. "It's just, with everything that's happened this year, sometimes it's easier to just concentrate on the farm." Clark added tiredly.

"And I get that, Clark." Chloe replied with a soft smile. "But there's only a fine line between making things easier and running away. Just, promise me you won't lock yourself away from the rest of us, okay?"

Clark nodded, offering her a small half-smile before he decided to head off. Just because the major piece she was working on had to be postponed didn't mean that Chloe had nothing pressing to do, and Clark himself wanted to head back to the farm. So instead of prolonging his departure he headed off, picking his mom up in Smallville on his way through.

Two hours after leaving Chloe in Metropolis he pulled up the truck through the wooden archway of the Kent Farm. His mom was tentatively enthusiastic about a bill she was trying to push through, and her cheerfulness was proving to be mildly infectious. However as he approached the kitchen door he frowned, hearing unfamiliar electronic noises coming from the kitchen. It was a sound he hadn't heard in many years, not since Pete Ross had been around to play video games with. Clark pushed the door open hesitatingly before allowing his mom to come through herself.

Clark's eyes peered straight through to the living room where Lois Lane was sitting surrounded by a huge plasma TV, several massive speakers and a full gaming system. Clark's scowl deepened, watching the young woman who was clearly absorbed with some kung-fu type fighting game. Lois was particularly engrossed with the game, yelling along with her player as she violently attacked her opponent. Clark raised a disapproving eyebrow and tried to grab her attention.

"Aww, Come on Smallville," She complained when Clark finally got through to her. The screen froze, displaying a red 'Defeat' label in bold font. Seeing that, Clark was vividly reminded of why he gave up on video games in the first place. "You killed me." Lois finished almost petulantly, scowling at him from over her shoulder.

"Where did all this come from?" Clark's mom asked, gazing dazedly around the room at the new technology.

"Good question." Clark emphasised, crossing his arms disapprovingly in front of his chest as he gazed down at the brunette.

"I think there's a card somewhere." Lois murmured, standing up from the sofa and thumbing through the cushions. "Looks like Christmas came early this year, in Hi-Def surround sound, no less. The delivery guys were unloading it when I got here. You win a raffle or something Smallville?" She rambled, but Clark was just as surprised.

"Not that I know of." He answered slowly.

Lois smiled, pulling something out from behind the middle cushion of the sofa. "Ha, there you go. 'Clark'." She proclaimed, handing Clark a stark white envelope. All that was written on the front was his name, meaning that it had been delivered in person. Lois looked uncomfortably between Clark and his mom for a moment before she awkwardly said that she'd get back to work and heading into the kitchen.

"Whose it from?" His mom asked as Clark opened the note. Unfortunately it afforded no answers, holding only the word 'Enjoy!' in an unfamiliar handwriting. Clark pursed his lips, his suspicions mounting instantaneously.

"I don't need a signature to know that this is from Lionel Luthor." Clark said, glaring at the TV set.

"Clark," His mom disagreed. "I wouldn't jump to conclusions."

Clark looked at her doubtfully. "Mom, I warned him to stay out of our lives, this is his way to buy himself back in."

"I really don't think he would do this," His mom murmured, shaking her head slightly. Clark raised his eyebrows at her in scepticism. His mom sighed. "I'll go call and find out, after I've checked on Danny."

Clark pursed his lips, watching as his mom headed up the stairs. Once more his attention drifted back to the TV set in the middle of the living room. Shaking his head in annoyed disbelief he approached it. If this was Lionel's way to try and get back in Clark's good graces, he was a long way off track. Clark scowled at the plasma screen, setting about unplugging it. There was no way he was going to accept something like this, and he'd quite happily tell Lionel that. Whatever else happened, Clark was going to take the whole entertainment system straight back where it came from.

_Line Break_

Danny groaned, unable to stay in bed anymore. He forced himself to sit up, drawing his comforter tightly around him. Having slept through most of the morning, he had no desire to waste the whole day away in bed. Already the nausea had largely subsided, but he still felt hopelessly lethargic; even the small motion of sitting up sent the world spinning disturbingly around him. He felt incredibly disoriented, and intuitively knew that something was dramatically wrong. But he couldn't figure out what it was. And with his head pounding the way it was, he didn't feel up to trying to figure it out.

Danny stood up, bracing himself s the room swam around him. He felt kind of floaty, in a completely non-ghost way. It was disorienting. Danny pushed himself towards the bathroom, the comforter still wrapped tightly around his shoulders. He made his way to the sink, splashing his face in the vain hope that it would make him feel better. Unfortunately the only effect the cool tap water had was to make his face feel horribly wet. Danny frowned, leaning over the sink heavily with slitted eyes as he tried to steady himself.

He stood there for what felt like an age as the world attempted to right itself around him. Giving up on that he looked up in the mirror; hoping to be able to convince himself that everything was okay. What he saw did the exact opposite. His skin, usually pale had taken on a shade of ashen grey that made him look... dead. But it was the eyes that got to him. His irises were twin pools of swirling blue, green and silver; writhing in an unendingly nauseating disarray. He gulped, disturbingly entranced by the display before he frowned.

Lois was downstairs, talking loudly on the phone. At the moment she was trying to get one of aunt Martha's fellow senators to vote on her bill, but Danny, for the first time, wasn't sure of exactly where that was up to. She had come into his room briefly when she'd arrived, but had left without disturbing him and so Danny figured that his aunt had only asked her to check in on him from time to time. Danny stared in the mirror at his effervescent swirling eyes, knowing that if she saw them he'd probably wind up in GIW type trouble.

So Danny concentrated, immediately realising what was wrong with him as he tried to draw on his ghost powers. They were virtually gone, it was though they had disappeared into the aether, and the only thing holding him together was his human half. But he could still touch on them, and in a push of iron will he drew on the last small vestiges of his cyrokinetic powers. The effort left him staggering, but he had managed to make himself a pair of ice blue contacts. It wasn't quite a match for his human eye colour, but it would sufficiently conceal his ghostly eyes from any human who looked too close.

Danny dry-retched once, leaning heavily over the sink as the comforter fell away from his shoulders, revealing almost skeletal shoulder blades that were drowning in his t-shirt. He looked half starved, but that didn't make sense. Even if he hadn't eaten much the day before, his body shouldn't have degenerated that quickly. Danny fumbled weakly, pulling the thick comforter back around his shoulders and relishing the cosy warmth it brought with it.

Lois' voice abruptly echoed up from downstairs, but it didn't sound as though she was talking to him. "Official warning:" Lois cautioned, apparently warding off someone who was downstairs. "I'm a third degree black belt. That means I can't be held liable for any funeral costs." Danny creased his eyebrows, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Go easy on me," A man's voice responded, but it was completely unfamiliar to Danny. "I'm a friend of Clark's. Are you his girlfriend?" Danny frowned, he had never met the man before or he would have recognised the voice. It was always possible that it was an old school friend, but Danny doubted it, even in his bleary state.

"Not in this lifetime." Lois scoffed, and Danny edgily made his way to the top of the kitchen staircase, but his progress was slow in his weakened state. "I'm Lois, Lois Lane." The brunette introduced, her voice settling from wariness and back into her usual confidence.

"Pleasure to meet you, Lois." The man answered. "I'm Graham." There was a brief pause, and Danny took the opportunity to steel himself to head downstairs. "So, where's the plasma?" The man, Graham asked. Danny shook his head, blearily recalling Clark's angry complaints about billionaires trying to but their way into their lives.

"So you're the one who sent over all the high-tech booty." Lois surmised, sounding surprised. "You know, I was gonna keep it, but Mr. I-can't-take-candy-from-strangers took everything back this morning."

"That's odd." Graham responded quickly.

"That's Clark Kent." Lois replied dismissively, and Danny could just imagine her face as she said it. "Can I ask why you're playing Daddy Warbucks with the guy? 'Cos in my world, friends don't give friends twenty thousand dollar toys."

"Yeah, in my world they do." Graham responded plainly, and Danny recognised that tone in the affluent superiority of people like Vlad and Lex. Even if Danny himself would never accept a gift like that, he was well aware that that was just a part of life for some people. "Is Clark Around?"

"No, not at the moment." Lois replied. "Of course he never stays gone for too long, so... if you wanna hang out, you're more than welcome." Her voice trailed off demurely, well as demure as Lois went. And Danny could have sworn he heard a flirtatious edge to her voice.

"I think I will." Graham replied, and Danny finally reached the bottom step. Danny rounded the corner, inwardly cringing at the idea of appearing weak in front of a stranger, but his need to put a face to the name urged him on.

"Danny?" Lois questioned, turning around as she heard him land a jarring footfall in the kitchen. "Hey, how're you feeling?"

"Not as bad as earlier." Danny replied, which was half true in as much as he no longer felt as nauseous. Even if he did feel like death warmed over. Danny looked up, taking stock of the man in the living room. He was tall, probably only an inch or so shorter than Danny. He had short dark hair, looping in soft curls, and dark eyes. He wore a black trench coat and a pale white business suit. But what struck Danny was the red gem sat on his lapel. Something about it twinged at the edges of Danny's memory, but his headache made his thought processes too fuzzy to even attempt to figure it out.

"Right." Lois said, shifting awkwardly. "Um, Graham, this is Danny. He's Clark's cousin."

"You can see the family resemblance." Graham commented charismatically and Danny didn't feel like bothering to point out the fact that they weren't related by blood. "Pleasure to meet you."

Danny blinked in slight confusion, unsure of what to make of the man's overly charming attitude. But puzzling people out was beyond him just at the moment, and with how weak his core felt he couldn't even read the man's aura to get a good judge of his personality. Danny just nodded, sending the man a wary smile, cautiously reaching out to shake the man's hand.

"Interesting gem." Danny commented, managing to keep his voice level.

"It's a family heirloom." The man responded dismissively, and Danny wasn't sure if the appearance of a brief uncertain look in his eye was real or induced by Danny's dazed state. "Lois, I'll see you around." The man commented, sending a no doubt flattering smile towards the young woman. Lois sent him a smile back, and Danny was lift blinking dully as Graham sent him a curt nod before heading out the door.

"Thanks, Casper." Lois scowled. "Between you and Smallville I don't think I'll ever catch a date."

"Sorry Lois." Danny replied. "I heard voices downstairs, but I didn't recognise... Graham's."

Lois rolled her eyes at him before leading back into the kitchen. "You look like hell." She commented, pulling a glass of orange juice out of the fridge and pouring herself a glass.

"Been there, done that, got the t-shirt." Danny replied dismissively. "It's probably just a bug."

"Yeah, well, Martha ordered me to dose you with peppermint tea when you got up," Lois pressed on. "And if you feel up to it then I'll get you a piece of toast." Danny squeezed his eyes shut, his stomach still roiling at the notion of eating anything.

"Thanks." He replied forcing back the urge to gag, "But I think all I can handle at the moment is a glass of water." Lois frowned, but acquiesced and pulled out a glass before filling it from the tap. Danny smiled, taking the proffered cup with a brief thank you. "I think I'll go sit in the sun for a while." He commented, drawing the comforter close around his shoulders and putting the glass in the sink.

"Alright." Lois replied, giving him a studying glance. "I have a bit of work to do, but I'll be around if you need me. 'Kay?" Danny nodded submissively before heading out the kitchen door and onto the porch. It seemed like Graham had gone, and so Danny just drew himself into the sunniest spot he could find and sat, soaking up as much warmth as he could. His eyes drooped, and eventually he found himself settling into a tight ball, the comforter wrapped around him like a warm cocoon as he drifted off to sleep.

Danny's nose twitched, and Danny absently rubbed it, his mind still fuzzy with sleep. But it twitched again, this time accompanied by a distinctively wet sensation. Danny groaned as he was dragged from the pleasant comfort of sleep and into the waking world. He blinked, suddenly aware that there was a big shadow blocking the sun, but before he could register anything more he was assaulted by a wet tongue, licking his cheek fervently.

"Mia amiko!" a husky voice called excitedly, forcefully dragging Danny back to awareness.

"Wulf?" Danny blinked dazedly, looking at the shadow before him, but his mind quickly caught up to him and he threw his arms cheerily around the figure. "Wulf!" Danny grinned, automatically switching to Esperanto, the native tongue of his visitor. "You have no idea how much I've missed you. What have you been doing?" Danny pulled back, taking in the sight of his old friend. Wulf was one of the first ghosts he had met who he could honestly call a friend; the hulking wolf-like ghost stood at over seven foot tall and wore a ripped green shirt and pants.

"I've been exploring, mostly." Wulf answered happily before his smile dropped, green eyes drooping into a confused frown. "Friend Danny, what is wrong. You smell... friend you smell tainted, sick."

"I think I caught a bug." Danny answered.

Wulf frowned, leaning in and sniffing at him, his canine nose brushing closely against Danny's shirt. After a minute he drew back with a wolfish sneeze, looking at him confusedly. "Your core is weakened, but I could smell something unfamiliar, tingly. It wasn't there last time we met." Danny pursed his lips, trying to figure out what it could be that Wulf had smelt. But his head was still foggy with a headache, although it seemed to have lessened significantly in the ghost's presence.

"I do not think it's a 'bug', my friend..." He trailed off, giving him another sniff before breaking into a wide wolfish grin. "Danny, I had not realised you were so young."

Danny blinked. Twice. But then realisation hit him. "Wait, you mean this is a third year thing?"

Wulf just grinned, his teeth bared as he bit back a barking laugh. The wolf-like ghost nodded before shaking his head, fur rumpling in the air as he came to a settled seat at Danny's side. Danny sighed, pulling the comforter back around his shoulders as he returned to his seat in the morning sun. "I don't suppose you could tell me why it feels like my human half is destroying itself, could you?" Danny mused as Wulf came to lay his heavy jaw in Danny's lap.

The large wolfish ghost curled up almost protectively beside Danny, allowing him to absently stroke his dark-furred head. "I don't know how the third year will affect you, my friend. But for me, sometimes it was painful, especially close to my third death-day." Wulf explained with lidded eyes. "It was when my claws first grew in, and while I couldn't go without them now, at the time it felt like my paws were sliced open, hurt. That is what I remember the most of my third year; pain."

Danny nodded in absent acknowledgement as he stared at the late morning farm. With Wulf beside him he didn't feel quite so dazed, it was as though the ghost was able to help ground him, pull him back to reality and focus more. Even if his headache was still vicious, the warm touch of reality was desperately appreciated. Danny absently scratched at Wulf's head, relishing in the company of his old friend. The ghost grinned sleepily at him, giving his cheek another lick before settling down to sleep with his huge head in Danny's lap.

_Line Break_

Lana smiled, a fond grin creeping its way onto her face as she heard the side door close. She was currently in the mezzanine library of Lex's office at the mansion, reading a couple of books as she waited for him to come home. Lex had gone off to Washington for a few days, investigating a couple of inconsistencies he'd found about Milton Fine. But in the time he'd been away she'd come to realise just how much she'd missed him. A fortnight before they had kissed, but Lana had run away, completely unsure of her own feelings and still hurting over Clark. But Lex had managed to find a place in her heart, and now he was back.

She closed the book she was reading and looked over the railing to see her friend. "I see you stepped up your security." She commented lightly, and beamed inwardly when she saw the smile that came into his blue eyes. "I had to make a pretty decent case before they'd let me in."

"You're not an easy person to say no to." Lex replied, smiling as she came down the stairs.

"I couldn't wait any longer." Lana said as she came to stand in front of him. "I've been sitting by the phone..." She trailed off for a moment, enjoying the eager look in his eyes, but while she had missed him she was just as curious about Milton Fine. "What'd you find out in D.C.?"

Lex looked briefly disappointed, but covered it up quickly enough. "Oh, a lot of plausible deniability." He answered, stalking unhappily over to his desk. "From the Pentagon to the White House, no one can verify the existence of Milton Fine."

"He says he works in a covert branch of the government;" Lana prompted "maybe it's more covert than we think."

"If he even works there at all." Lex retorted, clearly disgruntled.

Lana's eyebrows creased in confusion. "What, so these classified documents he's been giving you, you think they're a forgery?"

"No," Lex replied with a dismissive shrug. "I had them authenticated, but that doesn't mean anything."

Lana frowned. "So, we have no idea who this guy really is."

"No," Lex consoled. "No. Don't worry. I'll find out." He paused for a moment, a strange glitter in his eyes. "You know." He commented. "I was only gone for a week, but I actually got a little homesick."

"What's so special about Smallville?" Lana asked with mock scepticism.

"Oh, I don't know." Lex replied, a sly smile in his eyes. "Cows. Cornfields. Wide open spaces."

Lana smiled as she tried not to laugh. "I missed you too Lex." She replied.

"You have no idea." Lex said, meeting her in the eyes. And suddenly his lips were on hers, his firm hands bracing her cheeks with a tender strength. And it was wonderful, an unexpected softness in the press of his lips against hers and a depth of passion that made Lana quiver all over. She drew back briefly for air, staring into his happily twinkling eyes and she smiled softly. She thought she heard the office door swing shut, but dismissed it in a foggy wave as Lex leaned in for a second kiss.

_Line Break_

"Hey, riddle me this:" Chloe posed, moving through the basement copy room at the _Planet_. "How does an assassin get in a completely sealed room unseen?"

"You knew, didn't you?" Clark accused, staring down at his blonde friend. He felt like a complete fool. For weeks now Chloe had been entirely evasive whenever Clark asked what Lana was doing, how she was. And now he knew. He'd gone by the mansion to see if Lex was the one to send that plasma, but had instead found Lex and Lana kissing, oblivious to the rest of the world. In that instant he had been in so much pain, paralysed by the heartbreak of seeing her like that that it took all his strength to not pummel Lex into the ground.

"No, that's why it's a riddle." Chloe countered, clearly not catching the point.

"All those times I asked you how Lana was doing, and you avoided the subject like the plague." Clark blinked, recalling their conversation from just earlier that day. Chloe had suggested that Lex felt guilty and wanted to make up for it. "You knew about her and Lex."

Chloe visibly sagged. "I'm sorry, Clark. But I didn't think that it was my place to get involved."

"You're supposed to be my friend." Clark virtually hissed, the sting of betrayal making itself known.

"I am your friend, Clark." Chloe murmured softly, her own green eyes twin pools of hurt.

"You are?" Clark countered. "Then why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I'm Lana's friend too," Chloe retorted, her temper flaring defensively. "And she asked me to keep it a secret. I thought you of all people could respect that." Clark heard the hurt edge in her voice, but proceeded anyway as his temper flared.

"You know how dangerous Lex is." Clark seethed. "Any friend of Lana's would never let her get involved with him."

"Look," Chloe replied evenly. "I wasn't exactly jumping for joy either, but Lana's a big girl. And we both know that Lex still has a soft spot for Danny, so it's not like she's alone." But Clark wasn't listening, all he knew was that Lex would eventually betray Lana, and all that Clark had done to protect her would be meaningless. He turned, prepared to march all the way back to the Luthor mansion to give Lex a piece of his mind. "Clark, where are you going?" Chloe called from behind him, and Clark abruptly turned around.

"Lana has no idea what she's getting herself into." He fumed between gritted teeth.

"Clark," Chloe murmured sadly, laying a hand on his shoulder and meeting him firmly in the eyes. "You need to remember that you broke up with her. That means she can date whoever she wants with or without your written permission."

Her soft tone made him pause, his anger dissipating into a hollow sort of sadness. "I know." Clark agreed sadly, hating himself more in that moment than he had when he'd broken up with Lana in the first place. "But I still care about her. And I don't wanna just stand by and watch her get hurt."

"Look, I hate to be the one to say this, but you don't have a choice." Chloe stated, her eyes glimmering with saddened sympathy. Clark nodded, deflating inwardly. Chloe was right, she always was. But he didn't have to like it, and it didn't change how much it hurt to know that she had run to Lex's arms for comfort.

"I know" He murmured, looking sadly at the ground. "I know." He repeated, shaking his head sadly. He sent his blonde friend a sad smile before heading off. He needed some time to think. Now that the anger had been dispelled, all he could feel was a sort of disassociated numbness, and he didn't know what to make of it.

He hardly noticed the trip home, far too lost in his own thoughts. He did, however, pause as he approached the kitchen door. There was a blanketed lump huddled on the porch, and Clark could see a rumpled head of dark hair sticking out from beneath a thick comforter. Clark had been aware that Danny was feeling off colour, his mom's concern at that morning had left little room for imagination. But with everything that Danny had been through and managed to bounce back, Clark admitted privately that he had come to see his cousin as near invulnerable.

That illusion was shattered as the younger boy sat up, groaning slightly as he blinked in the afternoon light. Clark couldn't help but worry at the sunken look in his eyes; the icy blue had lost its usual vibrancy and seemed to be smothered in a thick glassy layer which Clark couldn't identify.

"Hey, Clark." Danny said, and to Clark his voice sounded horribly weak, as though he had lost something crucial to him.

"Danny." Clark acknowledged, going to sit by Danny's left side. But he paused, realising that there was something in the way. Danny blinked confusedly, but a second later a glimmer of comprehension washed through his eyes. Danny nudged the air in his lap, and Clark jumped at the slight growl that reverberated through the air, seemingly without a source.

"Mia amiko, veki ." Danny whispered in a strange language, eliciting a second growl from the air. "Wulf, ni havas vizitanton."

Clark blinked as suddenly a huge grey wolf appeared in front of him, the massive grey jaw resting in his cousin's lap like an oversized puppy. But the wolf was fully clothed, oversized green tattered cloth encased his torso and legs, making him look, if not more human, then at least less animal like. He was huge, and even sitting down, Clark could tell that if the animal were to stand up Clark would easily be dwarfed by his bulk. If that was not enough to tell Clark that the wolf was supernatural, the soft green glow around him would have clearly identified the creature as a ghost.

"Clark, this is Wulf." Danny explained, switching back to English. "He was one of my first ghost friends." Danny paused, before continuing in that foreign language to the large wolf. "Wulf, ĉi tiu estas mia kuzo Clark. Li estas amiko." The wolf nodded in loyal acceptance before turning his wide green eyes towards Clark. The wolf pulled gently back from Danny, treating the younger boy as though he were a young pup, and took a sniff of the air around Clark.

Suddenly the wolf jerked back with a wolfish sneeze, fixing his eyes back on Danny. "Mia amiko Danny, via kuzo ne estas homa," The wolf-like ghost growled hurriedly, a non-comprehending look in his solid green eyes. "Li odoras kiel sunlumo, sed estas tro forta. Li estas danĝera."

"Wulf." Danny interjected, digging his hands deeply into the fur of the wolfish ghost's face to meet him in the eyes. "Clark estas amiko, kaj eĉ se li ne estas homo, povas trakti lin kiel unu. Li estas afabla kaj apogo, kaj estis tie por mi ekde mia familio mortis." Those solid green eyes fixed on Clark appraisingly one more before the wolfish face slowly nodded.

The boy looked across at Clark who was stumped. "Wulf only speaks Esperanto, he's the reason I learned in the first place." Danny explained. "He does understand English, but if he tries to use it, it's fragmented." Danny sighed, absently stroking the fur of the larger ghost. "Wulf was worried because... well, because you smell 'like sunshine, but too strong'." Danny finished, sending Clark a wry grin. Clark noticed the similarity of that description to how Danny had described his aura. He just put it up to being a ghost thing and decided to leave it at that.

"One of your friends came by earlier... Graham, I think?" Danny said, but Clark just returned a blank look. He didn't know anyone called Graham, and he hadn't been expecting anyone over. "Um, tall, dark curly hair..." Danny trailed, but was interrupted by another short spurt of Esperanto from Wulf. "Wulf says he can smell someone in the barn now if you want to look."

Clark nodded, but turned back to Danny a moment later. "Are you sure it's a good idea to have a ghost... wolf... here on the porch?" He asked worriedly. After all, even though his mom might be not complain about the notion of a ghost coming to visit Danny, it was certain to raise an eyebrow from anyone else, especially Lois who was probably still inside.

"It's fine. He's been invisible and intangible to humans all afternoon." Danny commented tiredly, and Clark was once more reminded of how sick he actually was. Despite having managed a conversation, it was clearly taxing on him. "Only reason you saw him is 'cos you almost sat on him."

Clark nodded, he wasn't sure he was satisfied with that explanation, but it was clear that it was all Danny could manage. And even as he watched, the huge wolf flickered out of visibility as he once more settled back onto Danny's lap like a guard dog. As Clark crossed into the barn he mused about what he had seen. Wulf was large, but clearly protective of Danny. Clark hadn't missed the huge dagger-like claws that stretched out intimidatingly from his paws, but Danny felt safe around him. Clark had seen a fierce shade of loyalty in those solid green eyes, far more intelligent than any animal, but simultaneously filled with a canine's unquestioning loyalty.

Clark turned a casual eye back to the porch, and in his x-ray vision he caught sight of the wolf-like licking Danny's cheek once before curling protectively around the sick boy. Danny sagged, his energy apparently gone, and Clark saw him pull the comforter back around his shoulders tightly before the dark haired boy curled up once more, an exhausted bundle of blankets lying dejectedly in the sun.

Clark sighed as he pushed into the side entrance of the loft, cautiously mounting the stairs. But he didn't see anyone in the barn. Clark shook his head sadly, idly reaching for the small picture of Lana that always sat on his desk. His gut clenched, pained at the thought that Lana was involved with Lex. And the more he thought about it, the more it hurt, stabbing into his heart like an icy dagger. A wave of heated agony washed through and he angrily cast the picture frame aside, the tinkling of breaking glass cutting through the silence of the barn like the painful emotions that tore through his heart.

"Let me guess," A half familiar voice called, interrupting Clark's thoughts forcefully. "Bad breakup?" Clark frowned, watching as a dark clothed man picked up the shattered picture frame. "I've had a few of those."

"You're the guy from the courthouse." Clark commented after a minute, finally placing the face. He hadn't even asked the man's name when he saved his life. All that he'd cared about was that the man was alive. What was it that Danny had called him? Graham?

"You're a hard man to please." The man jocularly accused. "What's the problem, you don't watch TV?"

"Wait, you sent that?" Clark asked, genuinely surprised. Given his suspicions of the Luthors, a gift like this was mildly understandable. He would still never have accepted it, but the source was better justified.

"You saved my life." The man replied with awed exasperation. "If it wasn't for Clark Kent, I'd be in a morgue right now, with tyre tracks across my forehead. It's the least I can do."

"How'd you find me?" Clark asked. "I never told you my name."

"That press pass around your neck did." The man dismissed. "And the fact that I'm familiar with the area led me straight here."

"Oh, you're from Smallville." Clark replied, genuinely surprised. He didn't recognise the man, but he hardly knew every face that lived in the town.

"Lived here as a kid, before my father moved into the big city." The dark-haired man replied glibly. "Clark, if the big screen's not your thing then what is?" He asked, but Clark just raised an eyebrow. "Help me out here, there must be something I can do for you."

"Your thank you is fine." Clark replied, and really it was. If his dad had taught him nothing else, it was to take pride in a good act in itself and without reward. "I appreciate the gesture, but you don't need to repay me."

Graham shook his head. "This isn't about you, Clark. It's about me." The man professed. "I don't ever like to be in debt, and the fact is, I owe you my life. Let me at least buy you dinner. I'm staying in Metropolis. I'll take you for a night on the town."

"Thanks," Clark replied "really, but I'm okay."

Graham raised an eyebrow. "You're hanging out in a barn, alone, in the middle of nowhere. That doesn't sound too okay to me." And the way he said it made Clark feel supremely inadequate. After all, he had been doing the same thing for months, ever since the breakup. Maybe Chloe was right when she said that Clark needed to get off the farm for a bit. After all, even Danny was able to go about seeing his friends from the Ghost Zone rather than wallowing in his own self pity.

Perhaps it was that that had Clark struggling with a tie later that evening, or maybe it was sheer desperation. But either way he found himself at the penthouse suite of one of the most expensive apartment buildings of Metropolis, loud music pumping through the doorway and coloured strobe lights glinting from beneath the doorframe. Clark was admitted immediately, and was immediately confronted by a party in full swing. It made him feel claustrophobic, the loud music and the tight press of bodies confining in how badly he fit in. But he had come, and while he would justify it as letting Graham soothe his conscience, there was still something to be said for being off the farm.

Clark was beginning to feel slightly overwhelmed, the dense crowd pushing in against him, when he heard a voice cut through the droning pulse. "Looks like the chicken finally flew the coop." Graham commented, sidling up beside Clark. The red gem glittered mysteriously on his neck in the flashing lights of the crowded room, but the man held himself as though he owned the whole space. "I was getting worried about you, man."

"I thought we were going out for dinner," Clark replied, straining against the music. "What's with the party?"

The man smiled enigmatically. "I made a killing the other day, and it's all thanks to Clark Kent." The charismatic man grinned, almost darkly for a moment before he brightened once more. "You thirsty? How about a Mojito?"

"No thanks," Clark replied, waving a hand dismissively. He didn't drink, aside from the fact that he still wasn't legal; it was a pointless exercise since alcohol had no effect on him. "I'm good. What exactly do you do?" Clark asked, hoping to make conversation.

"I'm a head hunter." Graham replied smoothly. "I travel the world tracking people down, you know, for jobs." He smiled, but Clark could've sworn there was a dark undertone in his voice. However the man courteously let the way over to the bar, a confident spring in his step. He gestured to a woman in a red dress who was talking to the bartender. "I'd like you to meet my date."

Clark blinked as the woman turned around, the red fabric sitting on her beautifully, and light brown hair pulled back into a messy bun. "Lois." Clark stated in surprise, shocked that she had been invited to this as well.

"Smallville." Lois shot back, sounding just as shocked as he was.

"We met out at your house this morning." Graham commented, laying a possessive arm around her shoulder. "I couldn't disappear without seeing her again."

"Lois, could I talk to you for a second." Clark requested with a synthetic smile. He didn't like the idea of Lois being at something like this, he didn't know why, but the thought of her being with Graham unsettled him on a level that he couldn't comprehend.

"How about later?" Lois replied through gritted teeth as she briefly glanced at their host. Her eyes flashed a stern warning that Clark had no intention of heeding.

"It's fine," Graham dismissed, waving them both off. "I'll be right back."

"What are you doing here?" Clark demanded, but frowned as he realised that Lois was challenging the same thing of him. "Lois!" Clark urged for emphasis.

"Look, Clark," Lois confessed "I happen to actually like this guy. So do me this one favour and pretend not to know me" Clark opened his mouth to argue, but she was already stalking off, her distinguishable red dress vanishing into a pool of people and leaving Clark alone once more.

"Hey, pal," Graham's voice interrupted once more as the man slunk up to his side. It was actually quite amazing how he was able to sneak up on Clark like that, as though Graham was only noticed by people when he wanted to be noticed. "You gotta check out the view from the balcony." The man suggested, gesturing towards the wide glass doors at the far side of the room.

"Um," Clark stammered "You know, I'm not crazy about heights."

"Trust me." The dark eyed man urged. "It's worth it." Clark sighed as he was led to the edge of the crowd, the glass door left ajar in front of him. Clark turned to talk to Graham, but the dark-haired man had disappeared into the crowd once more. Clark sighed, pushing the door fully open as he made his way out to the cool balcony. A crisp breeze struck Clark's face, and Clark found himself able to breathe in a way he hadn't in the oppressive pulse of the party.

The balcony, in contrast, was quiet; softly lit by a web of fairy lights that highlighted the far railing. It was a fairly large balcony, and four tall topiary pyramids stretched artfully from the centre, creating a semi isolated dining area. Clark took a deep breath, ignoring the table in favour of looking out over the railing. The city was beautiful from this angle, tall skyscrapers glittering with light that stretched off into the distance. And the golden light of the _Daily Planet_ globe, shimmering in the moonlight like a welcoming beacon. Despite his own personal dislike of heights, he couldn't help but appreciate the view of the city.

"Beautiful night, huh." A woman's voice asked. Clark turned around in surprise, noting the woman who had apparently come out for a breather as well. She was beautiful, dark eyelashes curling flawlessly over dark brown eyes, and dark blonde hair pulled artfully off her face to rest in a daring knot at the nape of her neck.

"Yeah, it is." Clark replied, looking back out over the city. Idly he wondered if this was what Danny saw when he flew over Metropolis at night, but he didn't really want to think about Danny at the moment. A twinge of guilt clenched in his gut as he dismissed thoughts of his cousin, curled up in a pained ball in bed.

"I'm Gia." The woman introduced, her voice a velvety alto that vibrated with a strangely melodic lilt.

"Hi, Gia. I'm Clark." He replied, shaking her hand.

"I know." The woman replied, smiling knowingly at him. "Guy like you, you must have a girlfriend, huh?"

"Me? I..." Clark paused unsure of how to answer such a blunt question. But the whole reason he was so desperately depressed lately was because he had broken up with Lana. "Don't." He finished sadly, his eyes searching the city as he leaned heavily against the railing.

"Do you wanna take e tour?" The woman offered. "I hear the view from the bedroom is even better than the balcony." There was a hint of innuendo in her voice, but Clark couldn't understand what it was about. Clark opened his mouth to offer a denial but Gia leaned in and kissed him. Clark pulled back, heat rushing to his cheeks as he felt himself blush. "What's wrong?" She asked, her velvety voice somehow confident in its confusion.

"I don't even know you." Clark murmured, a confused type of embarrassment making itself known at the thought that such a beautiful woman had kissed him.

"That's okay." Gia murmured, her cherry fingernails softly brushing against his cheek and sending a foreign tingle straight down his spine. "Graham warned me you might be shy."

Clark pulled back, any pleasure in her company vanishing in an instant. "Graham?" Clark pressed, studying her eyes carefully.

"He wants you to have a good time." The woman replied tempestuously, and only now did Clark hear the insincerity in the seductive velvet of her voice.

"Um, I'm sorry." Clark stammered, backing away from the dark eyed woman. "I think there's a misunderstanding. I should go." Clark didn't even give her an opportunity to reply before he headed back through the door. He was gonna leave, head home now and cut his losses before the night turned into any more of an emotional disaster.

"Woah, what happened?" Graham questioned, suddenly at his elbow.

"Look," Clark answered, looking the dark-haired man in the eyes. He was trying hard not to let his disgust show, but the thought of being set up like that, the insinuation that Clark would use a woman like that, was something that Clark just wouldn't abide."If you wanna do me a favour, just consider us even. I gotta go."

"Look, Clark, I apologise." Graham replied, holding out a hand to block Clark's exit. "I thought Gia was just what the doctor ordered, but I was wrong. You're a lot deeper than I gave you credit for. You must have really loved your ex." Clark saw a brief glimpse of understanding in his eyes before it was replaced by something darker. "What's the problem? Let's get you two back together."

Clark frowned. "It's a little late for that." He replied distantly.

"It's never too late." Graham denied, as though the idea was absurd. Clark deflated, unable to stop himself from dumping his anxiety on the dark-haired man.

"It is when she's already with someone else." Clark murmured; his voice strangely devoid of emotion.

"That might make it more difficult, but not impossible." Graham replied with a light smile on his face. "Who is the lucky bastard?"

"Someone I used to call my friend." Clark spat, unable to keep the seething venom out of his voice.

"That's not crossing the line." Graham concurred, sounding downright disgusted. "That's just plain wrong."

"Yeah," Clark seethed aloud, gladdened to finally have a listening ear who would actually acknowledge Clark's anger at the bald-headed man. "Well, if you knew Lex Luthor, you wouldn't be surprised."

"That billionaire might be with her now." Graham consoled, yet somehow there was a strangely dark edge to his comforting tone. "But don't lose faith, Clark. If it's meant to be, things have a way of working themselves out."

"Well I hope you're right." Clark admitted.

"I know I am." Graham replied, that enigmatic smile back on his face. "I'm always right." The man grinned, and the red gem at his neck glimmered strangely in the light as once more Graham disappeared into the crowd.

_Line Break_

Lana frowned as she made her way through the mansion. She'd dropped in, hoping to be able to spend the evening with Lex, but there was a strange tension in the air. Lana felt herself speeding up unconsciously, almost breaking into a run as she passed through the long wood panelled hallways. There was a sharp crash from inside Lex's office, shortly followed by the tinkling of shattered glass. Lana broke into a full run as she threw open the office door.

"Lex!" She cried, momentarily freezing at the sight in front of her. Lex was lying limp on the floor, a thick rope drawn tight around his neck, but it looked as though someone was pulling at it from behind. Lex convulsed, and there was a strange glimmer in the air as Lana noticed the man behind Lex. He was crouched over him, a dark trench coat wrapped around him and dark eyes glittering in malice. A red gemstone sparkled sinisterly around his throat, but he was gone not even a breath later.

Lana shook herself from her shock, racing across the room to Lex's side. "Help! Help please!" Lana cried, desperate as she felt how erratic Lex's pulse was. The door flew open, and the dark skinned head of security surged into the room. "Call an ambulance." Lana demanded before turning her attention back to Lex. "Lex" she murmured, sadly stroking his cheek as she silently swore to stay with him no matter what. "It's gonna be okay."

Lana stayed by his side, completely dazed as the paramedics arrived, all of them noting the angry rope burns around his neck.

Lana stayed by Lex's side, watching tearfully as he was lifted onto a stretcher and rolled out the doors, his strong body reduced to hopeless frailty in his unconscious.

Lana stayed by Lex's side, her heartbeat erratic in the overly bright ambulance, still murmuring soft comforts and hoping desperately that he would wake up.

Lana stayed by Lex's side, clasping his hand tightly with hers as the ambulance pulled up and he was taken straight to the ER room, protesting vehemently as she was forced to wait outside while he was immediately taken into the operating rooms.

And Lana stayed by Lex's side as he was left in his lonely hospital room, the doctor's assurance the only indication that he was gonna be okay. Despite the severe red burn across his neck, the suffocation was not going to cause any severe long lasting damage. Hours drifted by in the hospital, and Lana found herself whispering to the young man, her hand resting encouragingly on his in the vain hope that it would bring him sooner back to consciousness.

Something moved out in the corridor, and Lana saw a very recognisable red jacket standing outside the room. She stood up, moving quietly across the room to talk to Clark.

"Chloe called me, she told me what happened." Clark commented, answering her unasked question. "How's he doing?"

"Luckily his trachea didn't collapse." Lana answered, sending a fearful glance towards Lex. "And the doctor sedated him for the pain."

"Where's Lionel?" Clark asked, and Lana wasn't sure if the edge in his voice was due to anxiety over Lex or something else.

"Lionel's on his way back from Singapore." Lana supplied. Despite how strained the relationship between the two Luthors was, Lionel had still dropped everything to be with his son in hospital. That said something about how Lionel cared for Lex, even if the younger man wouldn't see it that way.

"You're a good friend for staying with him like this." Clark observed. "Danny would've come, but..."

"He's been sick himself." Lana finished, having heard Chloe mention it the day before. Lana nodded in understanding before peering at Lex through the hospital room blinds once more. "Someone should be with him when he wakes up."

"Yeah, of course." Clark acknowledged before taking a deep breath, as though he was steeling himself for something truly unpleasant. "Do they know who did this?"

Lana frowned, her gaze turning cold as she studied the blue-eyed man appraisingly. "I gave them a full description." She replied evenly.

"You were there when it happened?" Clark pressed.

"I was returning some books and I walked in on the attack." Lana replied calmly. That had been her excuse to go over in the first place, now she was just glad that she had come up with a reason to visit at all.

"So, what does this guy look like?" Clark pushed, completely ignoring how uncomfortable this line of inquisition was making her. She had almost watched Lex die, and she wouldn't feel comfortable until he was awake again.

"Dark hair, Dark eyes." Lana replied shaking her head. "About six feet tall. And he was wearing a black trench coat. He had a weird red gem at his throat." Lana paused, looking up at him as she tried to dispel her own confusion. "Clark, he seemed to vanish into thin air." But any hopes of an answer vanished when Clark frowned, his eyes flashing in distressed recognition before once more he pulled another Clark Kent style vanishing act.

Lana let out a choked sigh before turning back into the room. She wanted to be there for Lex, right by his side; just as he had been when Lana was lost in her own self-destructive emotional turmoil.

_Line Break_

Clark frowned, pushing his hands into his knuckles as he stared across the loft at Chloe. The young blonde was currently typing away at her computer, trying to pick up a lead on Graham. Danny was sitting just beneath the window, leaning tiredly against the wooden panels. He did look better than he had the previous day, the hollowness of his eyes having receded to just dark bags. Clark wasn't sure of it was a natural recovery or down to spending close to six hours asleep beside the anthropomorphic wolf ghost. But there was still something unsettling about his eyes that Clark couldn't figure out.

The biggest problem was that Clark had gone to visit Graham in an attempt to warn him off Lex. But the man had gotten violent, throwing a heavy lamp at him in an attempt to subdue Clark. Naturally as Clark reached to defend himself the vase had shattered, immediately notifying Graham that he wasn't the only one walking around with powers. The man had promptly turned invisible, and Clark hadn't even been able to find him with his x-ray vision, and that was a disturbing discovery in itself.

"If your meteor-challenged friend tried to kill Lex to repay a favour," Chloe suggested, a worried frown on her pursed lips. "It's probably not the first time he's murdered someone. In fact, with his powers he may even be the Chameleon."

"Who's the Chameleon?" Danny asked immediately, before Clark even had a chance to.

"Hitman for hire." Chloe supplied. "Number eight on the FBI's top 40 and climbing the charts. The GIW have him at number three, after yours truly and Vortex. He's also happens to be the prime suspect for the courthouse murder." Chloe finished, sending a significant look at Clark.

"Which happened right after I saved Graham's life." Clark noted self depreciatively.

Chloe sighed, her fingers tapping across the keyboard. "His trademark is getting to his victims in highly secure locations. He leaves no prints, no images on surveillance cameras, and no clues."

"A meteor power would explain it." Clark mused. "He said he'd been in Smallville as a kid."

"Well, unfortunately there's no record for camouflage power on the digital Wall of Weird." Chloe replied after a moment. "And the name Graham Garrett didn't get any hits. This guy's totally off the grid."

"Not entirely." Danny interjected. "I don't think it's a meteor power."

"I thought you said you were powered down at the moment." Chloe replied, peering curiously at him.

"Pretty much." Danny shrugged, a contemplative look on his face. "That's not what I was thinking of though, it's the gem he was wearing."

"What about it?" Clark asked, doubtful that it would help.

"I think I recognise it." Danny replied. "It's Eudialyte, I think it's the one from my book."

Chloe's eyes rounded in wary surprise, and Clark frowned at that look. He wasn't completely sure about the story behind the gems, but if it was anything like Simone's Turquoise they were in trouble. "What does that one do?" Chloe asked.

"In essence, the person wearing it controls how noticeable they are." Danny answered, his shoulders slumping tiredly. "It's not true invisibility, but it's a close imitation. And that makes him more dangerous."

"If I hadn't saved him," Clark lamented with inward directed anger. "That witness would still be alive, and Lex wouldn't be in the hospital. I gotta stop him."

"Well it's easier said than done." Chloe interrupted sceptically. "When you're a wanted man invisibility really comes in handy. Every law enforcement agency from the FBI to Interpol has been after him for the last year."

"I'm no typical law enforcement agency." Clark retorted, standing up to leave, but Chloe pulled him back down.

"Clark," The blonde warned. "Don't get too cocky. Not only does this guy know about your powers, but he could very well know about your weakness."

Clark raised a sceptical eyebrow. "How would he know about the meteor rocks?"

"He's the ultimate fly on the wall." Danny replied. "Regular police wouldn't be able to find him, and the GIW wouldn't be able to trace him. And somehow he's figured out a way to use the Eudialyte to hide from cameras too."

"And he's buzzing around the Talon later on tonight for a date with Lois." Chloe added, a hint of fear intruding on her normally confident tone. "I gotta call and warn her." Clark frowned as the blonde disappeared down the stairs. With any luck Chloe would catch her and Lois would be out of Graham's line of sight. But after half an hour straight of all three of them ringing straight through to voicemail Clark was getting worried. He gave up on the notion of warning her on the phone and chose to race over to the Talon, hoping to head off a problem before it arose.

Clark frowned as he rapped hard on the door of Lois' apartment. He'd been at the door for five minutes, but the brunette hadn't answered. Clark sighed, rubbing his hair in indecision before he forced the door open. Glancing around he didn't see anything amiss, but there was no sign of Lois in the main rooms. Hearing the soft padding of footsteps on a tiled floor Clark made his way over to the bathroom door, desperately hoping that Lois was safe.

"Hello?" Lois' voice came muffled through the bathroom door. She sounded uneasy, and Clark's heart leapt in worry. He pushed the door open, and was immediately confronted by Lois, a towel draped hazardously around her and wielding... was that a hairbrush? "What are you doing here?!" The brunette demanded, but Clark could hear the fear hidden beneath her aggression.

"Lois," Clark replied quickly, his own anxiety pushing through to the surface. "I have been calling, knocking on the door..." he trailed off, if she was just in the shower then she should've been able to get the phone earlier. "How long have you been in there?"

"About an hour and a half." Lois answered dismissively, and Clark blinked in mild astonishment. He didn't even know it was possible to spend that long in the shower, but at least she had been safe the whole time, even if they hadn't been able to deliver their warning about Graham. "Hey, you weren't just in my bathroom, were you?"

Clark blinked, a deep sense of disquiet rising in his stomach. Lois, I just walked in the apartment." He answered.

"That's weird." Lois commented "I could've sworn there was someone in there watching me."

"Graham." Clark seethed, anxiously looking around the apartment for any sigh of the Chameleon. It was unsettling to know that he could be there, and Clark wouldn't be able to see him, even if he tried to use his x-ray vision.

"Clark, you're blaming Graham?" Lois scoffed with mild disgust. "That's pathetic."

"If you see him, you need to stay away." Clark warned, still searching the room for any sign of the psychotic man. Clark was appalled that Graham saw fit to try and spin Lois into his web with so much blood on his hands.

"Why is it you feel the need to lob a grenade at every guy that I date?" Lois scolded; icy anger apparent in her dark eyes. But Clark wasn't really listening to her, on the edge of his hearing he thought he heard a third heartbeat in the room, making its way steadily towards the door.

"Quiet." Clark urged, listening for the steady heartbeat against the noise of the Talon that echoed up through the floor. "He's here." He whispered, but then the heartbeat departed, fading and mingling with the loud pulse of the Talon crowd downstairs. It quickly became drowned out in the steady bustle of the busy coffee shop. But Clark raced down the stairs as he saw a waitress knocked out of the way by what appeared to be thin air. The back alley exit flew open, and Clark followed, knowing that Graham was just outside.

Suddenly he felt weak, and a pained ringing echoed through his ears as the air escaped his lungs. He gasped, a hand reaching involuntarily to his chest as he was suddenly confronted by a vision of glowing green.

"Amazing what you can learn when you're a fly on the wall." Graham mused aloud, his dark eyes glimmering forebodingly. "These meteors might hurt you, but I have no problems using them to get the greatest life I could ever ask for. Although I'll admit I was surprised to find out that your cousin knew about the gem."

"It isn't yours." Clark spat, still gasping as the oppressive radiation of the meteor rock washed over him.

"That's where you're wrong," Graham replied, tossing the rock between his hands, moving it ever closer to Clark with each toss. "The gem has been in the family for generations, but I was the first one to actually use it to its true potential. You think using your powers to be a hero's a rush? Nothing beats using them to kill."

"I saved your life." Clark gasped as the dark-haired man forced him to the ground. The kryptonite glittered menacingly close to his face, turning his blood to stinging lances in his veins.

"You should have taken the plasma." Graham laughed before his eyes filled with cruel malice. The man leaned in, pressing the stone hard into Clark's chest. "But now that my identity's in jeopardy I have no choice. I have to get rid of you, Lex and Lana." His voice was a cruel hiss as he whispered the last name.

"No." Clark gasped weakly, but the kryptonite was quickly robbing him of any strength. Already Clark could feel his lungs shutting down as the air escaped them, left painfully empty with the next breath.

"They saw who I was, Clark." The man whispered darkly. "And in my line of work you don't leave loose ends."

"You'll never get away with it." Clark forced out, glaring at the man with what little remained of his strength.

Graham smirked. "I always do." The man crooned with eyes full of icy malice. Clark felt a blunt force impact the side of his skull as Graham slammed the kryptonite rock hard against his head. There was a brief surge of agony as the kryptonite overwhelmed him before Clark sunk into the welcoming relief of unconsciousness.

_Line Break_

Danny gazed through slitted eyes as he made his way up the stairs to Lois' apartment. His headache was still horrendous, and the bright light of the well lit room was not helping. But he needed to be here just as much as Chloe did. Clark had run off, leaving the two of them behind, and it had taken all of five seconds for Chloe to race out to her own car hot on his trail. Clark couldn't go into this unprepared; especially considering that he was vulnerable to the effects of the gem just as much as any human was. Danny was the only one of them who stood a chance of actually _seeing_ Graham, and even then it was uncertain with how his ghost half was currently affecting him.

"Lois?" Chloe demanded, pushing the apartment door open and anxiously stepping through. "Do you know where Clark is?"

"No," Lois groused, looking severely annoyed as she tugged her lemon shirt down. "He just busted in here, warned me about Graham and then took off."

"Do you have any idea where he went?" Danny urged, pushing through his own personal discomfort as he felt a slight tug on his core. There was a faint whisper of _protect_ at the back of his mind, but it was disconnected, weak.

"I wasn't exactly paying attention." Lois shrugged before quickly becoming more annoyed. "And you know what; I'm starting to get a little tired of him thinking that I need his approval just to go on a simple date." She rounded on Danny accusingly. "You're his cousin, can you please tell me why Clark Kent is so obsessed with my love life?"

"Lois," Chloe interrupted as Danny took an involuntary step back from an irate Lois Lane. "Graham's a killer. A professional hitman."

Danny watched as Lois' face fell, paling to a chalky white. "Of course he is." Lois deflated with dejected sarcasm. The brunette shook her head sadly, shrugging on her denim jacket with a weary sadness.

"We need to find Clark." Danny urged, and deep in his core the whisper became louder as Danny tried to clear the fogginess of his mind. The three of them ran downstairs, the two girls calling for Clark. One of the waitress said that he'd gone out back, and Danny pressed through the large door that led out into the back alley. _Protect._ The whisper came once more, calling him into the alleyway, but Danny could see nothing, and the call was still far too weak.

"Clark!" Chloe's voice cried out from behind him as the two girls burst into the alley. "Clark!"

"Waitress said he ran out back." Lois consoled. "He can't have gotten that far."

"You'd be surprised." Danny commented absently, his eyes fixed towards the shadowed corner behind the dumpster. There was a faint tug that drew him in closer, his sneakers raising a small cloud of dust as he stepped onto recently dug earth. His eyes widened as he saw a tiny scrap of red fabric poking up from beneath the dirt. He gasped, his core screaming at him and he collapsed to his knees, frantically scratching at the ground as he realised what Graham had done.

Chloe and Lois raced over, noticing his frenzied movements. "Oh God." Chloe gasped as Danny unburied a ragged arm. "Jesus!" the blonde exclaimed, the three of them working impossibly quickly to unbury the dark haired young man. Danny gasped as his hand brushed against another rock, this one lancing into him like electricity. He drew his hand back, hissing as he tried to work around the glowing green piece of kryptonite. Chloe noted his struggles and tossed the rock away, allowing Danny too reach into the pit and lift his cousin out from beneath the arms.

"Clark breathe." Danny urged, pressing his fingers against Clark's neck as he attempted to find a pulse.

"Clark, wake up!" Chloe begged, the three of them kneeling at Clark's side in the dirt.

"Lois, can you get him some water?" Danny asked, sending a quick glance to the brunette. Lois nodded and sped into the Talon. Danny gasped, his hand clenched to his core as it screamed at him. But he couldn't do anything, and it felt like his core was tearing itself apart. Lois came back, a glass of water clutched tightly in her hands as she raced back to Clark's side, dousing his lips gently with the clear liquid.

Clark coughed, the cool moisture rousing him from unconsciousness as it passed through his lips. The young man blinked, managing to sit himself up. "He's going after Lex and Lana." Clark coughed; his voice course with dust and pain. Chloe and Danny's eyes met briefly, and a flash of concerned understanding passed between them. Clark had just been literally buried alive, who knew what Graham would do to Lex and Lana.

_Line Break_

Lex sighed, the breath stirring short pains in his damaged throat. He had woken up in the hospital with Lana Lang holding his hand as she smiled fondly at him. He couldn't begin to describe the way that made his heart leap, stirring warmth inside him that he had not felt since before his mom died. Lana had stepped out briefly, saying that she was going to get something to eat. Lex was taking the opportunity to check his emails, despite his suspicions of Milton Fine; the man had asked Lex to assist in a project that would no doubt help fight the alien threat.

Unsurprisingly a message from Fine popped up, and Lex clicked into the window. _'Is the compound virus ready?'_ Fine's message read in small print at the top of the screen. The project was a remarkably simple one; gathering the most deadly strands of numerous viruses and combining them into a single, potent compound. It was brilliant in its simplicity since all the strains used were ones which humans had natural immunities to, but in theory an alien species would not be able to fight the potency of the virus.

'_Yes.'_ Lex typed in reply, sending off the message. It was Fine who had supplied all the virus strains, giving Lex detailed reports about their potency, spread rate and epidemiology for each of the viruses. It was up to Lex to then develop their biological weapon, but Lex was not about to tell Fine about his own personal influence on the implementation of the project. The hospital room door clicked open, and Lex quickly folded the laptop closed, still on edge from the violent assault in his own home. Lex set the laptop aside, hidden beneath a towel as Lana came back inside the room.

"Is everything okay?" She asked, a mild edge of concern in her voice.

"Yeah," Lex replied, getting his breathing back under control. He had been half expecting his assailant to come back in and finish the job. "Yeah I just thought you were someone else."

"It's just me." Lana smiled, her voice filled with warmth and radiating cheer. "Bringing you a little comfort." The dark haired young woman smiled, pulling a dark pair of pyjamas out of her bag and demonstrating them proudly to him. "I thought you'd prefer these to the uncomfortable hospital garb."

"They're perfect." Lex replied, sending her a grateful smile. However the door clicked open again, making Lex frown. There didn't appear to be anyone there, but he got the feeling that in this case appearances were very much deceptive. Lex reached under his blanket, pulling out the small handgun that one of his security team had left for him. He stood up warily, using himself as a barrier between Lana and the door.

"Lex? What's happening?" Lana asked with confusion, and he could feel her eyeing the room fearfully from behind his back.

"Lana, stay behind me." Lex commanded, pushing both of them back into the corner so they were only vulnerable on two sides. On the far side of the room a rolling stand moved, and Lex immediately pointed his gun towards it. There was a loud bang as the bullet released, followed by a second and a third, until Lex had gone through half the clip. There was an ominous pause before Lana pointed to a small drip of blood on the floor.

Cautiously both of them stepped over towards it, hoping to catch sight of their invisible assailant. Lex blinked, watching a drop of blood appear in the air and fall silently to the floor. Suddenly a dark clad man appeared, and all Lex saw was an ominous red gem before the gun was forcefully thrown out of his hands. "Lana, run." Lex commanded, stepping back as the man bent down to pick up the gun. Sticky crimson stained his hand, and a red pool was slowly blossoming on his chest. "Run! Go!" Lex bellowed, forcing both of them out the door as he felt the man chasing close behind them.

They scrambled out the hospital room door, Lex urging Lana faster down the long, empty corridor. But Lana tripped, and there was no time to help her. Lex threw himself around her, wrapping her up in a living shield as he heard the gun fire. There was an eerie silence as the two of them crouched, their heavy pants the only sound in the starkly lit corridor. Lex looked warily into Lana's fearful eyes, before cautiously helping her up.

Lex turned, pulling Lana close to his chest as he gazed back down the corridor. Their would-be assassin lay on the floor, a pool of blood oozing from his lifeless abdomen, his eyes darkened by the hollow blankness of death.

"You saved my life." Lana murmured, pressing herself tightly against his chest. And Lex wasn't sure if the tightness of her grip was due to her gratefulness or her still rapidly beating heart. All that Lex knew, as he wrapped an arm comfortingly around her, was that once again they'd escaped certain death by the skin of their teeth. Lex looked behind him, noting that once more there was no sign of damage behind them. Despite the gun going off, it appeared that the bullet had disappeared into thin air.

_Line Break_

Clark frowned, absently rolling the warped bullet between his fingers. He had only just been in time to save them; even a second later and it would have been too late for both Lana and Lex. Clark sighed, squashing down his distress as he walked into the _Planet_. He shoved the bullet back into his coat pocket, taking a sidelong glance of the dark-haired boy who walked beside him. Danny had come into Metropolis with him, still not fully recovered but looking a lot better than he had two days before. The two of them walked down to the basement, where Chloe was working in the copy room.

Danny tapped on the glass, catching Chloe's attention as he pointed to the headline on the front page of the day's paper. Chloe grinned as she came out, knowing exactly what they were there for. "Congratulations on your first front-page by-line." Danny proclaimed, beaming at Chloe and catching her in an encouraging hug. Danny had been so excited when he saw the headline _'Chameleon Hitman Killed; LuthorCorp CEO Safe'_, not because of the article, but because it was Chloe who had written it.

"Yeah, and Clark here deserves all the credit." Chloe deflected, but Clark could see a happy sparkle in her green eyes.

"Or the blame." Clark emitted tiredly. "If saving strangers ends up getting other people killed, I'm not sure that's a business I wanna be in."

"Do you really want a choice?" Chloe asked. "I mean, I'm nowhere near super, but if I see someone drowning, I'm gonna throw them a rope."

"What if that person's a killer, Chloe?" Clark demanded, his own confusion and anger bubbling to the surface. "What if the world would actually be better off without them?"

"That's not your decision to make." Danny answered firmly. But Clark wasn't going to be easily swayed by his half-ghost cousin on this. Danny often said before that his decisions were heavily impacted by his obsession, so his advice wasn't quite as helpful in this situation.

But Chloe seemed to agree with him, nodding in affirmation. "Ask a doctor, or a fire fighter or anyone in the hero business. You save first, and ask questions later."

"It's their choice what they do with their life." Danny added, his eyes glowing a radiant shade of icy blue. "But you have to let them make that choice."

"I guess you're right." Clark reflected. "It's just not always that easy."

"Especially when the person you're saving is Lex Luthor." Chloe empathised.

Clark sighed, knowing that he still owed his blonde friend an apology. "I should never have questioned your friendship." He admitted, sending her a cautious smile.

"You were angry." Chloe dismissed. "And I understand. I mean, it's not exactly a walk in the park to see the person you love in the arms of someone else."

Clark nodded, his shoulders slumping slightly as he released a heavy sigh. "Of all the people in the world, why Lex?"

"Just like you can't pick and choose the people you save," Chloe answered, an understanding glimmer in her eyes. "You can't pick and choose who your ex-girlfriend dates. That's just the way it is."

"You have no idea how hard it was to see them like that." Clark confessed, remembering the pain that ripped through his heart when he saw Lex wrapped around Lana, kissing her. And Lana's kissing back desperately, as though her life depended on it. "It was like I couldn't breathe."

"I'm sorry you had to find out that way." Chloe admitted; her voice unusually humble. "I know how much that must've hurt. But you know, Lana's moved on. Maybe it's time you started doing the same thing."

Clark sighed, looking over at his blonde friend before turning his eyes to Danny. In those blue eyes Clark could still see the ghost of Sam, and he knew that Danny had never fully moved on from the amethyst eyed girl. Danny sent him a sympathetic smile, a flash of understanding passing through his bright blue eyes.

"Maybe." The boy suggested, "It's not so much moving on." He paused, meeting Chloe's eyes briefly before turning back to Clark. "Maybe it's letting her find happiness for herself, and taking heart that she's been given that."

Clark released a deep breath, nodding in acknowledgement as he met his cousin's eyes. This was what Danny had cautioned about when Clark had first broken up with Lana, and he had known that it would be hard. Clark was never going to be able to trust Lex, not after everything the man had done. But he could make Lana happy. And despite how much Clark disliked Lex, if the man could make Lana happy then that was the least she deserved. Clark loved Lana with his whole heart, and if that meant that he had to let her find happiness in someone else, well, that was a sacrifice that he was only too willing to make.

AN; Okay, I completely lost my muse for this chapter. So I apologise for the late update.

In regards to Graham... well it wasn't where I envisioned having the Eudialyte but it just worked so well for him to have it.

For all you people living in the northern hemisphere... Can I come to visit? We're having a really oppressive heat wave here and I could go for a bit of autumnal cool weather.

Translations;

Mia amiko, veki .Wulf, ni havas vizitanton. – My friend, wake up. Wulf, we have a visitor.  
>Wulf, ĉi tiu estas mia kuzo Clark. Li estas amiko. – Wulf, this is my cousin Clark. He's a friend.<br>Mia amiko Danny, via kuzo ne estas homa. Li odoras kiel sunlumo, sed estas tro forta. Li estas danĝera. – My friend Danny, your cousin is not human. He smells like sunlight, but it is too strong. He is dangerous.  
>Wulf. Clark estas amiko, kaj eĉ se li ne estas homo, povas trakti lin kiel unu. Li estas afabla kaj apogo, kaj estis tie por mi ekde mia familio mortis. – Clark is a friend, and even if he is not human you can treat him as one. He is kind and supportive, and has been here for me since my family died.<p>

Anyway, once again I feel that I need to thank everyone who has been so loyally reading and reviewing, I have been particularly uninspired of late, but your feedback always spurs me onwards.

Till next time,

Bluerose


	32. Shadowed

Chapter 31

Shadowed

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Danny sighed, passing the red gem idly between his fingers. Clark had handed it to him two nights before, apparently having taken it off Graham when he saved Lex and Lana. Danny wasn't sure what to make of that, and Clark wasn't talking. Danny was aware that something had changed for Clark, and he wasn't sure if it was solely due to finding out that Lex and Lana were together. The one good thing was that Danny himself was starting to feel better; the visit from Wulf had provided something of an answer to why he was sick, even if Danny didn't like the ramifications.

The anthropomorphic wolf in question had headed back into the Zone the same day he had arrived, not that he'd ever stayed around for long in the past. Wulf hadn't been able to visit for long, the effort to find Danny this time had left him needing the energy-rich Ghost Zone atmosphere a lot sooner than usual. But Wulf had stayed around for the better part of a day to keep Danny company while he was feeling sick and for that he was truly grateful. Wulf had promised to come back soon, and now the wolfish ghost knew where Danny was it probably wouldn't be so hard for Wulf to find him.

Danny shook his head, setting the Eudialyte down on the open alchemist's journal before leaning heavily back against the sofa loft. He was supposed to be studying for his exams, but between his own sickness and the business of the past few days, the exams sort of faded out of importance.

"You know, I've spent the last few days trying to drag your cousin out of the loft." Chloe's voice cut through the silence of the barn, a soft warmth that broke through the icy fog clouding his mind. "I really don't wanna have to add you to the list."

"Hey Chloe." Danny smiled, opening his eyes as the blonde took a seat on the far side of the trunk. It was disconcerting to be on low power like this, he still couldn't feel people's auras, and trying to touch on any of his other ghost powers was still beyond him. His stomach had settled, though, but only to the point where he could drink hot chocolate. The thought of eating anything from the Real World still made him feel a little green.

"That's the..." Chloe trailed, gesturing towards the red gem on the book.

"Yeah, Clark got it off Graham in the hospital." Danny answered.

Chloe frowned, her lips pressing together tightly for a moment before she spoke. "Not that I like the idea of Clark playing the klepto card, but it's probably better here than handed into the government with the rest of Graham's stuff."

Danny released a sharp breath, somewhere between a scoff and a laugh. "You're probably right." He commented, idly picking the gem up once more and rubbing the red stone with his thumb. "What I don't get is why Graham used it like that in the first place."

"Probably for the same reasons as Simone did; power, greed, lust." Chloe shrugged. "It's just like the meteor freaks, they have power and they want to use it to get ahead. Not everyone is like you or Clark, Danny."

"What does that even mean?" Danny moaned, venting his own internal frustrations. "People should just be people, it shouldn't matter if they have powers or not. But every time we meet a meteor infected person or someone gets one of these gems... they turn out to be psychopaths."

"That says more about the people they are then the powers they have." Chloe replied evenly. "I mean, look at Victor Stone, he turned out alright."

Danny shook his head tiredly. "I dunno." He said, his eyes fixed on the glimmering red of the Eudialyte in his fingers. "Does he count? Or does he qualify as like me, like Clark? None of us are fully human, so do we even qualify? I mean..." Danny groaned unsure how to continue, and silence stretched between them, drawing taught as a bowstring.

"Humans can't have ghost powers." Danny murmured quietly after a minute. He sighed, the red gem in his fingers glimmering in the afternoon light. "That's what my mom always used to say. And I used to believe that she meant that humans physically can't have ghost powers. But what if it's more than that? What if there's something about being human that just can't handle having that sort of power, not in a physical way, but built into human psychology?"

"Hey," Chloe consoled, coming to sit on the sofa next to him and taking his hand in hers. "Don't give up on us just yet. I mean, sure, there's a good few bad people out there, but..." Chloe paused, shaking her head momentarily. "It's the bad ones who are the most visible, but there's probably a lot of people out there that just want to live their lives, and some likely even want to do the right thing with what they've been given."

Danny half smiled, realising that... well actually he'd just sounded like himself two and a half years ago, terrified of the Dairy King who informed him that some ghosts just wanted to be left alone. All that time ago he'd asked the question from a human perspective, and now he was asking it from a ghost's. He blinked, shaking his head and leaned forward, closing the book and leaving the red gem on top of it.

"Can I ask what you ended up doing with the Turquoise?" Chloe asked casually as she withdrew her hands from around Danny's other hand.

"I gave it to my guardian in the Zone." Danny replied carefully.

"Oh?" Chloe pressed, raising an eyebrow. "And who qualifies as the guardian of Danny Phantom?"

Danny rolled his eyes, turning slightly so he could look at her full on. "Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies." Danny delivered with dark seriousness before cracking a smile. "He's a very private ghost, and he prefers his secrecy. As it is most, of the Zone thinks of him as a myth, and I don't think he wants the Real World to find out he exists."

"It's not your secret to tell." Chloe replied, but there was a strange twinge of hurt in her understanding eyes. "Does Clark know?"

"No." Danny replied. "He knows I have a guardian in the Zone who is a very strict tutor, but he doesn't know who he is. For all they say that 'dead men tell no tales', we're a very secretive society."

Chloe raised an eyebrow at him, but the smile fighting its way forward on her lips told Danny that it was okay. Chloe picked up the gem, holding it speculatively in her fingers. "So you're gonna take this to your... _guardian_ in the Zone and then what?"

"Dunno." Danny shrugged. "He'll keep it safe. I mean, all four of them have the potential to be used for good, and have been in the past. I looked into it, did you know Graham's dad was a real gung-ho humanitarian type? Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Portugal, Somalia... he was huge, he helped rally up support like no one else could, spearheaded a couple of projects himself."

"And he used the Eudialyte to do all that." Chloe pressed, looking at the gem with a strange sort of awe in her eyes.

"It would definitely have helped." Danny replied, "But now, after Simone and Graham... I think I'm gonna have to find the other two. For all the good the gems could be used for, they're far more likely to be abused. And that's setting aside that I think it's abhorrent to use them in the first place."

"You really don't like the idea of people abusing their power, do you?" Chloe asked as she set the gem down again. And Danny got the idea that she was talking about far more than just his own personal world view.

"Can you blame me?" Danny asked. "I mean, I get yours and Clark's scepticism about Lex, really I do. But the fact of the matter is that for now, a lot of what he wants is actually for the greater good. Sure some of his methods are a bit... okay, a lot underhanded, but I figure he just needs someone to show him the right direction."

Danny shrugged. "When you consider the fact that my arch-enemy was a half-ghost corrupted by his own power, and half my enemies follow down the same path..." Danny sighed, shaking his head. It was easier to focus on his enemies, not his own internal conflicts. "I've seen too many people using power to hurt others, just because they can, to _not_ be sceptical about power."

Chloe cocked her head to the side, an evaluative look on her face. "You know, when I first found out about Clark, I thought he was amazing; not because of his powers, but because he used them to save so many people's lives."

Danny half smiled. "You're not gonna go quoting Warrior Angel on me now, are you?" Danny asked, sending her a wry grin. Because he got the message, it wasn't the power that mattered so much as how it was used. "Actually that reminds me of something Pariah Dark said." Danny commented after a moment.

"Yeah?" Chloe prodded. "From the news stories I wouldn't have thought he'd be one to give big lessons on ethics."

"Actually, it's something he said when we were fighting;" Danny answered with a shrug. "'Having that much power, it's a burden, isn't it?' I mean, he was just talking about mom and dad's ecto-skeleton suit, but I guess the message sorta stuck."

Chloe blinked. "You know I think that's the first time you've actually told me about Pariah Dark."

"It's the first time I've told anyone about Pariah Dark." Danny replied. "I mean, everyone in Amity Park remembers getting sucked into the Zone, but it's not exactly my fondest memory."

"Even though it was the first time you were credited as a hero in the papers?" Chloe asked.

"That was just a side effect." Danny dismissed. "Truth is, around that time I was a bit... well, let's just say I wasn't using my powers entirely responsibly. But then Pariah came, and I was the only one who stood a chance against him, even if I wasn't as strong then as I am now. He was cruel, vicious... the stories I've heard since then make Hitler sound like a saint."

"He was that bad?" Chloe asked.

Danny sighed. "He ruled with an iron fist, and it wasn't exactly as though they could just wait for him to die. He destroyed, corrupted... eradicated anything in his path. I mean, for all the horror Hitler wrought worldwide, he started with wanting to bring national security back to Germany; stabilise the economy and bring the country out of the poverty induced by the First World War. I could never condone what he did, but at least he had a _purpose_. Pariah was just asserting power for its own sake."

"And Zod?" Chloe asked, her voice slightly strained, but Danny didn't know what with. "That time we came back from the Fortress, you said you found out about Krypton from touching one of the crystals."

"That was only half true." Danny confessed with an awkward smile, his hand absently coming to the back of his neck. "I did learn a bit from... well, I kinda fell through the crystal panel rather than touching it. But most of that I already knew from my guardian." Danny shrugged, going back to the question Chloe had asked. "As for General Zod, he's cut from the same cloth as Hitler, I think. I mean, he started with noble intentions, but he became corrupted by military power... although the environment on Krypton during the Fall was a lot different to Earth during the Holocaust."

"Does Clark know...?" Chloe made a vague gesture with her hand.

Danny rolled his eyes. "Clark knows what Clark wants to know. I'm not the one who he should be talking to for Kryptonian history, I'm happy to answer questions if he asks 'cos he needs them. But technically speaking I'm not supposed to know about Krypton. If he wants to know the full story he should be talking to Jor-El."

"Except that he doesn't trust Jor-El." Chloe retorted with a cold frown.

Danny rolled his eyes, picking the gem up and shoving it in his jeans pocket. "And I'm not about to take a way for Jor-El to earn his trust." Danny answered dismissively. Truth was that Danny thought things might go better if Clark and Jor-El had an opportunity to talk like reasonable people, but they were both too hard headed to give that a chance. Danny frowned, choosing to ignore his own private musings and instead offering Chloe a hand up from the sofa. "Wanna stay for dinner? I'm making stir fry chicken for Aunt Martha and Clark if you want some."

"I thought you were still sick." Chloe retorted, looking at him askance.

"It's a ghost thing, Chloe." Danny replied, gesturing her to lead the way. "Just because I'm not up to eating doesn't mean I mind doing the cooking."

Chloe smiled at him, her green eyes sparkled amusedly in the moonlight. A gentle warmth caressed his core, the vaguest echo of her sunlit watery aura reaching out to him. Danny felt a small smile come to his lips as the blonde ducked down the barn stairs. "You coming?" She called, her voice echoing up from beneath the loft as Danny followed her down the stairs. "'Cos I gotta admit, after all this talk about power, I wanna see your awesome cooking powers in action."

Danny fought back a grin. "Yeah, well, beware my stir-fry chicken of pure evilness as I cook your tastebuds into submission." He teased, adding in a mock evil cackle as he walked in step beside her. In the moonlight Danny could see the blonde fighting down her own smile as she gave him a friendly shove, leading the way into the yellow farmhouse that had become his home.

_Line Break_

Clark frowned as he walked out the sliding doors of the hardware shop. There was a strange tension in the air, and it seemed like he wasn't the only one to pick up on it. The air seemed to flex with something like static, and Clark looked up into the cloudless sky trying to find the cause. However there was nothing, and while the air seemed to swell with the tension of a brewing storm, the clear blue Kansas sky held no answers. Clark's frown deepened as warning bells rang in his head loudly.

On the street around him a number of people paused in their movements, stopping to look in the sky and frown when they saw nothing there. There was nothing, no visible or physical sign that anything was amiss other than the feeling of _wrong_ that seemed to intensify the longer anyone was aware of it. Clark shook his head, shoving the paper bag of supplies on the passenger's seat as he swung himself into the truck.

Clark started the truck, pulling cautiously away from the curb and beginning the trip home. Danny was in school, taking the first of his final exams. At least, that's where he was supposed to be. And his mom was somewhere off in Topeka working on her latest bill with Lois, rallying up support. Clark's plans for the day were a lot less significant, consisting mainly of fixing one of the fences and working on his dad's old motorbike.

As he was driving through town he slowed, idly noting a chill in the air that had not been there before. He peered through the windscreen, watching as the sky above slowly turned grey, a blanket of heavy clouds gathering overhead. Clark drove through the thick traffic around town, becoming more anxious as it slowed to a near halt. Something was wrong, and he could feel it on a primal level that everyone nearby seemed to be picking up on. Clark pulled over, stepping out of the truck and joining many of the people on the side of the street looking up at the sky.

The clouds were darkest towards the north, over near the school. Clark frowned, locking the door behind him and walking back through Main Street, easily pushing through the crowd of people who had all stopped to stare. It was alarming, never in all his life had he seen people pause in their daily routine like this apart from during the tense lead up to the tornadoes at the end of his freshman year, or when the army rolled into town announcing the arrival of the second meteor shower.

Clark shivered involuntarily, coming to the end of the business part of Main Street and pushing himself towards the school. The closer he got, the darker the clouds became, verging on a shade of purple that could only be supernatural. He rounded a corner, moving from the small suburban homes and to the large red and yellow emblazoned building that was Smallville High.

Despite how warm the day had been, there was now a marked chill in the air. But despite the nearly tangible tension in the air there was nothing visibly wrong. The walls were intact, and despite the gathering purple-grey storm overhead there was nothing to explicitly identify what was wrong. The bell rang, the sharp clanging sound making Clark jump, even from where he stood outside the school gates. The eerie atmosphere had him tense, and he had no idea where to find the cause.

He saw the front doors open as the students pooled out the door, eagerly anticipating their lunch break. A number of the senior students were coming out more tiredly than their younger peers, clearly in the post-exam state of exhausted defeat that prevailed after a particularly difficult test. Clark frowned, idly searching the crowd for a mop of raven hair among the seniors. Five minutes passed and the crowd thinned, but Danny apparently wasn't using the front exit today.

Clark sighed, unwilling to trespass onto the school premises during school hours. He had hoped to find the cause of the disturbance, but any further investigation would likely only cause a disruption to the students, and remembering his own exams he knew that that would be the wrong thing to do for all involved. Clark turned away, electing to head back into town and ask Danny about it later; if anyone knew what the cause of the meteorological disturbance was, it would be him.

Then everything changed as the storm broke. A loud peal of thunder cracked through the sky, but there had been no lightning to cause it. Clark froze, turning to look up at the sky that had darkened to a violet shade of purple with the school at the epicentre.

"Danny Phantom!" An overpowering voice called, crackling through the air and vibrating through Clark's chest with dark malice. "Come forth. Twice you have slighted my honour, impugning upon the sanctity of both the Knights Code and the Ghost's Code of Power. I hereby demand you answer the call, and act in accordance to those duties you have subscribed yourself to."

There was a tense breath as the voice rolled out from the clouds. The speaker remained unseen, sending a tremor of fear through the students milling outside the school as Clark approached. He paused once more, eyes searching for his raven-haired cousin in the crowd. With a challenge like that issued, Clark had no doubt that Danny would come running, no matter that he was only just recovering from whatever had made him so ill earlier in the week.

It was only out of the corner of his eyes that he caught him; Danny was racing through the pool of students at the side of the school, ducking and weaving through the confused crowd as he made a mad dash back inside the school building. Clark followed him with his x-ray vision, noting the lethargy in his movements as the boy ducked into a janitor's closet and disappeared from Clark's sight.

A deep cackling resounded down from the sky, colder than the glacial fields that stretched around the Fortress. "Is the Great Danny Phantom afraid?" The voice demanded, and suddenly a dark figure emerged from the darkened cloud bank. At first Clark thought he was watching a shadow, the dark figure blended in with the sinister purple clouds in the sky. But as the figure solidified Clark saw more. The figure was masculine, clad in pitch black armour. His dark helmet shadowed his face completely, leaving only two narrow green slits visible as eyes. Around his shoulders hung a cloak of billowing indigo flames, flickering down in violent fury.

"Phantom!" The ghost commanded, his dark voice resounding tangibly through the air. "The Fright Night calls; and you shall take up my challenge!" The world seemed frozen as the ghost ripped off a flaming silver gauntlet, throwing it heavily to the ground in a clear sign of challenge. The gauntlet landed just in front of the school's front steps, silver flames licking up from the metallic glove as it scorched the pavement. The students backed away, and even Clark felt uncertain about approaching. No matter how sick Danny had been recently, this was a ghost thing, and Clark knew very little about the politics behind the Fright Knight's declaration of anger.

Those green eyes narrowed in an angered snarl, Danny wasn't here yet and Clark was getting worried. The dark knight scowled, pulling a bright green broadsword out from his hilt. The sword looked menacing, electric green flames danced along the metallic edge, and the sight of the blade sent an involuntary shiver down Clark's spine. He wasn't the only one affected; even the bravest of students were backing up close to the school's walls, taking whatever comfort it could give.

The ghost overhead snarled, his impatience rolling off him in tangible droves. And somehow his next words left a dark chill in Clark's stomach as he saw the true menace of the dark ghost shine through.

"_Young ghostling, I require recompense,  
>For honour demands a trial hence.<br>The gauntlet now has been lain down,  
>And mires a curse upon this town.<br>Young ghost child, thou shall heed my call  
>Or watch, remiss, as thou charge doth fall!<em>"

The ghost concluded his recitation, his voice cold as the dark incantation wove its chilling spell over every witness. There was a tense breath, and the world seemed to still as Clark's gaze trailed between the gauntlet out the front of the school and Fright Knight.

"Never thought you to be one to implement the Knight's Code, Fright." A voice called, mocking and familiar as a head of white hair emerged on the school steps. "'Course, now I know exactly what that _is_, I know just how much you've violated it. I accept your challenge." Phantom smirked, his white cloak billowing lightly in the breeze as he bent down to pick up the flaming gauntlet. A cheer rose from the students, all of them taking heart from Phantom's presence.

Clark however was worried; months of living with Danny had taught him a number of Phantom's tells. Whatever front the boy put on, he wasn't well enough to be fighting this ghost, and in his eyes Clark could see a deep running layer of fear. Phantom was secretly terrified, for all that he was putting on a brave front, and up against a ghost of this calibre Clark didn't know how much help he himself could be. But Phantom smirked defiantly, even as the gauntlet vanished from his hands to reappear on the Fright Knight's wrist.

"Your terms?" Phantom asked, floating up to hover opposite the Fright Knight. Clark saw the dark knight's eyes flash smugly, but it was clear that Phantom was not about to back down, his green eyes were a swirl of mischievous defiance.

"Trial by blade to third blood." The knight decreed. "No powers 'till first blood is drawn."

"Goin' a little old school, are we, Fright?" Phantom retorted. "I accept your terms."

"This is a matter of honour, Phantom." The knight replied smoothly. "You have proven yourself wily and capable only of underhanded trickery. Honour demands fair trial, in accordance with the Knight's Code."

"Whatever you say, Fright." Phantom shrugged, but the grin on his face betrayed him. "Can I ask what slight you believe I've done you?"

"You vanquished my first liege on unequal terms, whelp," The knight replied with an icy snarl, sending a chill down Clark's spine as he watched from below. "And that transgression is enough. However you further mock the order of Power by eradicating my second liege's influence in our world. Twice slighted, I shall not offer you opportunity for a third. Draw!" The knight finished in a horrendous roar his own green blade came to rest at the ready in front of him.

Phantom was barely given a moment to draw his own blade before the battle begun. The smaller boy ducked beneath the blade, twirling out of the way as both ghosts landed lightly on the ground. Phantom's silver blade flashed silver in the light as he twisted around, blocking a heavy blow. Clark took a deep breath as he watched his cousin, still awed at the skill he possessed with a blade. The fight was moving towards the back of the school, and Clark wasn't the only one who followed the two ghosts in awed curiosity.

There was a loud thud in the distance, and a flock of birds flew from the tree line as Phantom came to a skidding halt at the edge of the forest at the back of the school, having being thrown away by the black knight's rebuff. The white haired ghost stood up, appearing through a cloud of dust as he returned to the challenge. Their blades clashed again, clamouring with an unearthly resonance as Phantom attempted to throw back the green tinged blade. Thunder cracked overhead, a bright flare of purple light joining in the disjointed symphony of clanging metal in the air.

Phantom was good with a blade, Clark had seen that when the boy fought the yeti ghost Frostbite many months before. But this battle was a different intensity, and from the breathless snarls the two ghosts emitted it was even more ferocious than anything Clark had ever seen before. Each movement was executed with deadly accuracy, and Clark could see the calculations going on in both ghosts' eyes. Already a large crowd had gathered on the peripheral of the fight, drawn by the surreal majesty of the struggle.

Fright Knight groaned, and a loud cheer emerged from the crowd as an oozing green slit appeared on the dark knight's arm. But the knight was not affected by the wound, and the battle moved to a higher intensity. Phantom was thrown back as he was assaulted by a fiery blast of purple, skidding heavily against the ground. The crowd gasped as the knight took full advantage of Phantom's position, drawing a matching line of green on Phantom's upper arm.

Clark frowned at the dark look in his cousin's eyes, feeling as though some scale had just been tipped. By the tree-line Phantom snarled, standing up and raising his blade towards the knight. Green eyes flashed feral from beneath his messy white mop of hair, and the boy's nostrils flared in agitation as he struck out towards the black knight.

A resounding boom split the air, and a bright flash of white light enshrouded the forest-line as a bolt of lightning soared from Phantom's fingertips towards the black-armoured ghost. Clark's eyes widened as he stared at the younger boy. He knew that the half-ghost had some electrokinetic power, but not to that extent. Phantom himself seemed temporarily unhinged by his own actions, the boy frozen as he stared at his own fingertips.

The dust settled, and the whole scene seemed temporarily frozen. But that did not last, the violet-cloaked ghost stood determined, advancing on the shell-shocked younger ghost. In an instant there was a long cut to the boy's other arm, oozing thick green. Clark cringed on his cousin's behalf, now worried that the boy was not coming out of this as easily. Concerned, Clark sent a blast of his heat vision towards the fight, hoping to save his cousin before he could get any more hurt.

The blast thudded into the knight's shoulders, but did little more than singe the silvery shoulder plate. "Who dares interrupt the Fright Knight?" The ghost snarled, turning around momentarily to study the crowd with a loathsome look in his neon green eyes. "Phantom, this battle is between us, and further interference from any mortal is to their own peril."

Phantom shook himself out of his delirium, sending an almost imperceptible glare towards Clark. "I accepted your challenge, Fright Knight, in accordance with the Knight's code. There will be no further outside interruption, this I solemnly swear." Phantom sent one more disapproving look at Clark, somehow having picked him out in the crowd, and gave the tiniest shake of his head. Clark frowned, not completely understanding why the younger boy wouldn't want help, but the two ghosts had started again, leaping into the sky and pulling away from the school and towards the forest.

There was a moment's silence from the gathered crowd before one of the teachers managed to call the students back to order. For their own safety they were returning to the inside of the school, but Clark himself was no longer a student. On the edge of his hearing he caught the clamour of battle as the two ghosts drifted further from the school. Clark followed, noting the intermittent flashes of purple and white that lit the sky, making the daylight look dim in comparison.

Clark was worried, trying to figure out what it meant that Phantom was using lightning. It could be that like him, Danny got powers whenever they were needed, but he'd already had some limited electrokinesis before this. It could be that the power was just getting stronger, but Phantom had seemed genuinely surprised at the intensity of the electrical surge. On reflection, it had looked more like Phantom was trying to use an ecto-blast, but then where did the lightning come from?

Clark paused as he heard a loud crash not far away, and the sound of splintering wood echoed back through the trees as Clark raced towards the sound of the fight. He caught up to the two ghosts as they floated over the river, engaged in a deadly dance. Two pairs of neon green eyes flashed as the metal of their blades released a surge of sparks. Phantom spun, deflecting the bow and diving into the opening that gave him. Fright Knight hissed as a line of ectoplasm appeared on his thigh. They were two for two now, and whoever made the next hit would win.

A sudden ringing chimed through the clearing making Clark physically jump. The two ghosts overhead were not distracted, but Clark pulled out his phone as it rang more insistently. Of all the times for someone to call, Clark couldn't quite believe the timing.

"_Clark, where the hell are you?"_ Clark pulled back, keeping half an eye on the fight as Chloe's irritated voice came over the phone.

"Near the river at the back of the school," He replied. "I'm guessing you heard that Danny got challenged to a duel."

"_Third hand." _She replied tersely._ "I heard from Lana who picked it up from Lex's security guards. They've issued a yellow alert to the whole county. How is he?"_

Clark frowned looking up at the sky as another bolt of white lightning arched the distance between the two ghosts. "He's not given up yet. But they've landed two hits each. I'd tell you it's too dangerous and to stay away..."

"_But you know I wouldn't leave either of you behind?" _Chloe finished for him. _"I'm on my way, see you in a few."_ The phone cut off, and Clark shoved it back in his pocket. His eyes were fixed to the sky, where the two ghosts fought like medieval warriors in an unrelenting battle of skill.

_Line Break_

Chloe panted as she stumbled through the forest. She hated this, being left out of the loop this way. She had originally planned on spending the evening at Lois' apartment, keen to escape her dorm room for the night. But Lana had called her when she was three miles out of town, advising her to stay away since apparently Phantom was engaged in a dangerous sword fight with a second medieval looking ghost near the school. A second phone call to the current editor of the _Torch_ had told her that the second ghost had called himself Fright Knight, and that the two had been fighting since the start of their lunch hour.

So Chloe had sped up, hoping to be there for Danny and somehow knowing that Clark wouldn't be far away. The blonde tripped, stumbling heavily over a tree root and getting a dark mud stain on her jeans. One of the reasons she'd moved into Metropolis was the simple fact that the urbanised environment was _clean_. But if Danny was hurt she wanted to be there to help, and so she was able to put her personal qualms about the forest aside.

Panting heavily she came to the river, stopping at the side of the red-jacketed form of Clark Kent. Taking in a deep breath she looked up to the sky, and froze at the sight. Phantom was engaged with a black armoured ghost, a fiery indigo cloak billowing around him. But Phantom moved with majestic fluidity, demonstrating a level of grace that she'd only heard of. He'd mentioned that he'd been in a tournament in a medieval era area in the Ghost Zone, but Chloe had never imagined the fiercely determined level of elegance he used to block and attack his foe.

They seemed equally matched, neither gaining on the other, each matching the other blow for blow. Where the dark knight left an opening, Phantom took it, only to be parried away by a swift jerk of the green sword. Where Phantom gave a gap in his defences he quickly turned it on Fright Knight, forcing the dark knight back once more. The clashing of blades interlaced with loud canon bursts of lightning, streams of purple fire and white electricity piercing the distance between the two in an unrelenting match of strength.

"You never told me Danny was this good with a sword." Chloe hissed to Clark, trying to calm her fluttering heart as Phantom narrowly dodged a slice to his neck.

"He didn't want people to really know." Clark dismissed. "There's not much place for an active knight in our time, and where is he supposed to say he learned? I'm more worried about the lightning."

Chloe frowned, studying the fight in a new light. Phantom was holding back, reticent to use anything but the blade. And every time he released a lightning bolt he looked worried, it was almost as if he physically couldn't use anything else, but knew he had to defend himself with something. "You think something's wrong?" Chloe asked, briefly looking her dark-haired friend in the eye before turning her attention back to the fight.

"Danny can't use electricity, not like this." He replied concernedly, and Chloe saw the deep seated worry hidden beneath his stoic facade.

"He's been sick lately; maybe it has something to do with that." Chloe suggested.

Clark frowned, shaking his head idly towards her. "I don't think so. He has been working on low power the last few days, I mean you saw him. This has to be something else."

Chloe frowned, acknowledging the truth in that statement. He'd been practically dead on his feet just a few days before, and had complained about how he could barely touch his ghost powers. It cut an impossible contrast with the powerful figure battling in the sky above them. Lightning cracked between them, and a physical vibration thundered through the air around them. The brightness triggered something in Chloe's mind; a memory of a news cast over a month previous.

"Vortex." She murmured, matching her memory of the weather in Metropolis to Danny's new attack.

"What?" Clark asked, meeting her confusedly in the eye.

"Clark, when was the last time Danny used his powers in a fight?" Chloe asked, her eyes darting between Clark's blue eyes and the two ghosts in the fight.

Clark frowned. "He opened a portal a week or so ago, why?"

"But he hasn't used any of his offensive powers, he wouldn't have known." Chloe realised. "Something happened in that fight, he said it himself after he got back from Vlad's. We thought it was just leftover from the GIW; that it would go away but what if...?"

"What if it affected his powers." Clark continued, staring up into the sky with widened eyes. Chloe had to avert her own as the green blade swung perilously close to Danny's neck. "You think that this new lightning thing comes from Vortex?"

"It's possible." Chloe shrugged, wrapping her arms around herself absently. "Danny is a fighter, with everything that's happened to him it's amazing that he's not a psychological wreck. But he's been pushing so much back lately that he wouldn't notice if something was wrong." Her eyes creased in concern as she looked up to the two ghosts. Despite how evenly they were matched it was clear that Phantom was tiring, a thin sheen of sweat coated his brow, and his hair stuck thickly down against his skull.

A dark cackling filled the air, the Fright Knight pulling back with a sense of menacing finality.

"_Twice you claim the valiant win  
>But tainted honour lies therein<br>You claim virtue but act the fool  
>False knight; thou shall not win this duel!"<em>

Chloe shivered with that dark announcement, her eyes fixed on the indigo cloaked ghost. His green blade drew back, and with a terrible sense of finality, drove hard into Phantom's chest. The boy shuddered, falling limply away from the blade. Chloe watched, stunned as the white haired boy fell, his cloak billowing out beneath him like a broken cloud. Phantom's silver sword fell free of his hand, dissipating in an ethereal green mist. It seemed as though the world slowed down around her as she watched the boy plummet through the air, sending a glistening wave of water splashing out around him as he collapsed beneath the rapid waters of the river.

Chloe was frozen by the riverbed as she saw a flash of blue light beneath the surface, but couldn't fathom what that meant. She stood helplessly as Clark ripped off his jacket beside her, casting it aside as he dove into the river after him. She watched, stunned as Clark pulled a ragged dark-haired Danny out of the water, lying the boy by the riverside and pressing against his chest as he tried to make the boy breathe.

Danny coughed, sputtering out a small pool of water, and Chloe snapped free of her dazed state. She raced over to crouch by the boy's side, feeling for his faint pulse. He was breathing in quick pants, his heartbeat fluttering rapidly by his standards. Clark ripped off the boy's shirt, both of them keen to take care of the damage, but whatever the blade had done it had only left a tiny mark. The wound wasn't even bleeding, but Danny was still unconscious.

Chloe sent a fearful look at Clark, not knowing what to do. Danny was in serious trouble, and nothing else mattered. The boy's eyes were fluttering rapidly, and Chloe's eyes creased in confusion. He'd fallen unconscious in battle, but this didn't look like someone who had been injured in a fight. She'd brought home an unconscious Lois more than once and knew that injury induced unconsciousness looked very different to this.

"It looks like he's dreaming." Clark commented, noticing Danny's quivering eyelids himself.

Chloe shook her head, thinking through all the symptoms. His pulse was too fast for a dream, his breathing too irregular. Even as she watched over him, the boy's breathing hitched, and Chloe's heart leapt in anxious sympathy as she waited for the next breath. "More like a nightmare." Chloe replied, sending a worried glance towards Clark, the two of them sitting in helpless vigil at Danny's side on the broken riverbank.

_Line Break_

There was nothing. No sensation, no concept of up or down, forwards or backwards. Nothing.

A strange sense of claustrophobic agoraphobia touched him, rippled through him. It was a bizarre sensation, to know and yet not know. But at the same time it was familiar, a feeling that he dimly recognised as the disembodied experience of being trapped in the blank nothingness that was the inside of the Fenton Thermos. There was nothing; no light and no dark, and nothing to call blackness or whiteness. Only the vacant expanse of emptiness that was impossibly restrictive and simultaneously all encompassing.

It was a type of... nonexistence, where everything from the outside world became irrelevant. For there _was_ nothing, and there _could be_ nothing, and in this space all that mattered was _nothing_. Sometimes there were occasional echoes, dim interruptions where the outside world reverberated through enough to influence the oblivion, where the physical form of the Thermos had a direct impact on the experience of the nothingness. And sometimes it was possible to hold entire conversations from the inside, providing that the mind could escape the soothing embrace of the void.

But this time was different, and Danny's mind idly noted this as his non-corporeal body stretched against the endless bounds of the prison. For all that the Thermos was confining, this time there was a sort of hollowness to it, a distant sense that this time he was further disconnected from the Real World than he ever had been before. And even as he found himself stretched out in the endless oblivion, he felt it crushing in against him, making him feel disoriented, helpless.

Suddenly there was a light, and unlike any other time he had been in the Thermos he felt the pressure release as the lid was pulled off, highlighting a pale white circle that floated somewhere above his head. But something was wrong, and now he could feel the impossibly smooth insides of the canister, stretching up around him and pulling the halo of light further away. Danny frowned, running his hand against the wall as he followed it around, unable to pull himself out of the confines of the cylindrical canister.

Seconds passed, or hours, as he threw himself desperately against the walls, but he could find no purchase to allow his escape. He slumped down, his back pressed heavily against the metallic wall in defeat as the pale halo floated tauntingly, miles above his head. Danny blinked as a loud swinging noise pervaded the silence, the dauntless beating of a metronome and the steady ticking of a clock. It became louder, louder, moving from barely audible to the horrendous power of an overpassing jet, pounding angrily around him, against him, through him.

Danny clenched his fists to his ears, spinning around his cylindrical prison cell for any escape. But the walls were just shadowed silver, perfect in their seamless construction, and there was no way out. The beating intensified to an overpowering roar, making his ears feel like they were about to bleed from the torture of the noise. The sounds of his own screaming interlaced with the beating as his whole body collapsed under the agonised pressure of the incessant ticking.

Danny threw himself against the wall of the Thermos, heavily colliding with the metal in his agonised throes. The thermos jarred, tilted, and suddenly the capsule fell, tipping over with a loud metallic clang that echoed all around him. And Danny was falling, tumbling free of the capsule towards the impossibly pale white light.

He collided with the ground with a hard thump, falling in a boneless heap. Danny gasped, drawing in a deep breath as the cool air passed through his lungs. He lay there, forever, for an instant, breathing. The sound was gone, and all that was left was silence. Danny breathed; the steady rise and fall of his chest steadying him, preparing him. His eyes fluttered open, fixing on a grey ceiling, marred with dark stains that fluttered dimly on the edges of his memory.

He stood up, blinking dazedly as he tried to orient himself. It was the lab, his parents' lab. But it was different than he remembered. The room itself was pale, as though the colour had been bleached out. And it was empty, cold. And while Danny somehow knew that the lab was destroyed, he also knew that this was it. How it used to be, but different. Danny staggered out of the main lab and through to the small adjacent bathroom, acting on blind muscle memory as he tried to figure out what was going on; his movements a distant echo of the day he first had the accident that made him half-human.

Danny slumped against the sink, staring at the stained porcelain and somehow knew that this wasn't how it was supposed to be. It was too bright, too grey. The colour was washed out and everything felt tainted. Danny looked up, his eyes fixing on the mirror, but he immediately pulled back in shock. His shoulder blades impacted with the closed wooden door, and he stared terrified at the figure in the silvery glass.

The teen had pale skin, nearly translucent. A white cloak swung lightly off his shoulders, but the inside lining was a shade of violent red that made Danny shudder. Danny took a dazed step towards the mirror; a silver-white fingerless gloved hand mimicked his movement as he touched his fingers to the cool glass. He jerked back, realising that the figure was indeed him. He licked his lips, and the figure copied the movement, lips drawing back to reveal twin sharpened eyeteeth.

Danny gasped, meeting the figure in the eyes. He blinked, so did the teen in the mirror, the boy who was him. But Danny didn't want him to be. The boy's snow white hair flickered violently, a writhing pool of impossible flame atop his head. But it was the eyes, those cold, red, merciless eyes that sent Danny's mind reeling. Eyes that were his in a horrific future. Eyes that sought only bloodshed. Eyes that flashed with a violent lust, a vicious mockery of the spilled blood they promised.

He drew back, whirling away from the mirror, from the man that wasn't him, couldn't be him, had never been him, and yet somehow was him. He threw the door open, tearing out of the bathroom and into the hallway, steely lockers on either side as he walked through the vacant school corridor. Danny frowned, somehow knowing that he wasn't in the Lab anymore, and now he was in Casper High. Long corridors stretching forever, as the Smallville Crow peered down at him, beady black eyes staring blankly at his back.

Danny moved silently through the school, unsure of where he needed to be. There was something he was forgetting, something that he needed to do. But he couldn't remember, and as he walked through the darkened hallway he found he didn't want to. A bird cawed, and Danny looked over his shoulder as two dark birds flew over him, a crow and a raven, side by side. They paused, flittering beside each other as they came to sit on top of the lockers at the end of the hallway, their intelligent red eyes urging him to follow them.

He padded after the black birds, the occasional caw urging him on faster as he attempted to keep up with them. But they were pulling away, flying further along the row of lockers each time they lifted off. And soon Danny was alone as he raced through the vacant hallways of the school. The bell rang; a shrill interruption to the quiet. And Danny knew he was going to be late for his exams. He had a practical lab coming up, but he was going to be late if he didn't hurry. Danny sped through the hallways, rounding the corners until he came to the staircase that led to the basement, to where the biology lab was being held because the supplies were there. Danny threw the doors open, needing to get to his exam.

The lab was brightly lit, the whitish green light so intense that Danny needed to close his eyes. But they adjusted quickly, and he soon found himself in a brightened lab, pressed against the wall as white robed men shuffled around. But their attention wasn't on him; it was on the figure on the far side of the room. The man was chained to the floor, bound in place by bright green handcuffs, red jacket in ragged tatters and a trail of blood oozing from the corner of his mouth.

Clark Kent's eyes stared accusingly at him, heated with anger and betrayal. And suddenly they were alone in the room as Clark's eyes pooled with hatred towards him. "You betrayed me!" Clark growled, straining against the chains that tethered him to the floor. "You left us!"

Danny shook his head in confusion. He hadn't... he would never. "I was trapped." Danny defended.

"Trapped?!" Clark scoffed. "You abandoned us."

Danny felt his head shaking as he stepped across the room, desperate to find some way to save Clark. But his cousin only growled at him, lashing out against the chains.

"Don't touch me." Clark spat caustically, his eyes flashing with such violent hatred that Danny flinched. "You've done enough."

"What did I do?" Danny whispered confusedly. "What happened?"

"You forgot us, Danny." Clark hissed, but his voice suddenly sounded like his friends, his family, haunting him with the echoes of the dead. "You forgot everything we went through, too caught up in your own self righteousness and you forgot us."

"No..." Danny denied, stepping back.

"You forsook us, Danny." Clark spoke once more, his dark eyed stare harrowing Danny to the core. "You left us behind, and now we can't escape."

Danny watched helplessly as a white coated man appeared at Clark's side, a syringe pulling an ounce of blood from his cousin's bound arms. They were using him as a lab rat, Clark had been caught, and it was his entire fault, he wasn't there, he hadn't saved him. Clark was going to _die_ because he wasn't good enough, wasn't strong enough. Danny reached out once more, hoping to offer what little help he could, but Clark only snarled at him once more.

"Don't." Clark growled, glaring darkly at him. "This is what you wanted, isn't it? Wanted someone to suffer the way you have, feel the pain that you have. Or is it just that you wanted something to _protect_, and when humans weren't enough you had to find something bigger?"

Danny fumbled backwards, unable to speak, unable to deny the accusation. "I'm right, aren't I?" Clark hissed, his nostrils flared in roiling disgust. "You're nothing but a ghost; driven by your obsession, letting nothing get in the way. You'll put people in danger just so you can _protect_ them afterwards."

Danny tripped, falling heavily to the ground in his attempt to back away. He wanted to deny it, he needed to deny it... it wasn't true. But his voice wouldn't come, and deep down he wondered if there wasn't some truth to it. If _that_ was the reason he always denied being called a hero. After all, it was his obsession that drove him, impacted every facet of his life. Even when he was injured from a ghost fight he'd still go out to stop malevolent ghosts, delirious from pain he'd follow the urge, the impossible _need _to _Protect_. And not even a week ago, his ghost powers completely inaccessible he'd forced himself to save Clark, his ghostly obsession overriding every human instinct.

He gasped, struggling to pull himself onto his knees so he could at least see his accuser's eyes. "That's all you are, Danny Boy." Clark spat. "Whoever you are, whatever you think you are, everything you do is because you're a ghost." Clark strained against the chains, the metal jarring against Danny's senses as the links clanged together. "You're nothing more than a parasite, aren't you? Feeding off us. Using us. You betrayed me. Betrayed us."

"No!" Danny denied, finally finding his voice as he shakily stood to his feet. "I would never...!"

"Oh but you would, _Danny Boy_." A velvety baritone voice replied. And suddenly it wasn't Clark opposite him, but Dan Phantom. The evil ghost appeared to be in his early twenties, with ashy blue skin and bright crimson eyes. And now he stood a bare inch taller than Danny, his hulking muscles straining against the dark contortions of his black and white suit. The black lined white cloak billowed out around his shoulders, a flickering mimicry of the iridescent white flames that emanated up from his scalp. "Wouldn't you? In an instant. You know it; deep within yourself you can feel it. You play their friend but would cast them aside if only it meant you could justify it with _protecting_ them."

Danny gasped as the ghost sneered at him, dark crimson eyes leered at him as his lips parted, and revealing two sharpened fangs which glistened in the now red light of the lab. "What's wrong, Danny Boy? Afraid to hear the truth?" That forked tongue mocked coldly with false sympathy. The ghost smirked, those blood red eyes flashing as a pool of red enshrouded the ghost's aura, completely disintegrating the chains that bound him.

Danny was paralysed as his dark future self stalked up to him. And although now they were nearly the same height, the sheer malicious power that swirled around the dark ghost left Danny helpless. A sinister mocking laughter reverberated through the room, echoing off the walls and barrelling deep into the recesses of Danny's soul. "You poor child." The ghost murmured, coming to stand right in front of Danny's eyes so that all he could see were twin pools of swirling red. "So deluded by your own beliefs. The only difference between you and me is the fact that I realised something. One vital thing that makes the whole world make sense."

Dan Phantom grinned, pressing a black gloved hand against Danny's chest, right over his core. The older ghost's touch was light, almost gentle, and his eyebrows arched in something akin to sympathy as the ghost leaned in to whisper in his ear. "The world is your enemy, Danny Boy. And the only one worth _Protecting _is yourself."

Danny tried to step back, shaking his head adamantly. "You're wrong!" He shouted, but Dan just smiled sadly down at him.

"Oh, Danny Boy." The ghost whispered, his gloved hand moving from Danny's chest to rest firmly on his shoulder. "You know I'm only telling the truth. There is no one in this world worth more than you, no one who won't betray you, no one who could love someone like you. You are a ghost, Danny. But you're entirely too human to belong in that world, and in the end all you will have left is yourself."

Dan laughed; his dark voice echoing around him as the blue-skinned ghost stepped aside, waving his hand out over a decimated landscape. Bloodstained ash was smeared over barren hills, and piles of desolate waste jutted up to a blood red sky. White lightning lanced viciously overhead, splitting the sky into a spider web of violent crimson and brutal white. A cold wind blew around them, and Dark's black lined cloak enshrouded him in the wind. Danny shook his head, stumbling away from the dark spectre, piecing his way down through the bloody piles, picking his way through ashy filth as he fled from the malevolent ghost.

"You destroyed me, Daniel." A voice whispered on the wind, and Danny froze at the bottom of a pile of bones, shifting a skull aside to reveal a battered Vlad Masters. "You stole everything from me." The man gasped. "All I ever wanted was a son, and you took that away. How can you call yourself a _Protector_ when you destroy all that you touch?"

Danny pulled away, crashing into another pile of bones. "You lied to me, Danny." A younger voice echoed, and Danny gasped as a bloodied Lex Luthor emerged from the ashy bones. "I welcomed you with open arms and instead you betrayed my trust." Lex staggered as the bones fell around him, collapsing in a dusty heap as Lex spat his last words. "You're not even human."

Danny ran, darting frantically through the towering piles of waste, of ashy bones, all smothered in a horrendous layer of crimson ash. But there was no escape; every time Danny paused another voice came to him, cruel, accusing. Everyone he had counted on, everyone who he thought believed in him. And their voices melded together, taunting in their cruelty. A breathless scream tore from his lips as he tripped, falling into a pile of bones and ash.

"You betrayed me, Danny." Clark's voice whispered. "I trusted you with everything, looked at you like a brother. But you're not. You never were. You just _used_ me, like you used all of us. How can you stand to live with yourself when you corrupt everything you claim to _Protect_?"

Danny gasped, pulling himself to his feet as a dark figure floated in front of him. But this didn't look like Dan Phantom. He was younger, only just out of boyhood and his cloak was red lined white. Instead of the latex suit Dan wore, this figure was clad in a solid black loose fitting medieval tunic. Silver-white fingerless gloves encased his fingers and a ruby encrusted sword swung from his hips. The teen's lips parted, revealing sharpened eyeteeth that glimmered in the red light, nearly translucent pale skin looking almost a human pink beneath the crimson sky.

Two scarlet eyes glimmered lustfully at Danny as the Dark Phantom's pale pink lips drew back in a twisted grin. "Hello me." The Phantom smirked, stepping up to Danny so their chests were bare inches apart. "It's time you embrace who you're supposed to be, Danny. This reality, it's inevitable."

The Phantom reached out, sharpened fingernails digging into the flesh of his chest and Danny gasped, pulling helplessly away. "There are only two choices open to you, Danny Boy." The dark Phantom commented, prowling up to Danny menacingly. "One, you can tirelessly save them again and again, throwing all that you are to _Protect _two races who can never hope to understand you." Phantom paused, idly surveying his fingernails with casual indifference. "Or you can embrace yourself, step up to your full potential, your true _power_ and realise that the only one who deserves your _Protection_ is yourself."

Danny clutched at his chest, green and crimson blood staining his fingertips as he tried desperately to staunch the bleeding. "Tick tock, Danny boy." Phantom commented, his red eyes glimmering with untapped bloodlust. "It's time to choose."

Danny drew a halting breath as he staggered back from the burgundy eyed ghost. "I choose them." Danny murmured, meeting the ghost in the eyes as he finally found his voice. "_Every_ time. I choose them."

The Phantom smirked, his red eyes swirling with a dark malice that sent an involuntary shiver down Danny's spine. Danny wasn't even given a chance before that ruby studded blade swept out at him, and Danny only barely managed to dodge around the nearest pile of bloodstained bones. There was a loud crash from beside him as the blade dug into the pile just beside his head, the Phantom landing a blow, bare inches from his skull.

"You're gonna have to do better than that, Danny Boy." The Phantom commented, pulling his blade back for another blow. "You say you choose them, but that means nothing if you won't defend yourself." Danny ducked under another strike as the silvery blade swung where his neck had just been. "Draw!" The Phantom commanded, and Danny suddenly felt his own blade in his hands, emerald jewels glimmering familiarly in his hand as he parried away the Dark Phantom's next blow.

"You love this, don't you?" Phantom commented, pressing forward with the sharpened blade, and Danny noted that the only difference between this one and his own was the colour of the gems on the handle. "The fight, the exhilaration you get from facing an opponent, the sheer power." Danny swung his own blade, the two clashing in an explosive shower of sparks.

"I'm right, aren't I?" The Phantom mocked, a dark smirk glimmering in his crimson eyes. "You need this, the power you get from defeating those weaker than you. That's all you want, more power." Phantom laughed, striking out at Danny and slicing deep into his left arm. A spatter of blood pooled onto the ground, and Phantom's blade gleamed with speckles of blood. "And in the end it doesn't matter if you think you're protecting them. It's all for you, your own power, your own pride."

Phantom cackled, his sharpened teeth flashing bright against the red background of the sky. And the sword swung, as though in slow motion as it flew through the air; a perfect arc, swinging deftly towards his neck in a flawless killing blow. And Danny closed his eyes, waiting for the relief of oblivion, the cool air swirling around his face as he waited for the end.

His heart beat. His _human_ heart. And alongside it he could feel his core pulse. His _ghost_ core. Two forces, never meant to meet, never meant to cooperate, but somehow working together harmoniously, in perfect synchronisation. Human. Ghost. Danny breathed, the cool air filling his lungs, filling them, sustaining him, restoring him. He smiled, and slowly his eyes flickered open as once more he found his strength.

"Everything I am is for _them_," Danny replied, smiling as he moved his own sword to block the fatal blow. "My heart, my core, my powers. Everything. And it doesn't matter what strength I draw from that, because it's all for them." Danny grinned as he moved his hand, casting Phantom's ruby studded sword away. "I'm not ghost and I'm not human. I'm a halfa, and it doesn't matter to me what it takes, because I will _PROTECT_ them all, until the very end."

With a burst of energy Danny surged forth, his green jewelled blade driving firmly into Phantom's chest as he ended the battle. There was a sharp cracking sound, and Phantom splintered, long fissures rippling out from the point where Danny's sword had pierced. The cracks spread, emanating out with a loud clinking noise, spreading like the web of a spider. There was an anxious breath; the entire world seemed to be drawn out in tension, and then it collapsed. Like a mirror breaking before him, Phantom shattered, disintegrating into a silvery mist that enshrouded him; and Danny found himself falling once more into the darkness.

Danny gasped, cold late April air filling lungs that felt like they were lined with glass. He jerked up, eyes reeling as he tried to centre himself again. He felt a large warm hand on his back, supporting him, and even though he couldn't feel his aura, Danny knew that Clark was there, with him. On his shoulder he felt a smaller hand, and Danny blearily made out Chloe's worried form sitting right beside him.

"Breathe, Danny." The blonde suggested, her hand rubbing a comforting circle on his shoulder. "Just breathe, you're gonna be okay." Danny nodded, taking a deep breath and focusing on where he was. He could hear water running nearby, and looking to his right he saw part of a river. The three of them were sitting on the soft pebbles by the riverbank, all weathered by the running water. The trees hanging overhead covered them all in dappled shadow, the green a comforting contrast to the blood crimson sky of his nightmare.

Small arms were suddenly wrapped around him as Chloe pulled him into a crushing hug. "God, Danny. You scared me." Danny sent her a half smile, lightly returning the hug before realising that every single muscle hurt like hell. A grunt of pain must have passed his lips because Chloe pulled away, gently brushing the hairs out of his eyes.

"Your eyes..." She commented, and Danny trembled, recalling the horror of crimson eyes staring back from what appeared to be his own reflection. "They're whirling..." She continued, her voice small and confused. Danny wanted to ask, but he was too afraid to. His heart was still pounding in his chest as the dread images of that... nightmare danced before him. He could feel, now, with absolute certainty that none of it had been true, but it had all felt so real, so intense. And Danny couldn't help but wonder at the haunting echoes of that red and white cloaked alternate Phantom.

Slow clapping echoed suddenly through their clearing, and Danny struggled to his feet as the Fright Knight made another appearance. Danny was weak, he knew that, but he needed to be ready. After all that he had just gone through he would let the dark knight slay him where he stood rather than risk him hurting Clark or Chloe.

"Well met, young Phantom." The knight commented, throwing Danny completely astray. He blinked confusedly, taking in the knight's clearly non-aggressive stance opposite him. The silence stretched, and Danny got the sense that the knight was smirking from beneath his shadowed helmet. "Well met indeed." He finished smugly, and Danny recognised the traditional Ghost Zone lines for a conclusion to a duel.

The Fright Knight held out his hand expectantly, and Danny hesitantly took it, shaking hands with the dark knight despite his mounting confusion. "Given the circumstances I will disregard your slight to our conventions." The knight commented lightly. "Well done, young ghostling."

Danny pulled away, searching the knight's green eyes confusedly. "What...?" He managed to gasp, but found that the action brought about a dizzying wave of pain that silenced him.

"Long ago I promised you would face my vengeance." Fright replied conversationally. "Much time has passed since then, you have grown and the challenges you have faced mark you as exceptional."

"But I thought you were mad at me..." Danny stammered, squinting his eyes in pain. "For Pariah and... Plasmius."

The knight shrugged. "You know as well as I that Pariah betrayed my trust and I thus defected to Plasmius during the battle against Pariah Dark. He was not fit to rule and was thus defeated. Such is the case for Plasmius, you proved yourself to be greater than he and hence Plasmius was vanquished."

Danny creased his eyes, still confused. Apparently he wasn't the only one; Clark's voice filled the silence. "So why did you pick a fight with him?" Clark asked. "If you weren't mad at him for defeating either of those two, why bother?"

Fright momentarily turned his attention to Clark, surveying him with a calculating gaze before his green eyes widened. "I had not believed that any Kryptonians survived after the Fall." The knight commented. "I hold no quarrel with you, Kryptonian, but your interference in our duel was neither honourable, nor appreciated."

Danny watched as the knight shifted, studying the hilt of his blade. "As for why I should deign to fight the young ghostling, while it is true that Phantom has proven himself superior in wit and power to my two previous lieges, his valour in conduct had yet to be tested. Now it has."

"Wait, this... all of this was a test?" Danny interrupted, not sure whether to be relieved or angered at the admission.

The knight shrugged noncommittally. "Since we first met you have grown, now you are nearing your third death-day and are a much greater ghost than the young Halfling I first encountered." Fright replied levelly, meeting Danny in the eyes, and Danny could sense the sincerity in his words. "There is much you have faced, and much that you will yet face alone. You were never meant to win our duel; the challenge was in what you faced within your own mind. It takes strength to face your fears, but it takes Courage to stay true to your ideals when you yourself are the one to bring them into question."

Fright paused, briefly looking over Danny's shoulder towards Clark and Chloe before returning his neon green eyes to Danny. "Honour, Valour, Dignity, Nobility, Loyalty, Courage. These pillars are the foundation of the Knight's Code, a code by which I swore to live in life, and continue to do so in death. These are the criterion you yourself swore to uphold when you took up the title of Knight in our world."

Danny bit his lip awkwardly, unsure of what to make of that declaration. "However," the dark knight continued, apparently oblivious to Danny's confusion. "This test was more than just determining your worth as a knight. You proved your Valour, Dignity and Honour in your defeat of Plasmius, and your Nobility in the lessons you learned from my first liege. And for you, Loyalty is a necessary aspect of your being. You have now proven indisputably your Courage, and as such you have proven your worth to _me_."

Fright Knight kneeled, his head bending in a brief deferential bow before he stretched his hands out as if in prayer and met Danny in the eyes. "I, the Fright Knight, Lord of Fear, Spirit of All Hallows Eve, doth henceforth pledge my allegiance to you, Lord Danny Phantom, Knight of Aragon, Spirit of Protection. I solemnly swear that I will henceforth be faithful to my lord, never cause him harm, and will observe my homage to him completely against all persons in good faith and without deceit, in accordance with the laws held sacred to our world and in accordance with the Knight's Code. So I do solemnly swear."

Danny blinked. Twice. Completely thrown off kilter. It sounded like the Fright Knight, one of the most powerful and feared ghosts in the Ghost Zone had just sworn allegiance to him. Danny gulped, unsure of what to say, what was supposed to come next. "Arise, Fright Knight." He said unable to say much more and weary on his feet from both the fight and his own sickness. "Thank you."

And that was all that he could say; his voice vanishing in the surreality of the entire situation. Fright stood up, and Danny got the distinct impression that the knight was smiling from beneath his helmed. The knight once more held out his hand, and this time Danny grasped it in a brother's grip, fastening his hand around the ghost's gauntleted wrist, somehow knowing that this was expected. He felt a brief fluttering against his core, a sense of finality, and the strange formation of a new bond before the knight stepped back.

"I shall bid you farewell for now, ghostling." The knight commented, nodding significantly towards him. "Know now that you need only call, and I shall heed your word." His fiery cloak flared, wrapping briefly around the black-armoured ghost before he vanished in a cloud of bats. Danny took a step backwards, nearly crashing into Clark who appeared right behind him. His cousin clasped a supportive hand around his shoulder, helping Danny stay on his feet.

"What just happened?" Chloe demanded, coming to stand in front of the both of them, her green eyes rounded in dazed confusion.

"I think the Fright Knight just swore his loyalty to me." Danny breathed, staring at the spot Fright had occupied bare moments before. His head was throbbing as a pounding headache made itself known. Any strength he had garnered from the fight was escaping him, and he found himself leaning more and more heavily against his cousin for support.

"He nearly killed you." Chloe rebuked.

"Can't kill what's already dead, Chloe." Danny replied wearily. "Besides, the Soul Shredder only forces you to face your greatest fears."

Chloe frowned as the three started making their way through the forest, Danny mostly relying on Clark for direction. Silence built between the three of them, but it was Clark who broke the silence as he helped Danny over an eroded tree root. "So what is your greatest fear?" The elder dark-haired young man asked; his voice subdued and cautious.

'_Myself'_ he wanted to say, but something held him back. "Power." He replied quietly instead, vocalising the simplest part of his fear. "How it's used, and what happens if it's abused." He gulped, his eyes lost in memory. Because it wasn't just Dan Phantom that he'd faced in that nightmare reality, it was himself, what he could become if he let himself fall. And that was without Vlad's intervention. Dan Phantom was no longer a possibility for him, not now that Plasmius didn't exist. But the boy in the mirror... that was him; or at least some facet of him that would be all too easy for him to fall into. "What happens if _I_ abuse my power." Danny murmured, not sure if he was talking to his friends or himself.

Danny's eyes closed harshly as he tried to steady himself. He pulled himself out of his cousin's arms, stepping away from the Kryptonian. "I need to see Cl... my guardian." Danny commented dazedly, pulling away from the two and leaning heavily against a tree as he struggled to stay standing. He knew he wasn't thinking properly, that he was both battered and sick, but his head was pounding painfully. And through the pained fog all he could think of was Clockwork.

"Danny, no." Chloe urged, clasping her hands around his arm and sending a fresh wave of pain running through his tired muscles. "You can barely stand."

But Danny wasn't paying attention as he subconsciously pushed himself into intangibility, acting more on base instinct than rational thought. With the last vestiges of his ghost energy he forced himself to summon a portal, falling through the pool of swirling green and into the expanse of green that marked the Ghost Zone. But that had taken the last vestiges of energy, and with a strange sense of homecoming he welcomed the darkness and knew no more.

_Line Break_

Soft ticking echoed all around him, pulling him from the darkness. Phantom's eyes fluttered open and he breathed a sigh of relief. He felt rested, restored. And an ache in his core that he hadn't even been aware of was finally soothed. He smiled, his white cloak shifting gently, the soft material falling off his shoulders as he sat up. He smiled, noting that he was on the purple Victorian sofa of Clockwork's library. The gentle clock ticking that had awoken him up dimmed pleasantly into the background.

"Young Phantom." Phantom smiled as Clockwork's grandfatherly voice echoed through the room. "I am glad to see you are well."

"Thank you Clockwork." Phantom replied, managing to stand up.

The purple-cloaked ghost frowned, shifting to his elder form. "You need to be more careful with yourself, Danny. You almost strained your core to exhaustion."

Phantom blinked, the events of the last few days running quickly through his mind. "I needed to speak with you." He replied.

"I know." Clockwork acknowledged. "And I also know that nothing would have stopped you coming to visit. However, I cannot always be there to save you, Phantom. You know this as well as I."

Phantom nodded mutely. "But I still needed to talk to you."

"And thus your human perseverance overcame any of your ghost caution." Clockwork sighed, gesturing Phantom towards a small coffee table where a plate of cookies and hot chocolate were lain out. "I believe you have something you wanted to give me."

Phantom nodded, digging into his human half gust enough to pull the red Eudialyte out of his pocket. Cautiously he set the gem on the table between them, unsure of what he wanted to say now that he was in his mentor's presence, and in a state of mind to be able to hold decent conversation.

"You were right," Clockwork commented, now in his twenty-year old form as he conversationally plucked a cookie from the plate, "when you said that these gems hold equal power to be utilised towards good and evil."

Phantom sighed, pulling his legs up to sit cross-legged in the sofa. "I just... I don't know what to make of these gems." He confessed, feeling once more the fourteen year old being lectured on morality. "They're so powerful, and have been used more for good than how Graham and Simone used them. But at the same time..."

"You feel torn, seeing both the human and ghost sides of using the gems." Clockwork surmised. "On the one hand, it is a horrific abuse of the core of one of your own kind, but on the other it is a form of human magic, designed to improve life for mankind."

"Something like that." Phantom admitted. "But it's more. I see people using them, abusing what they're meant for and I can't help but wonder..."

"Danny," Clockwork consoled, his red eyes arched in sympathy. "If there is one thing that I have taught you, it is that our choices are our own. Every being in our world, every living being in the Real World, must choose their own path. Every being is given power both to create and to destroy in their own way, but the choice of how to use this will always be their own."

Clockwork sighed, looking Phantom significantly in the eyes. "As have you, young Phantom. You have seen the rotten fruits of what could be if you chose the darker side of your powers, and unlike many you have used the gift of a second chance as it was intended. For that I am proud of you, but the choice was always your own to make."

Phantom nodded slowly, uncoiling himself enough to pick up a cookie. He knew this conversation inside and out, but it was a topic that always worried him. He knew that Clockwork had given him a second chance, and he equally knew that he was still free to make his own choices. But it didn't make it any easier to accept the possible consequences. He sighed, resting his elbows on his knees and burying his hands in his face.

"You are worried that you have too much power yourself, aren't you, Phantom?" Clockwork gently urged.

"Of course I am." Phantom retorted, his own inner turmoil making its way into his voice. "I go from barely able to scratch my ghost half to lightning bolts within an hour, the last time the GIW got a read on me I was a level nine, and now suddenly the Fright Knight wants to serve me?!" Phantom shook his head, confusion and anger bubbling to the surface. "It's like the whole world's gone crazy. I mean, Fright Knight was loyal to Dan Phantom, and now... and I've never been able to control lightning. Fighting Fright, I couldn't use anything else, lightning was all I had."

"Calm yourself, Danny." Clockwork comforted, resting a hand on his shoulder and soothing Phantom's growing hysterics. "The Fright Knight is a loyal knight; he seeks those of worthy power to swear his allegiance to. It was always a certainty that he would come to test you, but it was up to you as to whether you would earn his allegiance. That he has done so this way shows more of your own values than as a useful predictor of the future."

Clockwork drifted over towards the bookcase, not truly looking at Phantom as he continued to speak. "As for your intensified electrokinetic powers, they are principally due to your fight with Vortex. His final attack on you infused you with some of his own powers, or rather some of the neutral energy from his core. Had you discovered this affect immediately it could have been nullified, but you were captured by the 'Guys In White'."

The purple cloaked ghost turned back to Phantom, his red eyes sad, filled with remorse. "I am sorry for what you had to endure in their hands, Danny. There are many times I regret being unable to interfere, but few more so than what you suffered there. In order for your core to survive it had to integrate every bit of ectoplasmic energy available. That electrokinetic power is now as much a part of you as your own cyrokinesis."

"But that's impossible." Phantom argued, shaking his head vehemently. "An Ice Core can't take on Electora attributes any more than it can take on any other core type. It doesn't work like that."

Clockwork smiled knowledgably at Phantom, coming to sit opposite him once more. "For most ghosts this is true; a core belongs only to one element so to speak. However, in rare cases the ghost can become too powerful for one single element to sustain them, and in such circumstances an 'Inner Core' develops to stabilise the ghost's energy. This Inner Core is neutral, classifiable as something close to a Norma Core, but on a more powerful level."

Phantom cocked his head in confusion. "So you're saying I have this... 'Inner Core' thing, and that's why I was able to handle energy from Vortex's power?"

Clockwork nodded sagely, shifting into his toddler form. "Yes, young Phantom. That is exactly what I am saying. This system is what allows the high powered ghosts to bend the rules, stretching beyond the natural limitations of their core type and branching out into other avenues."

Phantom creased his eyebrows, fixing Clockwork in the eyes. "You have an Inner Core, don't you?" He pried, curious to know more about his mentor. And the idea of an inner core would be easier to swallow if he knew how it worked for his guardian.

Clockwork nodded, smiling at him. "My core is a Magus core, but it is my Inner Core which allows my mastery of the time stream. Time itself cannot be bound within the confines of one element, touching on all and none. As a Magus Core, I can see the time stream, what was and what could be. However the power held within my Inner Core both bolsters my own natural ability, and allows me direct influence over the time line. It is due to your own inner core that you were able to accept the electrical energy from both Vortex and from Clay Fulgur, some months ago. I expect that given time you will find many of your own powers make sense knowing this.

Phantom nodded slowly. It felt like a lot to take in, and it would probably take him a while to get his head around the concept. But at the same time... he had wondered how it was possible for him to summon portals or use electricity once he found out about his ice core. Simple physics said that electricity couldn't conduct through ice since there were no free ions to carry the current, plus electrokinesis in any form belonged to the Electora Cores. And making portals to anywhere he wanted in the Zone was a power for a Magus Core. Given that, what Clockwork was suggesting did make some sense.

"But I can't just use lightning bolts all the time." Phantom moaned, shaking his head in worry. "That's not my power, Clockwork. I don't want to be like that."

"And you will not." Clockwork consoled. "Much like when your cyrokinetic powers came in, you need to give yourself time to learn control. Your cousin will likely be able to help with this, having learned to control his heat vision on his own. More than that, you should seek audience with either the court in Valhalla's Gates, or with the Raijū of the Chaos Clouds. They are the representatives of Electora Core ghosts, and may be able to help with your instruction."

Phantom sent his mentor a grateful smile, acknowledging that the elder ghost was probably pushing the limits of his permitted duties by giving him that sort of advice. He stood up, preparing to leave, but paused when he remembered his illness over the last few days. "Um, Clockwork." Phantom asked, once more unsure of himself as he turned to face his mentor. "You wouldn't happen to know..."

"Your illness over the past few days is a normal part of your third year." Clockwork replied evenly. "It is harder on you both because of your human half, and because you live in the Real World. Without a steady source of ectoplasmic energy, your ghost half began attacking your human half for sustenance. You are the first true halfa, Danny, and many of the changes your body must endure are difficult even for a full ghost to bear."

"Thanks." Phantom replied, shaking his head dejectedly. If nothing else his suspicions had been confirmed. He already knew that ghost and human biology weren't meant to mix, but after everything he'd gone through, it was debilitating for something as simple as insufficient ghost energy to bring him down the way it had. Once more he turned to leave, moving out of the library and through the main viewing room.

"Before you leave," Clockwork commented, touching Phantom's arm lightly and making him pause. "Your human eyes will still show the changes your body is going through. I would suggest you recreate your ice contacts while you remain in our world, unless you have decided that now is the time to reveal your true identity."

Phantom laughed, sending his guardian a quick grateful smile. As suggested he summoned two icy contacts, idly noting that that was probably all that Chloe had meant when she referred to his eyes earlier. It was comforting to think that; while he had been worried to see the nauseating mix of blue, green and silver himself, the three were far better than the crimson eyes his mirror self had had in his nightmare.

"Oh, and Danny." Clockwork called out as Phantom opened a portal back to the storm cellar. "Be wary of the ghosts of the past, not all are as they appear."

Phantom blinked, but it was already too late as the portal closed behind him, leaving him alone in the darkened storm cellar as he switched back to human. He frowned, musing over Clockwork's riddle, but he supposed, like most of his guardian's advice, it would make sense in its own time. Shaking his head he sighed, realising that now he was feeling better he would probably owe both Chloe and Clark a big explanation.

Danny cringed, mounting the earthy stairs as he left the cellar. Noting the high position of the stars in the sky, he headed over to the yellow farmhouse. Things were changing, and Danny wasn't sure that he was ready to handle the new responsibilities he was being given. But like everything this week he mentally steeled himself. This was just another test, and he was going to have to face it head on.

AN; Well that was entertaining. I hope Danny's nightmare made sense... but it was fun to write all the same... lots of fun... too much fun.

I haven't watched a Fright Knight episode in forever and a day, so I hope he felt in character. I got him where I needed him to be so I'm happy.

I'd also like to send a huge thanks to Fluehatraya, TheTragicHero and Topaz Skye, whose encouragement and ideational inspiration greatly assisted me in finding the muse for this chapter. Thank you!

Thanks for reading,

Bluerose


	33. Augur

Chapter 32

Augur

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Clark yawned, blinking at the moonlight as he pulled up beside the house. It had been a week since the Fright Knight had been in Smallville, and once more a grainy picture of his cousin had been on the front page of the_ Smallville Ledger_. It was Clark's birthday, well, the day that his parents had chosen as his birthday when they were making up the papers. But in a lot of ways, it really was his birthday. It was the day his parents had adopted him all those years ago; the day he had been given a family on Earth and the anniversary of the day he had been accepted into humanity as one of them. He may have Kryptonian roots, but Earth was the only life he had known, and it was Jonathan and Martha Kent who had given him that.

He had wanted a quiet day. He'd _needed _a quiet day. His dad was gone, and this was the first time he'd had a birthday without him. It was... hard. Harder than he'd imagined. For years his dad had always been there; up with the crows and working in the barn. And then he'd come in and have breakfast together as a family. But this year he'd woken to a silent house, no sound of his dad in the barn or his mom in the kitchen. And... it was what he had wanted. He didn't _want_ to be reminded of what he had lost, what he had caused. His continued life was at the cost of his dad's, and he didn't want to celebrate his birthday when it was his dad who had always been the one to make it special.

Clark sighed, opening the truck door and grabbing the bag of groceries off the passenger's seat. The paper bag tucked into his arms he headed back towards the front door, idly noting that the lights were off. Probably his mom had gone to bed early, and Danny rarely bothered with lights when he was moving about at night. He checked his watch, it was barely past seven but that meant little when his mom had been working in the gardens all day.

"Mom?" Clark called, pushing the screen door open. There was no answer, so Clark presumed his mom must have headed upstairs for the night. Inwardly sighing he pulled the door closed and flicked on the light.

"Happy birthday Clark!" Three people shouted at once, and Clark blinked as he looked through the living room and towards the kitchen. Somehow while he was out the room had been transformed, a huge 'Happy Birthday Clark!' banner stretched through the archway in vivid blue and red, and red and yellow balloons were floating off to the side. Bands of streamers criss-crossed along the roof, and a small smattering of decorative red blue and yellow packages sat on the island counter.

"Happy birthday, sweetheart." He heard his mom say as she crossed the room and pulled him into a hug. A bright smile sparkled in her eyes as she looked up at him "We got you, didn't we?" Clark blinked, looking between his mom and the three people still standing in the kitchen. He sent his cousin a beseeching gaze, only to be met with a defiantly cheeky smirk.

"Surprise." Danny mouthed as Chloe loped across the living room to catch his arm.

"Look." Chloe beamed, pulling him into the kitchen. "And Lois even made her world-famous rum cake for you."

"From scratch." Lois emphasised as Chloe presented the cake. It was... well it looked like half the cake had collapsed in on itself and it was coated in a thick layer of bright blue icing. But the candles on the top burned cheerfully all the same, and the red hand-piped 'Happy Birthday Clark' was all somehow very Lois.

"Wow," He commented, raising an eyebrow. "I never would have guessed."

"You should have seen the first two." Chloe added with a strained smile as she offloaded the cake into his arms.

Never to be deterred, Lois grinned as she took the cake away and set it aside. "Ah come on, presents before cake." Clark found himself bustled over to the table, which had been covered in a small array of presents.

Lois smiled as she leaned over, pulling out a thin gold-wrapped present. "Open it." She encouraged, nudging him in the shoulder. Clark obliged, tearing the paper away to reveal a thin, leather bound diary. It was simple, a brown spine holding together two black covers. But she'd had his name embossed in gold into the bottom right hand corner.

"Wow." Clark said, unsure of what to make of the gift as he looked over at her.

"Not that you're the 'dear diary' type," Lois acknowledged, "but since you keep everything to yourself I...I thought it might help." Clark smiled, touched at the small gesture. It was not something he would have expected, coming from Lois, and the sentimentality was heart warming in a way he couldn't quite understand.

"Danny next." Chloe commanded, and Danny shifted a blue box over towards him. It was probably the biggest thing on the table, and instead of wrapping it Danny had just stuck a yellow bow to the top of the box. Curious Clark lifted the lid, and smiled at what he saw. Danny had managed to find a piston for his dad's motorbike; not only that but he'd dug up the pins, the bearings and what looked like a complete gasket kit.

Danny simply shrugged. "I figured it would mean more to you if you worked on the bike yourself." He responded blandly, but the glittering in his eyes said far more. Clark was grateful; the bike had been his dad's and he had spent months working with it just because it was a tangible reminder of the man his dad had been. It was getting old, and the parts for the engine were getting both hard and expensive to find, and Clark had been worrying that another part of his dad was going to be taken away from him. Clark didn't know if Danny knew exactly what he'd given him, but he felt a genuine smile pull to his lips as he settled the lid back on the box until he could go through everything later.

Chloe beamed, and her tone was light as she nudged his arm. "And since I'm on an intern budget, I figured I could just comp you a couple of those IOU's that you owe me."

Clark snickered, shaking his head fondly at his blonde friend. "Thank you." He replied, looking at the table. His eyes creased as he noticed a white envelope, leaned against a yellow bag. "That's Dad's handwriting." He murmured, almost scared to reach out and take it.

"I found it in his desk." His mom replied, sending a gentle smile at him as she handed the envelope over. The flap was just tucked in, his dad never sealed the envelope, and Clark carefully slid the card out.

It was blue, a simple scene of a lake in the hills on the front. At the top of the card it read 'For you, son, with so much love and pride', but just that little scene meant so much more. It was summers in the fields, casting a fishing line out because his dad had given it to him, new. It was days out at the lake in a tiny boat, coming home laughing when they didn't catch anything. It was his dad's warm smile as he turned around, laughing with him as he talked about anything and everything, as a six year old child on a day out with his dad.

The message inside was simple, conveying his dad's pride and love. But the two blue tickets that brushed his fingers said so much more. "Two tickets to the Wolverines game in Milwaukee." Clark commented, and if his inner emotional turmoil showed in his voice, they all stayed silent. "Right behind home plate."

"Yeah," His mom smiled, laying a comforting hand on his arm as he slid the tickets back inside the card. "Your dad and his baseball. There was no one in the world he'd rather watch a game with." Clark smiled, seeing the longing hidden deep in his mom's eyes. But the two little blue tickets stabbed at his still healing heart in a way he wasn't quite ready for.

The rest of the party passed in a blur. Danny, Chloe, Lois and his mom all smiling and laughing together and Clark was eventually able to join in. Danny ultimately pulled out a second cake and ended up teasing him into kissing Lois – _on the cheek, thankyou_ – when the knife came out dirty. It was fun, and Clark found that what had looked to be a miserable day ended up being alright. But still, every so often his eyes would flicker back to the white envelope, and his gut would clench for just a moment until he turned away.

It was hours later, after the party had been packed away and Lois and Chloe had both headed home for the evening. But Clark found himself walking the steady path towards the cemetery. It was dark; thick clouds had rolled in earlier in the evening and the scent of threatening rain hung in the air. He'd come alone, seeking... something between solace and closure from the man who had raised him.

"Thanks for the tickets, Dad." He murmured, placing the two thin slips of paper on the top of the grey tombstone. "I just wish that you were here to go with me." He sighed, fingers brushing slowly across the cool marbled surface. A twig broke, and Clark spun around, noting a figure in the shadowed darkness of the gravestone. Around him it started drizzling, a fine mist of rain clouding his vision. But there could be no mistaking the soft tan jacket, and Clark's heart leapt as he saw his _dad_ standing there in the rainy mist.

"Dad?" he asked, barely daring to believe that it was true.

"Listen, I'm sorry I couldn't be at your birthday party to see the kind of man you're becoming." His dad said; an edge of pride in his voice as he spoke.

"Dad, everything I am is because of you." Clark admitted, stepping closer to the figure of his father.

"Not everything." The man replied, suddenly on his other side. "See there can be no more lessons. You're gonna have to do this on your own. I can't help you anymore. You're gonna have to stop him."

Clark frowned, confused by his dad's words. "Stop who?"

"He's much worse than we imagined." His dad continued, despite Clark's interruption. "So many people...So many people are gonna die."

"I don't understand, Dad?" Clark pressed, eyebrows creased in confusion as he looked to his dad. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Lionel Luthor." The man replied bluntly, and Clark's blood chilled. He _knew_ that Lionel was up to something. With men like him, secrecy always came at a cost.

"What is he doing?" Clark demanded, needing to know.

"He's gonna do something terrible." His dad replied, suddenly further away than he had been.

Clark frowned, needing his dad's advice, needing the man who had truly loved him as a son. "Tell me, Dad, what am I supposed to do?"

His dad frowned, and a look of almost sympathy flickered in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Clark. But to save this world you've gotta kill Lionel Luthor." Clark stilled, not believing what his dad had just said. "Goodbye, son." The man whispered, and then he was gone, his wraithlike voice an echo on the wind.

"Dad?" Clark called, spinning around as he hoped to find the slightest trace of his dad. But there was nothing. And Clark didn't know what to think. Blood pounded in his ears, emotions bubbling and boiling as he tried to figure out what to think. Confusion, fear, anger and hollow bitterness cycled through him. "Dad, wait." He murmured sadly, looking once more around the graveyard as he stood in the intensifying rain.

He stood there for ten minutes, a lonely vigil at his dad's gravestone as he hoped for any sign that the apparition would come back. He didn't know what to think. His dad hadn't looked like a ghost, not in Danny's sense. But this was Smallville, and ghosts didn't always look the same here, especially when kryptonite came into play. Clark sighed, shaking his head as he made his way back towards his home.

The night was long, and Clark could barely sleep as he heard the rain pattering against the windows. No matter what he did his mind wouldn't rest. He'd been so close to his dad, almost close enough to touch him, but he hadn't been able to. And his last words... Clark didn't know what to think. He was angry at Lionel, and worried about what the depraved man intended to do about his secret. But killing him...

Clark rolled over, pounding at his pillow as he tried to force it into something resembling comfortable. The idea of killing a man, even one as amoral as Lionel, was not something he could fathom. And no matter how many times he recalled what his dad had said he couldn't get over that. He had always been raised to believe that his powers did not make him a god. He could never believe that he had the right to cast judgement, and he could never support actually taking anyone's life. But on the other hand he had been raised to do what was right. And in this case it seemed very possible that the right thing to do was to kill Lionel and act towards the greater good.

The grey pre-dawn light pierced his room as he was settling in to sleep. And when he got out of bed he still felt uneasy. Quietly he made his way down to the kitchen, flicking on the kettle as he went. Neither his mom nor Danny was awake, but Clark wasn't quite sure he was ready to talk to them. Near the kitchen was the small pile of presents he'd been given the night before, but the thought of dealing with them wasn't something he was prepared for in the wake of what he'd just been told.

He made a pot of coffee, leaving it on the bench where his mom would notice it when she came downstairs. She was staying at home today, one of the few times she had a chance to catch up on some of the work around the farmhouse. Usually Danny and Clark were able to manage it all between them, but there were some things that his mom just preferred to do by herself. So Clark headed out to the barn, planning on getting a couple of jobs done before his mom came out.

"You're up early." His mom's voice interrupted him half an hour later. She was wearing his dad's jacket, the worn material hanging loosely around her shoulders like a protective blanket.

"Couldn't sleep." He replied, setting aside the welding he had been working on. He sighed, unsure of where to start. "I went to visit Dad last night."

"Clark..." His mom began, but Clark cut her off.

"I know, it probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, but I needed to see them." He paused, meeting his mom firmly in the eyes. "He was there mom, really there. And I spoke to him. He said... he said I needed to kill Lionel before he destroys everything."

"Clark," His mom replied sadly, laying her hand on his arm. "Grief can play tricks on the mind."

Clark pulled his arm away, shaking his head. "Mom, I know what I saw. It was Dad. His spirit, his ghost, whatever you wanna call it."

"Sweetheart," his mom consoled, "I see your dad all the time. Every morning when I wake up I feel him beside me. But it's not him. And it's not his ghost. It's my mind wanting it so badly I think he's really there. Right now you're really angry with Lionel and maybe you want someone to say it's okay to get back at him."

"Mom, this isn't the first time I've seen Dad." Clark confessed, and noting her questioning look he rushed the explanation. "It's a long story, but Lana was in trouble. I tried to save her and had some sort of near-death experience. I saw Dad. He was the one who told me Lionel knew my secret. That wasn't my imagination. What if this wasn't either?"

"But Danny..." His mom suggested, but Clark was already shaking his head.

"Danny knows _his_ kind of ghost, but that's not what I saw when Dad first warned me about Lionel. And Danny... he saw something similar then too."

"If that's true," His mom murmured "if it really was your father..."

"Then what Lionel's up to is a lot worse than just knowing my secret." Clark finished, noting the flicker of genuine fear in his mom's eyes.

"It would have to be, for your father to suggest taking someone's life." His mom concluded, and Clark couldn't think of anything more to say. His dad wanted him to kill, his dad, the man who raised him. And Clark still didn't know the right thing to do. He felt torn, and he didn't know who to talk to. He wasn't sure how much help his cousin would be in this case; for all the good he did in the world, the boy often only saw things in terms of protecting people. And Clark wasn't sure what side of the line Danny would fall on.

Clark sighed, leaning against the heavy barn door as he watched his mom move off towards the orchard. He was stuck, unsure of how to proceed. Should he sacrifice his own values for the greater good? Kill Lionel to save everyone else from the harm he could wreak? Or should he stand by the values he had been raised by, absolving himself of a murderous act and turning a blind eye to the damage Lionel could cause? Clark shook his head, and as a raven mop of hair peeked out from the house before racing towards the school bus, he couldn't help but think that maybe talking to Danny could at least help Clark confirm the validity of his thinking.

_Line Break_

Chloe stared disbelievingly at her dark haired friend. Clark had called earlier in the day to say that he and Danny were coming by after school. But she couldn't believe what her oldest friend had just said.

"Okay, Clark," Chloe commented, leading the two boys down the stairs. "I am the president of Ghost Believers Anonymous. But your dad Hamleting you?"

"Chloe, I know how it sounds." Clark replied, a knowing look in his eye.

"And you," Chloe said, walking backwards a few steps as she swung around to face Danny. "What do you think?"

"I don't know." Danny confessed. "I mean... I watched Uncle Jon move on, saw him... he went into the light." Danny paused, his blue eyes glimmering. "But I know I saw Sam, saw everyone. And ghosts can't go there, we just _end_. Plus, you know, there's the Smallville factor." Danny shrugged. "I'm on the same page as you."

Chloe sighed and sat heavily into her desk chair, flicking the computer monitor back on. "Alright, Hand me a cloak and call me Horatio."

"Great." Clark said, leaning over the desk. "Now what could be so bad that my Dad would want Lionel Luthor dead to stop it?"

"Maybe it has something to do with him knowing, you know where you really came from." Chloe replied, briefly looking up at him.

"He's sat on it for too long." Danny commented.

"I still think it's probably a part of it," Clark denied. "But there's gotta be something more."

"Well, if Lionel is hatching some sort of an evil scheme it would explain why he's been sitting on your secret." Chloe added, looking up from the monitor and between the two boys. Clark's face was deep set in concentration, but Danny's was carefully neutral.

"Maybe something's already in motion."Clark barrelled on, ignorant of Danny's mask. "Chloe, someone tried to blackmail my mom with security footage of me using my abilities."

"What?" Chloe demanded, blinking in shock.

Clark sent her a dark look. "Guess which billionaire came to the rescue."

"All right, say this ghost of your dad's is right." Chloe prompted when Danny remained pointedly silent. "And then we go and dig through Lionel's closet and we find a smoking gun. Then what?"

"Depends what it was." Clark shrugged.

"Would it?" Danny interrupted, finally breaking his silence. "Is there really anything out there that would make Clark Kent kill someone?"

Clark visibly slumped. "I don't know." He confessed. Chloe saw the silent conversation passing between the two boys, the shake of a head and a brief concession on Danny's part. Neither of them spoke a word, but Chloe could see that there was a deep significance in those small gestures which she couldn't fathom. It finished in a silent acknowledgement before Danny looked back to her.

"We need to find out what he's planning." He said firmly, and there was no need to argue.

Chloe grinned, cracking her knuckled. "Then we have some digging to do." She commented, looking between the two with a sly look. "Either of you up for breaking into a top security office?"

Danny grinned at her, a mischievous glimmer in his eyes. "Breaking into the security of a high class, potentially unstable billionaire? Sounds like fun." And Chloe couldn't help the small smile that crept its way onto her lips at the keen look in his eyes. Chloe finished up her work quickly, shuffling a couple of jobs back into the 'to do' pile and then the three of them were off.

Of course, it was slightly more difficult than just walking in; LuthorCorp Plaza had apparently installed some anti-ghost tech, so Danny wasn't able to just phase them inside; something which the boy was particularly disappointed about. He was, however, able to help them sneak past security invisibly, and escort them up into Lionel's office without trouble.

Clark forced the door open, pushing his thumb through the lock mechanism to get them inside. Chloe forced herself not to worry about it; Clark had been breaking into buildings the same way for years. But she did frown as Clark barged across the room and over to the desk.

"Wait, Clark," She hissed, eyes searching the room warily. "The alarm."

"Taken care of." Danny replied, eyes momentarily flaring green. Chloe nodded once and headed over to the computer, readying herself for a bit of hacking. Her fingers tapped against the keyboard for a minute before Danny's hand brushed against the back of the screen. "Can you get in?" He asked, carefully, and Chloe responded with a determined nod.

"I cloned the transponder from Lionel's key port so we could override the digital cipher." She replied, before frowning. "I need a night life." She commented, more to herself than anything else.

Danny grinned at her. "Don't we all?" He replied before he moved to stand behind her shoulder. "How long do you think you'll need?"

"If I knew exactly what I was looking for..." Chloe trailed, shrugging. The truth was it was a mammoth task. They weren't looking for a needle in a haystack, but a needle in a needle stack. And no doubt everything informative would be encrypted.

"Let's look for anything my dad might be warning me about." Clark suggested, coming to stand by her other shoulder.

"Okay, it might take a minute." Chloe pointed out. "I can't exactly search for a file called 'My evil scheme.' Clark, Have you thought about the fact that if Lionel knows your secret he might have told..."

"Lex doesn't know." Danny denied adamantly. "Hang on, I'm gonna help." And then the presence behind her shoulder was gone. She saw a flash as his hand brushed against the screen, but then he was gone. But she instantly saw that the computer was doing more work, sifting through data and somehow responding better to her commands.

"Danny's right." Clark commented, as though it was perfectly normal for a boy to turn himself into some supped up piece of digitised programming. Idly Chloe wondered about the mechanics of that, but the Danny programme was shifting through thousands of files faster than Chloe could hack them. "Knowledge is power. Lionel would never level the playing field."

"Well, I guess this is one of those rare times when we have to put our faith in the Luthor family dysfunction." The computer froze for a moment and the file she had been about to open suddenly shut off. "Locked out." She complained, disheartened.

"Check his calendar." Clark suggested, and before Chloe could even touch the mouse pad the calendar was open. It seemed Danny was able to hear them from inside the computer's programming.

"Leon Rowland?" Chloe frowned, blinking in recognition as a meeting highlighted itself on the screen.

"Who's that?" Clark replied, leaning over her to peer at the screen.

Chloe's eyes creased, staring at the entry in the calendar. "It looks like Lionel has an interview scheduled tomorrow with the _Inqisitor's_ top reporter regarding something called 'The Weapon.'"

A popup appeared in the bottom of the screen, highlighting an appointment two hours later in Virginia. "Then at the Pentagon." Clark stated, and Chloe sent him a concerned glance.

"Looks like the mysterious weapon is the hot topic this week." Chloe commented, her eyes creased in concern as she gazed at the screen. The words 'Lionel Luthor' and 'Weapon' together were deeply unsettling. Chloe knew that Lionel was ruthless, and it didn't matter who or what got in his way. Unless you were one of the key players in his games, you were just cannon fodder. And Chloe knew all too well what it felt like being put in that position by LuthorCorp's founder.

"Maybe it's not so mysterious." Clark mused, sending Chloe's thoughts directly into a nose dive.

"Wait, you think that you might be the weapon Lionel's talking about?" She asked, spinning around on the chair to stare at him with widened eyes. She would have said more, but it fit. Lionel's silence would have allowed him to get all the pawns set up, and now it seemed likely that the depraved man was going to manipulate Clark into whatever he had planned. It was just like what Vlad Masters had done with Danny, but they were still stuck in the middle of his plot, and Chloe couldn't see what he had planned or how to counter it.

A popup appeared on screen, informing Chloe to 'insert removable media'. Chloe didn't care to get her hopes up, but dutifully inserted a blank flash drive all the same. "I hope you know what you're doing, Danny." She commented, frowning worriedly at the screen. The download took a full minute, and then Danny phased back out of the computer, flash drive firmly in hand.

"I don't have your hacking skills, Chloe." He commented, "But he won't know we were there." Danny turned his attention back to Clark. "I'd need to do a full decrypt, but the files on here seemed to be the most correlated with you, or at least the family."

Chloe took the device out of Danny's hands, watching as he angrily rubbed at his temple. "Headache?" She asked, eliciting a half-smile from the dark haired boy.

"Data overload." Danny admitted. "I used to do that with Tuck, sometimes we'd have hacking races, but Lionel's firewalls are a bit more... I don't know, they're more painful. Anyway, we gotta get out of here soon, security'll be on their way up since I knocked out the video feed for the top floors." Chloe nodded in understanding, grabbing his proffered arm.

In an instant all three of them were back inside the vacant filing room in the _Planet's_ basement. Chloe bit her lip, seeing the pained look in Danny's eyes. By now she knew why Danny usually refrained from using his powers on Clark; it had a tendency to give him a painful migraine thanks to the differences in their physiology. But Danny waved her on, and at Clark's still worried insistence she pulled out the flash drive. The decrypt was in her hands now, and she only hoped that between the three of them they could stop Lionel before his scheming came to fruition.

_Line Break_

Danny sighed, idly flipping through the pages of his alchemist's book as he attempted to tire himself out. He was mostly recovered from the crippling sickness he'd experienced a week ago, but was still on doctor's orders (well, his aunt and an irate Ember's orders) to take it easy. As soon as he felt well enough he'd opened a portal to the Zone and gone to visit Ember, but she'd pretty much taken one look at him and sent him home. Of course she hadn't exactly been _rude_ about it, in her own way. But being kicked out of the zone for '_being irresponsible with your powers and abusing your core and you'll get no sympathy from me' _hadn't exactly been comforting.

He had hoped to be able to help Chloe with deciphering Lionel's files, but after hacking Lionel's computer from the inside, plus teleporting Clark, his head was slightly too fuzzy to be able to read the intricate coding. It was a useful skill, and he knew that, and it had been easier this time than ever before, probably something to do with his new electrokinetic powers. But his strength had never been in technology. He knew enough to get around, and being able to overshadow the system made it easier to understand, but the numbers and the different coding went over his head unless he knew what he was looking for. So Danny flopped back, staring at the ceiling for a few bleary minutes as he recovered his mental strength.

The phone rang downstairs and, knowing that neither his aunt nor his cousin was home he headed downstairs to get it. "Kent residence, Danny speaking."

"Daniel." Danny frowned as he recognised the voice of Lionel Luthor. He personally hadn't had much to do with the elder Luthor, but the stance between him and Clark were precarious at best. "Is Martha home?"

"No." Danny replied cautiously. "She's out at the moment. I can take a message if you want."

There was a slight pause on the other side of the phone. "Actually I'm looking for Clark. I know things are... strained at the moment, and understandably he does not want to risk trusting me."

"You haven't really given him a reason to." Danny commented, a slight accusing note in his voice.

"I know." Lionel conceded, but Danny wasn't sure if it was genuine or a placating move from the same play-book that Vlad read. "But something is going on that he needs to know about."

"What?" Danny pressed.

"Daniel, please." The man replied. "This is a matter you should not concern yourself with. Can you convey the message, it is vitally important that I talk with Clark." And with that the phone cut off, preventing Danny from pressing the matter further. He sighed, setting the phone back on the cradle and running a hand through his hair. He still didn't know what Lionel wanted with Clark, and even though Clark feared being manipulated into Lionel's weapon, Danny still had his doubts. For now he had warded Clark off of going about bandying a pitchfork, but that didn't mean he wasn't still suspicious of Lionel's motivations.

Danny wrote a quick note on the book by the phone, saying that Lionel had called and that he wanted to talk to Clark. Hopefully his aunt would find it first and they could try to figure out the best course of action before Clark got any more involved. If Clark found out that Lionel may be onto them, his cousin might just take matters into his own hands. Danny was well aware that it wouldn't take much to set Clark off, much like his own relationship with Vlad before his family had died. It was a high-stakes game the two were playing; Lionel knew about Clark's powers, but no one but Lionel himself knew exactly how much of Clark's secret he knew.

Danny shook his head, heading back up the stairs and into his bedroom. There wasn't really any homework to do; he'd finished his finals and now they were just waiting for the results to come in. Instead he picked up the leather-bound book, leafing idly through the pages. There was far more in there than just the four gems, but that was the most prominent work in the book. Danny sighed, looking up from the thick book and out the doorway of his room. His eyes frowned in sudden confusion. Something was wrong; he could virtually taste it in the air. His eyes widened as he heard voices downstairs, the first was his aunt, who had just gotten into the house, but for some reason the second voice sounded like his uncle.

Danny's eyebrows creased in concern as he moved cautiously towards the top of the stairs. Jonathan had been dead for months, passed over to the other side which even ghosts couldn't know. He was tempted to barrel down there and confront whoever it was, but there was no pull on his core. He squashed down his overzealous impulse, realising that more would be gained from figuring out 'Jonathan's' end game than confronting him right away. So Danny settled himself on the top step, listening in on the conversation between his aunt and the man who supposedly was his deceased uncle.

"How long, Martha?" Jonathan's voice asked, but there was a sinister darkness in his voice that had never been there in life.

"What?" His aunt replied, her voice confused and almost hurt.

"How long have you had feelings for Lionel Luthor?" Jonathan demanded, and Danny frowned. He knew that his aunt was seeing generally more of the elder billionaire since his uncle's death, but there had never been any indication that her feelings for him were anything other than platonic.

He could practically see his aunt shaking her head as she issued a denial. "It's not like that."

"I want you to be happy, sweetheart." Jonathan's voice responded, and he almost sounded betrayed. "I've always just...just wanted you to be happy. But not with him." And there it was; the heated twang in his voice that proved that this man couldn't be his uncle. For all that Jonathan Kent had been easily angered; he would never hurt those close to him. Not the way he was accusing Aunt Martha,

"Jonathan." His aunt responded, her voice laced with the subtle edge of hurt that his uncle would never have inspired in her. "You know you're the only man I've ever loved. It's been so hard without you. Your voice, your touch. I miss you so much." Hearing that, Danny wanted desperately to go down and comfort her, to help get rid of the brokenness in her voice. But he couldn't, not if he wanted to figure out what was going on.

"I miss you too, sweetheart." Jonathan's voice responded, almost too quickly.

"Why did you have to leave me?" Danny's aunt asked in the barest whisper.

There was a slight pause, a heartbeat, before Jonathan responded. "I'm sorry, Martha. I didn't have any choice." Jonathan paused, his voice edged with dark warning. "And soon, neither will a lot of other innocent people."

"Are you talking about Lionel?" His aunt asked, and Danny edged down a step, feeling that he was getting closer to an answer about their visitor. "What is it? What is he doing?"

"He's going to drown you all in your own blood." Jonathan bluntly responded. "Just like he did me."

"Like he did you?" His aunt pressed, her earlier pain turned into confusion. "What...?"

"Martha, I'm sorry." The man interrupted. "But, you've got to tell Clark there is no other choice. Lionel Luthor has to die."

"Jonathan?" His aunt asked, her voice confused in a suddenly silent room.

"He has to." Jonathan's voice whispered; a bare echo in the night. But Danny frowned, following a strange sort of energy as it moved out of the house and paused on the porch. There was a brief surge, and his eyes widened as he realised exactly what he was facing. The man had been masquerading in his uncle's form, but there was no mistaking that energy signature. Danny phased out of the house, coming to stand opposite the intruder with his arms crossed, staring unintimidated at the man's back.

"Brainiac." Danny commented coldly, allowing icy anger to enter his voice.

"Daniel." The man commented as his form settled, returning to his average height brunette form. Danny froze for the barest instant, hearing an inflection in the man's voice that sounded all too much like Vlad when he knew something that Danny didn't. But he didn't let on, he couldn't afford to. For some reason Brainiac wanted Lionel Luthor dead, and it was highly unlikely it was because he was feeling vengeful over a bad business deal.

"I've been watching you." Brainiac commented, stalking around Danny predatorily. "Kal-El's pet Doberman; protective to a fault but hopelessly limited." Danny snarled, his eyes flashing green in warning, but Brainiac was having none of it. "Now, now, Daniel, growl as much as you want but it won't make any difference."

"I beat you last time." Danny spat, lunging to the right in time to land a punch on the synthetic man's jaw, but a moment later he was slammed heavily back against the ground, a heavy wrist clasped firmly around his neck.

"But this isn't last time." Brainiac replied levelly, his brown eyes cold in the evening light. "Last time you were acting under the guise of being human, and I still needed Kal-El's trust. This time Kal-El's opinion of me matters very little and you, boy, you are barely even an obstacle in my path." The brown-haired man eased up, withdrawing his hand and standing up. Danny gasped, taking in a deep breath and rubbing his neck painfully as he staggered to his feet.

"I'll admit your disguise is very convincing." Brainiac commented, turning his back on Danny as though they were simply engaged in casual conversation.

"Better than yours, Brainiac." Danny spat venomously.

"It's a pity," Brainiac continued, as though Danny's antagonism meant nothing. "That your species is so... weak. For all your powers, you can do nothing outside of your own obsessions, isn't that right, _spirit?_" The man snapped around in a movement too fast for Danny to defend against, and his fist clasped hard around his throat. Danny bit back a scream as the fingernails sharpened, twin pin pricks stabbing into his flesh and drawing blood.

"Curious." The man commented, withdrawing bloodstained fingertips as Danny fell heavily to his knees. Danny gulped, noting that whatever Brainiac had done... he wasn't recovering normally. "You have been very thorough in your façade to be able to blend with humans so thoroughly. However, I believe I have you at a distinct disadvantage."

"What, you think you've got me all figured out and now I'll just do whatever you say to keep it secret?" Danny spat, but was met by Brainiac's coolly calculating glare.

"No, I know you'll follow my orders because if you don't you can watch as your aunt burns." The brown eyed man dictated. But Danny didn't miss the way those eyes flared red, the same shade of cherry that Clark's eyes turned when he was using his seat vision. Normally he'd confidently say he could block it, but with the way he was bleeding he didn't like his chances.

Danny hung his head submissively, waiting for Brainiac to make his next move. "That's a good spirit." The man mocked, patting his head twice before catching his cheeks with a cold hand. "You have demonstrated that you have knowledge of Krypton." He stated. "And thus you have some use to me."

Brainiac knelt down so that their eyes met, his artificial brown meeting with Danny's blue. "Logically I acknowledge that you must be a spirit of our world, and you probably were slain in the Fall; no spirit of this world would know of our heritage, nor could interact with Kal-El the way you do." Brainiac paused, his head cocked ever so slightly to the side as those brown eyes bored into his. "To be perfectly candid I do not care about your heritage; as soon as you became a spirit you became subject to _their_ laws."

Brainiac did... something. Danny felt another metallic prick digging into his chest, in the area near where both his heart and his core resided. And suddenly he couldn't move, couldn't breathe. Black dots danced on the edge of his vision, and all he could understand of the world was the sound of the man's voice. "The funny thing about your species is that none of you physically exist. You are all just energy, harnessed to a single ideal. But that energy is easily taken and manipulated, and even more easily contained."

Danny felt something move, or was it him? And then the world lurched and he felt like he was dissolving... no, breaking down. It felt similar to being sucked inside a thermos, the way the energy merged with him, reducing him to a bare consciousness. But it was painful, so, so painful, and he was still fully aware of the voice even if he didn't know where he was.

"You have served Kal-El loyally, spirit, but I can't let you interfere with my plans." Brainiac's voice echoed around him. "You will remain here as I cleanse the Earth in preparation. The vassal of Jor-El must be destroyed and you will only impede that. However you are still of use to me, and in time you will be released; your own obsession makes you the perfect soldier in the coming war."

And then he was gone, Brainiac's missing voice leaving a void in this prison. Danny's awareness thinned and it felt like he was drowning in a sea of painful oblivion. His conscious drifted, eddying in and out like the tidal pull of the sea. Occasionally he was aware enough to note the similarities to his parent's Thermos and this confinement. They were both similar in that he could not feel himself, not in a physical sense. And there was no real sensory input. Like being confined inside the Thermos, he felt an endless nothingness that would be only too easy to surrender himself to.

Unlike the inside of the Thermos, he was highly aware of potent energy seeping through his prison. It was heavy and oppressive, and this energy rent through him with a destructive edge that felt like Vlad's Plasmius Maximus. The pain kept him aware, or at least aware enough that he could keep track of himself. So instead of surrendering to the oblivion he thought, focusing the only aspect of himself that he could currently control on the single task of keeping himself conscious.

He thought of his first lessons with Clockwork, about his amazement when the elder ghost had instructed him about the nature of the Zone and how it worked in synergy with the real world.

He thought about his astonishment to find out that there were in fact other worlds, planets with thriving life forms which had come and gone, some contributing to the Zone's populace as the planets became connected with the Zone.

He thought of what he had learned about the ghost wars, stretching back across millennia and spilling out into the Real World.

He thought about Krypton, about how they were the first planet to truly develop technology which could contain ghosts, about the creation of an extra dimension within the Zone for the prisoners, and about how the Zone itself had cried out during the Fall of Krypton.

He thought about his cousin, about how Brainiac was manipulating him and attempting to pervert Jonathan Kent's intentions.

And as he thought something in his mind solidified, focusing itself around a single idea. He knew that Clark needed help, needed to be stopped before he did something which would destroy himself. And that thought grew, his consciousness straining against the bounds of his prison as he threw his mental body against the constraints of his cage.

With a mental grin he shifted gears, feeling for a weakness in his prison. It was different to his parents' tech, and Danny could feel that there was the slightest deviation in however this confinement was made. So he mentally flexed; shifting through hundreds of memories, thousands of scenarios both learned and experienced, until his mind settled on one single memory. It seemed that one of his darkest days could just hold the key to his salvation.

_Line Break_

Clark shook his head, sighing as he walked through the glass doors leading into the _Daily Planet_. His mind was still reeling; not only had he seen his dad's ghost – and he was calling him that since he couldn't think of a better description – but his mom had seen him too. Jonathan Kent had appeared in their living room the previous night and had given his mom the same warning. More than that, it seemed like Lionel had been somehow involved in his dad's death.

That thought made Clark's blood boil. All these months he'd been playing their _friend_, pretending to take care of his mom and acting as the white knight for the family. And all this time he'd been responsible for his dad's death. He didn't know how, but the inference was enough. Clark felt he was justified in his anger, as though it wasn't enough for the man to have taken his dad from him, he then saw fit to pretend to be a hero to his mom. And to top it all off, he now had Clark's secret, hanging like the sword of Damocles over his head.

He would have first gone to Danny first, but the boy was missing. Of course, given the regularity of his disappearances lately Clark wasn't worried. It was likely some other ghost related thing, and no doubt he'd show up soon as Phantom with a smile on his face wondering what it was that had them all so worried. It was an annoying habit, but to be honest it was nothing more than they'd expected all those months ago when they'd taken the boy in. It was just comforting to know that Danny was probably safe wherever he was, if he wasn't they'd probably know since the only fights that really threatened him tended to end up as breaking news.

Clark sighed, his hand wrapped around a small piece of paper that was burning a hole in his pocket. He'd found the note on the table next to the phone, scrawled in Danny's hand and saying that Lionel had called, wanting to talk to Clark. Somehow Clark wasn't surprised. It made a sick sort of sense that his dad would only be able to give his warning just as Lionel started moving in. Seeing that note there, seeing it and knowing what it meant, had left him infuriated. But if he was going to confront Lionel he at least wanted to know what he was planning.

He shook his head, pushing through the door to the bullpen and proceeding over to Chloe's desk. She'd been working all day on the flash drive, but judging by the small frown pressed on her lips she wasn't much luck.

"How're you going?" Clark asked, making the blonde jump slightly as she was interrupted from her work.

"Not well on the flash drive, I think Danny might have better luck. All I can really tell you is that the IP address they come from isn't originally Lionel's." Chloe answered, her face lit by the blue light of the computer monitor.

"So we have nothing?" Clark pressed.

"Not exactly..." Chloe diffused, her lips pressed tight as she turned to face Clark. "Okay now before I tell you any of this, you have to promise you'll keep cool head and backburner those American Psycho instincts, okay?"

"Chloe, what is it?" He urged, trying and failing to keep his voice clear of the aggressive worry simmering just beneath the surface.

"I pulled up your dad's phone records." She said, pulling up a different page on the screen. "And unless Lionel was selling long-distance plans, he was desperate to get a hold of your dad. There are at least 20 calls logged in those last few weeks."

"My Dad said he died protecting my secret." Clark remarked, a frown pressing at his lips. "Maybe that's how he found out Lionel knew about me. When did the calls stop?"

"They didn't." Chloe stated, swivelling in her chair so she could face him. "Lionel talked to your dad an hour before he died."

Clark fought down the wave of anger that washed through him. "Think Lionel was just congratulating him?"

Chloe bit her lip. "Not unless he did it in person." She sighed, looking worriedly at him. "Lionel's cell call came through a tower in Jansen's Field. That's only a mile away from your house."

"Lionel was there?" Clark murmured, completely disbelievingly. "Lionel was there the night my dad died."

Clark saw red. Not only was the man involved in his dad's death, he was a direct part of it. And it had taken all these months for the truth to come to light. His blood boiled beneath his skin, demanding retribution. His hands fisted in his pockets, his right wrapping around a half-crushed piece of paper. Lionel had said he wanted to _talk_. And if that's what he wanted, then Clark was going to make sure he got exactly what he had asked for.

_Line Break_

Danny calmed himself, flexing his thoughts in the mental replication of breathing. Time was meaningless in this confinement, and already he had no idea if he'd been trapped for minutes or days. But he could feel something in himself changing. The difference between this Kryptonian technology and that of his parents was subtle, but present. And he could already tell exactly what he had to do in order to escape. Historically, forcing himself to learn a ghost power ahead of time had never worked out, but in this case he couldn't see a choice.

He hated resorting to this, hated what it signified, but the only way he was going to get out of this before he became Brainiac's pawn was if he resorted to something he had seen in his own dark alternate future. So Danny concentrated, setting aside moral concerns for a time when he could effectively deal with them. He remembered everything he'd seen about Dan, and aside from the Ghostly Wail, there was one other ability that had stuck with him. Dan had been able to turn himself into mist, and thus escape any physical attack. It wouldn't work on the Thermos, it both trapped and completely contained any spectre within its metallic cylindrical walls. But that was the difference between what his parents had made and what the Kryptonians had produced.

While both disrupted the ghost's energy flow and compressed it within the confines of a container, Danny could sense that the Kryptonian version had some small energy leaks. It was like the difference between a barred door to a prison cell and a padded room. Both were inescapable if you were too big, but a thin person could slip between the prison bars if they tried hard enough. And that's what Danny had to do; turn himself into a form where he could slip through the weak points in Brainiac's ghost capturing device.

It wasn't easy, and was probably made harder by the fact that he was still partially human. But he felt it when it happened. He had to completely forget everything that made him physical, like a more intensified version of intangibility. No, it was more than that, it was trapping himself in that strange state when he teleported, fixing on the instant between here and there where nothing tethered him to the world other than the vague strain of consciousness that held him in that instant. He felt the change, felt the moment that his prison could no longer contain him and he seeped out, like pooling mist across a winter field.

Finding himself free he took the barest instant to take stock of his surroundings, idly noting that he was somewhere in the southern hemisphere if the stars were anything to go by. But at the same time... everything had a distinctly surreal edge to it, making the world around him seem insubstantial. He could hear the echoic noise of animals, whispering on the wind. But he couldn't feel anything, and it was so much worse than simply being intangible because the world around him shifted like the rolling mist he knew he currently was.

That was the best way to describe it. If he said that he felt real, then everything around him was mist. And it was... enticing. There was a deep seated alluring quality to seeing the world like this, it felt as though nothing could hurt him, as though he could forget everything that caused him pain and still exist all the same. He breathed, feeling the rolling mists dissipate around and through him as he moved through parched land and skeletal trees.

Incorporeal as he was it was difficult to discern the passage of time, and his movements swiftly became lost in a bleary nothingness that swallowed him up. He noticed enough to realise that the environment around him had changed, that rolling hazy bushland had morphed into foggy cornfields. But as to how exactly he had gotten there, he couldn't say.

He did eventually find himself in a building that felt... familiar. In this weird misted state it was difficult to discern what anything was, but he could feel a familiar energy radiating out from inside the large building, powerful and intoxicating like the sun.

"Is this where it happened?" The sun like energy asked. '_Clark_' his mind whispered, distantly noting the icy venom in the man's voice. "Is this where you met my father the night he died?"

"Yes." A second voice responded, but it took Danny far longer to place. And in this enticingly misty state it was hard to want to, not when compared to the bright sun that was his cousin. "Yes, it is." The voice continued, and Danny's mind eventually settled on the name '_Lionel_'. "I had to talk to him. It was important."

"He found out, didn't he?" Clark's voice was accusing, and Danny felt something akin to a pull as the fog started to clear. "He found out about your plan to use me as a weapon."

"A weapon?" Lionel sounded dumbfounded. "No. Clark, no, it..."

Clark's voice cut off the elder man's defensive words. "What did you do to him?"

"Clark, I wanted to _help_ him." Lionel murmured. "He needed an ally but he took it the wrong way."

"You killed my father!" Clark accused, and there it was. A more distinguishable pull as the fog surrounding him cleared more. He could now see them more clearly; two dark shadows pressed closely together, the black shadow pushed against the wall by the second, red shadow.

"No." Lionel's voice defended, sounding almost choked. "Clark."

"What happened Lionel, he wouldn't go along with your plan was that it?" Clark's voice spat. And though the mist was still too thick, Danny could almost see the fiery flash of his angry blue eyes as the red blur shoved the black one further into the wall. "You pushed him...You pushed him till his heart gave out."

Lionel gagged, his voice choked as though a hand was clasped around his neck. "Listen to me, Clark..."

"I will never be anyone's weapon." Clark hissed, and Danny's core yelled at him, demanding attention.

"You're not the weapon." Lionel gulped, his voice desperate for air. "Clark, it's not you."

"Lies." A third voice interrupted, and Danny gulped for air as his core started screeching. But he was lost, and he couldn't clear the mists even as he recognised his uncle's voice coming from Brainiac's malicious energy. "That's all he's gonna tell you, son. You're gonna have to kill him before he gets the chance."

"Listen to me, Clark." Lionel beseeched, his voice sounding feeble and weak.

Clark's aura picked up a murderous edge as he snarled in anger. "Shut up!"

"Do it, Clark." His uncle's voice demanded, disguising Brainiac's malevolent tones. "Do it!"

"You killed him." Clark emitted.

"Yes, he killed me." Jonathan's voice sounded, but the tone was one that his uncle could never use. "So go on, son. Avenge my death." There was a beat, and Danny's core screamed in time with an angry flare of Clark's aura. And just like that the world cleared, settling into the steady firmness of reality as the mists finally dissipated. Danny was in the barn, and dark shadows fell across the horrific tableau in the centre of the room.

Lionel was slumped to the floor, backed close against a wall on bended knees. Clark's hand was wrapped tightly against the man's neck, tendons tightened as the grip compressed, crushing against the man's throat. Over his cousin's shoulder stood '_Jonathan_', egging him on like a twisted devil.

"Your dad would never make you a murderer, Clark." Danny cried, rushing over to his cousin's side.

"Kill him!" '_Jonathan_' demanded, his voice a cruel snarl.

"Listen to me, Clark." Lionel pleaded desperately. "Listen to me."

"Clark, I know this is very difficult for you," '_Jonathan_' interjected. "But you have got to kill Lionel Luthor!"

"Don't give into him." Danny beseeched, desperately hoping to stop Clark from destroying himself this way. If he stepped in Lionel would be saved, but at the expense of Clark's identity. "Clark, don't forget everything your dad taught you to be." And then there was pain, coupled with the resounding splintering of wood as Brainiac threw him hard against the wooden loft staircase.

"Clark Kent, kill him now!" '_Jonathan's_' voice demanded venomously. There was a beat, and then another. And Clark spun around, catching Brainiac around the neck and throwing him hard away. Beside him, Danny heard a second crash as the man landed barely two feet to his right.

'_Jonathan_' stood up, cracking his neck as splinters fell off his shoulders. "You know I asked you to do one simple thing. This is what I get. You're a tremendous disappointment to me, son."

"You're not my father." Clark replied, an eerie calmness washing over him.

"Oh, ho ho." '_Jonathan_' mocked, striding through the barn with domineering confidence. The man and his cousin circling each other until the red back of Clark's jacket blocked Danny's view. "Well, it looks like I might have underestimated you, _Kal-El_." The man stopped, eyes flashing as he picked up the tractor. "Catch!"

The tractor sailed through the air, forcing Clark back until his back was pressed into Danny's shoulders. The metal screamed and warped around them, a dust of splinters leaping into the air as part of the loft was crushed. Clark tossed the broken tractor aside, waiting for the dust to clear. But before Danny could do anything Clark was gone, pressed against the other side of the barn as '_Jonathan_' clawed at his neck. Clark gagged, and Danny's core screamed. But he felt ragged, and the same screaming in his core which would usually help him to overcome anything only served to cripple him. It felt like he was the one being choked, not his cousin.

"It would be so easy to snap your neck just like a twig" Brainiac commented in his uncle's voice, his voice a harsh whisper in the barn. "But I still need you."

"Who are you?" Clark gagged, blue eyes darkening as Danny watched the air being starved from his system.

"I'm the guy that's gonna help bring this world to its knees." Brainiac whispered harshly, the inflection of the man behind the mask coming through. Dark spots danced on the edge of Danny's vision, his ghostly obsession turning harshly against him as he struggled to move. He needed to save Clark, to stop Brainiac. But Clark swayed on his feet and his sunlit aura flickered. Danny gasped, desperate for air, for relief from the stabbing pain shooting through his core. But there was nothing he could do and it was destroying him.

"Don't touch me." His uncle's voice said, suddenly pleaded. And Danny watched through slitted eyes as Lionel Luthor approached the two aggressors. Lionel's eyes were the pale white of the blind and his hand was outstretched, wizened fingers reaching out to brush towards Brainiac's cheek. "Don't do it." The man beseeched. "Don't do..." Lionel's fingers made contact, and Brainiac froze. For a moment he shifted, morphing into the raw metallic material he was made from. But that melted away to leave the resemblance of 'Milton Fine'.

The man screamed, and there was a flash of white light as Brainiac disappeared, this copy of the construct completely destroyed. "What..? What just happened?" Lionel asked, blinking dazedly. And it was only then that Danny noted the secondary presence in the man's aura. It was weak, barely there, but it was very similar to the energy contained in the crystal consol in Clark's Fortress. Very similar to _Jor-El's _energy. '_The Vassal of Jor-El_' Danny realised.

Danny blinked dazedly, the world swimming around him. And at this point he wasn't sure if it was because of the pain in his core or from desperately wanting to sink back into the untouchable mists. But Clark was talking, and Lionel was looking over at him with confusion. Danny shook his head, touching his fingers to his lips and drawing away a small amount of sticky blood. And suddenly Clark was by his side, helping Danny ground himself once more.

"You okay?" Clark asked, blue eyes creased in concern.

Danny nodded, his gaze fixed on Lionel Luthor as Clark helped him out from under the collapsed staircase. "I'll be fine." Danny heard himself say, sending a brief glance towards Clark before returning his eyes to Lionel. He knew the man was re-evaluating him, could see it in his eyes. The same thing had happened two years before, when he'd managed to talk Vlad into surrender at the College reunion.

"I believe..." The elder Luthor began, grey eyes flickering between Danny and his cousin. "That we have a lot to talk about."

Danny's head swam, and he felt the world roll around him as everything shifted towards those clouded mists. He felt unbalanced, and it took all his focus to make himself stay tangible. In a way it was like his earlier attempts at duplication, imprecise and unfocused because he wasn't ready to handle it yet. He heard, distantly, Lionel and Clark talking over his head, but he couldn't really make out what they were saying. He was loosely aware that they were moving, Clark's steady hand guiding him somewhere outside the barn.

The next thing he was aware of was bright light. And he blinked as he found himself in Lionel's LuthorCorp office. "I was fairly certain Milton Fine was a Kryptonian but I didn't realize that shape shifting was one of the Kryptonian's miraculous abilities." The elder man was saying, and Danny shook his head as he struggled to focus once more.

"It's not." Danny replied, finally feeling _real_ enough to respond.

Lionel blinked and frowned at him before turning his attention back to Clark. "Then Fine's not a Kryptonian." He commented, his lips pursed in a worried frown. "It is important to all of us that we keep this from Lex."

"Fine was created by Kryptonians." Danny summarised, using the name that Lionel recognised.

"And he's already been destroyed twice."

"Twice?" Lionel pressed, clearly surprised. "Some sort of self-replicating entity, that's incredible."

Clark scoffed. "That's one word for it."

"He's a lot more than that." Danny added. "The Brain Interactive Construct; Brainiac for short. He's Kryptonian artificial intelligence, emphasis on the intelligence part. All the powers of a Kryptonian and the intellectual resources of all of Krypton and Earth, he's _dangerous_."

"But why was he so afraid of you?" Clark asked from beside him. "And how were you able to destroy him, just by touching him?"

"I... I'm not sure." The man responded hesitantly, sending Danny another inquiring glance before visibly biting back his questions. "But, I feel the answers could lie somewhere in here." The man walked over to a concealed safe, carefully twisting the lock mechanism. The door opened, revealing a room filled with journals, scraps of paper, coasters, anything and everything that could be written on. And it was all covered with Kryptonian glyphs.

"Where did you find all this?" Clark demanded, a dangerous edge in his voice.

Lionel frowned, moving back away from the safe and over towards his desk. "I didn't find it." He replied bluntly. "I wrote it. And whatever voice I'm channelling I believe that what I wrote is meant for you, Clark."

Danny frowned, picking up one of the journals. He sent a worried look towards his cousin, biting his lip and wondering exactly how much it was safe to say. Lionel now couldn't _not_ know there was something different about him, but Danny wanted the billionaire to make his own inferences. Danny leafed idly through the pages of the book, an indecipherable mess of dark words and warnings. It was worrisome, more so with what he himself had just experienced at Brainiac's hand. His frown deepened as he paused on one page, instantly recognising the message. He could only hope that this dark foreshadowing was coincidence, the idle ramblings of a misled augur.

_Line Break_

"So hell freezes over and no one even bothers to tell me?" Chloe's voice cut through the darkness of the _Planet_ bullpen as Clark leaned heavily over her desk. It had been a horrendous night, and a cursory glance at his cousin's tired eyes said there was so much more to the story than even he knew.

Clark felt... drained. Once more Milton Fine had come into his life, but this time had been so much worse. He was still grieving for his father's loss, still desperately needing the guidance that his dad had once provided. And he'd fallen blindly for Fine's cruel trick. He didn't know what hurt more, what he'd almost done or the realisation that everything his '_dad_' had told him had been a manipulative lie. And in the moment, when he'd had his hands around Lionel's neck, he hadn't been able to think.

His dad's voice had called for him to protect the greater good, while his cousin's had reminded him of the morality his dad had always taught him. Like the metaphorical devil and angel on his shoulders. But in that instant it had been hard to tell which voice was which. And he had doubted. If an evil act protected the good then was it good? Or, if by doing nothing in the name of the good caused evil, then was it an evil act in itself? His dad's voice warred against Danny's and he hadn't been _willing_ to choose.

Danny himself had been very quiet, his eyes slipping unfocused and hazy with startling regularity. A hasty word, too quiet for any human to hear, had told Clark that it was a new power coming in. But the boy looked particularly unwell for using it. And it showed in more ways than one; Danny had been unable to weave one of his usual half-truths to distract Lionel from his secret. That in itself was far more telling than Danny behaving foggy headed like this.

But they'd all arrived in the _Planet_, despite the lateness of the evening. Fortuitously Chloe hadn't left yet, and was more than happy to commandeer their resources for research purposes. So the three of them had arrived and then immediately briefed her on all that had been revealed that evening. Well, with the blaring exception of where Danny came into it.

"Chloe, listen." Clark urged, interrupting the glare that his blonde friend sent towards the eldest Luthor. "Mr. Luthor has been writing these. Seems to be some sort of warning, but I can't decipher it."

"Well, Unfortunately my Kryptonian's rusty." Chloe commented sarcastically. "What about...?"

Lionel understood her glance, but shook his head dismissively. "I don't know what any of this means, Miss Sullivan. I am simply the oracle."

"And Danny?" Chloe prompted, glancing towards the boy who was currently sitting on the desk behind her.

"I just hope I'm wrong." The boy replied, his eyes shimmering with a glint of fear as they flickered towards Clark.

"And how do you actually know how to read Kryptonian?" Lionel asked, his patience finally wearing too thin. Clark was just amazed that it had lasted this long.

Danny shrugged. "Clark isn't the only remnant of Kryptonian heritage out there." The boy replied casually.

"So you are..." Lionel prompted, clearly waiting for explanation. It was interesting for Clark to note the difference between how Lionel treated Danny and how he treated him. No months of circling, just heading straight for an answer. Then again, it was clear that Danny wasn't thinking entirely clearly, and Lionel may be just utilising Danny's moment of weakness.

"Clark's cousin." Danny replied, his eyes flashing with the barest hint of challenge. But that gave nothing more away than what Lionel already knew, although the way he phrased it... Lionel could almost assume that that meant Danny was Kryptonian too.

Lionel shook his head, and seemed to recognise that Danny wasn't going to give him anything more. His face was neutral when Lionel turned back to meet Clark's eyes. "I believe the answers could be found with a visit to your Fortress." The grey haired man commented, returning to the problem at hand. It was clear that he wasn't finished with his interrogation of Danny, not by a long shot, but all of them recognised that there were more important things that needed dealing with first.

"Last time someone talked me into taking them to the Fortress it was a trick to release General Zod." Clark replied scathingly.

"Yeah, I have plans this weekend." Chloe added, arms crossed in irritation across her chest. "So if we could protect Smallville from the wrath of Krypton's deadliest villain; that would be great."

"Ancient hieroglyphics were deciphered by finding repeated..." Lionel suggested, and Chloe immediately picked up on his meaning.

"Repeated patterns." She finished. "Yeah, I know. So let me scan this and see if we got any." Chloe took the book and moved across to a flatbed scanner, copying each page onto her computer. Danny moved around beside her, running each page through some strange program almost as soon as it appeared on screen.

"Why would Fine wanna expose himself now?" Clark asked, venting his concerns to the room.

"He's afraid I'm going to help you." Lionel replied bluntly. "To stop what he and Lex are planning to do."

Clark frowned, sending a confused glance towards the elder billionaire. "Which is what?" He prompted.

Lionel sighed, and the slightest shake of his head told Clark that Lionel was much more worried than he was revealing to them. "From the details I've gathered, Fine has been helping Lex to develop a virus so lethal; it could bring humanity to the brink of extinction." The man explained, his jaw set in dark disappointment. "LuthorCorp scientists completed the project today."

"So the weapon isn't Clark, it's this virus." Chloe realised, lifting that weight off Clark's chest.

"Yes." Lionel replied.

Danny however, was shaking his head. "The plan's more detailed than that." He said, blue eyes frowning as he surveyed the screen. "I think the virus is just the first step." And his eyes met Clark's for the barest moment, heavy with significance. And Clark understood something.

"You mean he..." Clark began, realising that it wasn't _him_ that Brainiac wanted as the weapon, but his cousin.

"Yeah." Danny replied darkly. But then he shrugged it off with a dorky smile. "Eh, it's not like it's the first time."

"You think that's what this pattern is trying to warn me against?" Clark pressed, his eyes flickering to the screen that Danny was still pouring over intently.

Danny was silent, eyes once more focused entirely on the screen. Instead it was Lionel who broke the silence. "I have a strong sense that this warning I have been entrusted to pass on is related to something far more terrible even than the virus."

"Do you have access to the lab?" Clark asked, eyes flicking back to Lionel as Chloe closed up the book.

"No, I don't know where it is." The elder billionaire replied.

"Well, we better hope we can find it before Brainiac completes his plans." Danny supplied, his eyes fixed on the screen as his face drew into a deep frown.

Chloe came to stand over his shoulder. "You finished the analysis?" She asked, her manicured hand resting gently on Danny's shoulder.

Danny gulped, his eyes briefly meeting hers before he looked over at Clark. "Yeah." He answered carefully. "It's predictable, but there's some words that show up more than most. Three symbols repeated thirty two times." The boy said, releasing a drawn breath. His blue eyes stayed fixed on Clarks as he turned the computer screen around.

Clark's eyes widened as he looked from the screen to Danny's drawn face. Both Chloe and Lionel tried to catch his gaze, but his eyes remained fixed on his cousin; the only other person in the world who could understand the true meaning of this warning.

"What's it say?" Chloe asked, her voice laced with curious concern as she glanced non-comprehendingly at the screen.

Clark frowned, finally tearing his eyes away from Danny's fearful bright blue ones. He released his breath slowly, calming himself as much as possible before he had to verbalise the warning that had so stunned his cousin. Three glyphs, dark black against the stark white of the screen; three words which sent a dark shiver down his spine. A minute had passed before he could bring himself to speak, and when he did his voice was heavy and dark.

Three words; so simple and so damning. "'Zod is coming.'"

* * *

><p>AN; Seasons Greetings! Happy belated Christmas and a Happy New Year!<p>

Sorry for the late update, I've been... travelling. 16 hours by car to my mum's parent's house for Christmas day and then another 5 to my dad's parents' house for their anniversary. Plus spending time with the family... yeah.

It took forever to figure out what Danny was gonna give Clark for his birthday; I went through everything from a plaid shirt to a ghostly artefact to the Thermos before I settled on motorbike parts.

Thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing, I really do love hearing from you and you have my deepest gratitude.

'Till next time,

Bluerose


	34. Pathogen

Chapter 33

Pathogen

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Danny sighed, squeezing his eyes shut tight against the morning light piercing through his curtains. Both he and Clark had been pulling late nights for the past week looking for a sign of Lex's lab, but they hadn't been able to find it. Part of the problem in that regard was that apparently the GIW had been much more commercial of late. Danny had been honestly surprised to find evidence of anti-ghost technology at LuthorCorp Plaza, but had accepted it nonetheless. But apparently 'LuthorCorp' wasn't the only company to invest in that kind of protection. It added time they didn't have to the search, which got larger every day as they found more and more labs owned by the LuthorCorp conglomeration.

He ruffled his hair, pressing a tired hand to his lips as he covered up a yawn. Sleepily he pulled himself out of the bed and made his way to the bathroom. Generally he was unaffected by late nights and early mornings; he'd had to do that for two years straight back in Amity Park. But he'd gotten out of the habit here, and was paying for it now that he was trying to do it again. Even he couldn't survive on two hours sleep a night for long, and he'd been pushing himself to keep searching when his Kryptonian cousin had been forced to throw in the towel himself.

But it was easier than his nightmare filled sleeping. Of late he'd been dreaming about Brainiac, and every horrendous act the man could commit. And the truth was he was terrified. Brainiac had been able to entrap him, and while Danny had eventually been able to escape, the ease with which the man had been able to trap him was deeply concerning. And the trouble with that sort of confinement was that he had no sense of time. If Brainiac caught him again, months or even years could pass by before he'd be able to escape. And in that time anything could happen. And with what the man had inferred...

Sometimes Danny really hated his ghostly nature. Vlad had exploited his obsession against him, and now Brainiac wanted to too. The difference between them, however, was tremendous. While Danny knew that Vlad had only ever acted on selfish motivations, the man at least cared for him as a person on _some_ level. Brainiac didn't. Brainiac was a form of highly sophisticated artificial intelligence, ruled by logic and loyal only to Zod. And in brutal honesty, Danny knew his obsession could be exploited only too easily. It was part of the reason that he tried to avoid listening to the news, why he always tried to carefully analyse what people were saying.

He'd learned the hard way how significantly newscasts could pull on his core, almost forcing him to go and help even when he _couldn't_. After a while even some of Sam's rebellious and revolutionary speeches had started affecting him in that way; and at first that had been debilitating. It had been physically painful in a way he hadn't understood until Clockwork had taken the time to explain why. But back then he was protecting people from the malevolent ghosts enough to compensate the difference, his core soothed by the lives he saved where he actually could make a difference. And yet, for all that his obsession could pull him into greater strengths; it could just as easily be used to turn him into a weapon. And it sounded like that was exactly what Brainiac planned; to turn him into _Zod's_ weapon.

Danny made his way down the stairs and flicked the kettle on. His aunt would be coming downstairs soon, but Danny didn't feel up to preparing a full breakfast today. He still felt a little floaty; in fact that was probably another reason for his current weariness. He'd been really struggling to keep his new mist power – or was it a form? – under control, but the sensation of being in that state of in between was a lot more seductive than he cared to admit aloud. Over the weekend he'd spent close to six hours stuck like that, unable and unwilling to find his way back to reality right up until he'd literally exhausted his core and fallen back to his human form.

"Morning Danny." Aunt Martha called as she walked down the stairs. Danny blinked, still trying to clear his foggy thoughts before he was able to reply with his own greeting.

"You look... tired." His aunt commented as she put two slices of bread in the toaster. "What is it that's keeping you and Clark up all hours of the night?" His aunt pressed wearily, pouring herself a cup of coffee and taking a seat at the island bench.

"A project of Lex's." Danny answered, too tired to filter his own responses. "Lionel told Clark and me about it a week ago, and even the _best_ thing that could come of it is enough to have me worried."

"Have you talked to Lex about it?" His aunt asked, taking a sip of her coffee as Danny poured himself an orange juice.

"Haven't had the chance." Danny admitted. "I'm still trying to acclimatise to a new power, and I wasn't able to see him on the weekend." Danny sighed as he took the seat opposite her. "And lately I feel like he's blocking me out, not that it's not unexpected but it makes it hard."

His aunt smiled sadly at him. "I know it's hard, but I think you help him more than you give yourself credit for."

"But not enough to make him stop making stupid choices." Danny sighed, looking at the orange liquid in his glass. "All this year I've been trying to show Lex caution. I mean, some of the things he wants to do are really good, end world famine type good. But somehow..." Danny trailed, rubbing his knuckles into his scalp. "Somehow he always seems to lose sight of the good and twist it to something dark. I don't want him to end up like Vlad did, but I don't know to help him."

His aunt sighed. "Clark said something similar a few years ago." She admitted, shaking her head. "From what I understand, Lex hasn't had the easiest of lives and to a large degree I thing Clark was his first friend. He's probably wary of trusting anyone again, let alone someone related to Clark."

She frowned tiredly, suddenly looking much older than she was. "I loved Jonathan with my whole heart, but his view of the world was very black and white. Clark sees that way too, and while I'm glad it helps him find his path, it does leave little room for the shades of grey. I grew up in the city, and as you know, your grandfather wanted all us girls to follow him into law. I know there's not much out there that falls into black or white, even if it's easier to think that way."

His aunt met his eyes sadly, deep understanding passing through them. "What Lex did, in Clark's eyes was unforgivable, and Clark kept finding more until he felt he needed to give up. I'm glad, in a way that you've tried to help Lex despite that. We all need friends, even if people like Lex try to deny it." She paused, her eyes sad as they stared into his. "But at the same time I do worry. I know what he's capable of, what lengths he goes to in finding the truth. While I sometimes think Clark may have given up on him too quickly, it was for good reason. And in this case it's possible that even the hand of friendship isn't enough."

"I know." Danny admitted wearily. "But at the same time I don't want to give up on him. Our lives are governed by the choices we make, and I'm not gonna take one away from Lex until he's made his decision."

"So talk to him." His aunt encouraged. "He may not tell you everything, but you might at least find out why he's doing what he is."

"Today?" Danny asked, marginally surprised by his aunt's council.

"Why not?" His aunt suggested "You and Clark are both running yourselves into the ground; maybe actually talking to Lex will help instead of sneaking around him."

Danny bit back the urge to say they weren't sneaking, knowing that it would be a lie. Instead he simply nodded, acknowledging the wisdom in his aunt's advice. They knew something about the project, Lionel had told them that Lex was gathering some of the world's most potent viruses together and had expounded that he was likely trying to produce some form of super-virus. So Danny phoned the young billionaire up, managing to arrange a meeting for later in the day.

Danny sighed as he went back to his musings. From the way Lionel had explained it, as well as what Danny himself had decrypted from the files they'd copied off of Lionel's computers, Danny could understand the military applications. Instead of obliterating an enemy with fire-power and causing ridiculous amounts of collateral damage, you use careful applications of a virus to wipe out key leaders of the oppositions force. With them gone there's nothing to lead the enemy and the conflict is resolved without mass endangerment of life. And that was just the first use he'd thought of.

But at the same time, the concept was mind-bogglingly horrendous, and with Brainiac being the main instigator for the project Danny feared that nothing good could come of it. Something like that could eliminate mankind; maybe even kill _Clark_ if 'Milton Fine' had provided the right toxins to Lex. In fact, probably the only thing that Danny had going for him in this situation was the fact that Fine couldn't understand what he was.

It was clear, from what limited discussion they'd had that Brainiac now believed him to be a full ghost. One of the side benefits of being a scientific impossibility Danny supposed. The existence of a halfa wasn't logical, couldn't fit within the confines of reason, and so Danny had that level of protection; Brainiac literally couldn't comprehend what he was by virtue of being artificial intelligence and thus bound by reason. No doubt he was super-intelligent, and had processing power far superior to anything mankind had ever developed. But Danny's existence was like adding two and two together to make five.

Not that that was a big help; it could only assist in as much as Brainiac would continue to underestimate him. But Danny knew that with the oncoming threat of Zod they'd all have to be on their toes. Danny just couldn't figure out the man's plans. Creating a virus, a super-virus like that _was_ a good military tactic, but it didn't make sense. General Zod was a military man, and would need to have soldiers to serve him. A virus that would wipe out all humanity would leave the General the leader of an empty army.

No, there had to be a bigger game that Brainiac was playing, a different end goal than the pieces Lionel had given them depicted. Danny got the distinct impression that he was trying to play chess on a Chinese go board. The moves being played around him were so complex, changing too quickly to follow, and he worried that he was letting pieces slip through the cracks. Danny shook his head, deciding that maybe what he needed most at the moment was an hour or so just to fly and clear his head.

_Line Break_

Lex sighed as his father strode arrogantly into his office. Judging by the imperious scowl on the grey haired man's face, he'd one more been judged and been found lacking by his paternal figure. Lex, however, no longer really cared for the judgements of his father; the skills that the man had forced upon him had taught him only to pursue greatness. While on one level he acknowledged his father's influence in laying the foundations for his current life, the opinions and whims of his father no longer had any sway over him.

"I have pressing matters to attend to, Dad." Lex wearied. After all, young Danny Fenton had asked to come over, and after such a prolonged silence from the boy he was keen to find out what was going on. Plus there was the fact that it was always entertaining to converse with the younger boy, much more so than the authoritative figure before him. "What's so important?"

"Obviously something you've got cooking in Honduras." His father replied directly, rather bluntly so far as he went. Usually his father would circle around the issue for much longer before actually stating what he wanted. "Although I doubt it's the banana daiquiris. You've been racking up quite a lot of frequent flier miles, son."

"Challenging upper management often leads to a bout of unemployment." Lex dismissed. He was hopeful that he could manoeuvre his father into letting the subject drop, but it seemed an unlikely pursuit.

His father scowled, pressing his lips together tightly. "The welfare of your workers is the least of my concerns. You're involved with Milton Fine." Lex raised a sceptical eyebrow, but his father proceeded unhindered. "I know that he's been smuggling some of the deadliest viruses in the world into this country with your help."

"Well, don't worry, Dad." Lex smiled, hearing the derisive condescension in his own voice. It was no less than the man deserved, and he himself had heard it from his father far too often. But in this case his father was pushing into his private dealings, something that they had come to a mutual agreement not to do. "We're not gonna put them in any Halloween candy."

"You're extremely nonchalant for a man whose collection of microorganisms could wipe out more than half of this country." His father replied, riposting the condescension back at him.

Lex waved a hand dismissively. "It's under control." He commented.

"Your business partner's a man who seems able to appear at opposite ends of the Earth simultaneously." His father retorted scathingly, almost mocking. "How much control do you have over him?"

"Your intel is impressive, but incomplete." Lex replied, his eyes icy as he surveyed his father. It wasn't unexpected, per se, for his father to have found out that little nugget, but his persistence in digging into the project was not wanted in the slightest.

"Shut the operation down, Lex." His father demanded. "Shut it down now. Wherever you're incubating these viruses, you need to destroy them. Milton Fine embodies a threat greater than you appear to realize."

Lex shook his head, a smile flitting onto his face as he raised his eyebrows towards his father. "You taught me. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

"This is one enemy you don't know." His father bit back. "Not knowing who you're in bed with can make for a very uncomfortable awakening."

"Well, I'll present that nugget to my appointment when they ask why I'm late." Lex replied coldly as he walked out of his office. He made his way through the labyrinthine hallways that led to his main library, calculating that his father would take his cold shoulder for the dismissal that it was. It was something his father had never seemed to understand; all those years ago he'd sent Lex away to this small town to grow up. Now he had, and yet the man still thought he had any sway in how he led his life. Now he was the one utilising the dramatic exit to signify a close to the discussion.

Sure enough five minutes later he got a call from the head of security saying that his father had left and that Mr Fenton was waiting at the front gate.

"Would you like him escorted to your office Mr Luthor?" The feminine voice asked over the intercom.

"No thank you." Lex replied, pulling a book off the shelf. "Today I'd like to meet him in the main library."

"Of course, Mr Luthor, he shall be there momentarily." The demure voice responded over the speaker. And four minutes later a dark head of hair peeked through the stained-glass doors of the library.

"Danny." Lex smiled in greeting, setting his book down on the rosewood that sat in the centre of the room.

"Hi Lex." The boy replied almost sheepishly. "How've you been?"

"Busy," Lex replied, studying the boy. "Although not as busy as you I'd hazard since you seem to have dropped off the map these last few weeks."

Danny bit his lip, taking the proffered sofa seat as Lex gestured towards the two Victorian seats that encircled the singular coffee table at the side of the room. "You could say that." The boy replied tiredly. Lex raised an eyebrow, challenging the boy slightly. "Tests." He continued. "Exams and tests, and then more tests, and then different tests, and then an old acquaintance decided to stop by and give me another test."

"Sounds... testing." Lex replied, and Danny just smiled exhaustedly. He was curious about the nature of some of those tests, and the old acquaintance. After all, Danny was being very vague about his statements, not once did he say what the tests were for.

"I'm really glad I'm graduating this year, I don't think I could handle any more state mandated testing." He commented, leaning back into the chair as one of the staff brought in a couple of coffees.

"You do realise that college relies on exams as well, especially in the junior years." Lex replied, taking a sip of his coffee.

Danny sighed ruefully. "I haven't applied for any. By the time all the paperwork went through for my being skipped ahead it was already too late. And besides, I'm not sure what I'd actually _do_ in college."

"You could go into law." Lex suggested, noting the boy's way with words and persuasive character. "Or politics."

Danny scoffed. "Yeah, I'd really rather not. Laws are rarely fair other than to the people who make them, and I don't really want to have to deal with politics for the rest of my life."

"You do realise that everything is politics." Lex pointed out. Although, it was interesting to hear Danny actually present that particular perspective. He was after all nephew to the current state senator, and also to honest-to-goodness, law abiding Jonathan Kent.

"Eh," Danny shrugged. "Aristotle may have said that man is a political animal, that doesn't mean that I want to deal with it every minute."

"Fair point." Lex conceded. "Then where do you see yourself in five years?"

"I..." Danny paused, his eyebrows creased. "I think I'd like to have a bit of certainty about the present before I really start thinking about the future..." the boy trailed off distractedly. "Probably the only thing that I do know is I don't want to go into ghost hunting."

"Really?" Lex pressed curiously, stunned by the admission. It seemed that of late the ghost presence was on the rise, the least of which being the yellow alert issued earlier in the month when a ghost attacked the school. "I'll admit that still surprises me. After all, your parents were the leading edge of the field for a good many years, and the ghosts haven't exactly gone away."

"I know, but just because that's what they did with their lives, it doesn't mean I want to follow in those footsteps." Danny replied, but he paused briefly to look at Lex. "Usually this is the point in the discussion where you ask if I'll let you look at their patents."

"It is," Lex replied with a small knowing smile. "But after this long I know you well enough to realise that you're going to be stubborn about it."

"It's not stubborn..." Danny replied slightly defensively. "But I do know that the there's other people selling their own stuff, so I feel no need to saturate the market."

Lex set his coffee cup down. "You do realise that the only provider is the government mandated branch of the Guys in White, and they're only selling defensive equipment, nothing offensive."

"I figured as much." Danny retorted, but there was a dark look in his blue eyes. "The GIW would want to keep their main artillery out of civilian hands where a ghost could potentially get their hands on it. But even what they've sold to the public is blatantly obvious to anyone in the know."

Danny pressed his lips together, clearly considering something. "You know, you got ripped off on the shield at LuthorCorp Plaza."

"How did you know there was a shield on the building at all?" Lex asked.

Danny scoffed, "Please, Lex. I grew up in a household where ghost inventions were everywhere, I recognise all the tells; same thing for the hidden panel behind that bookcase. If you know what you're looking for, hidden compartments and components aren't so hidden." Lex frowned looking over at the bookcase in question. It was for the most part ordinary, but there was a false-book on one of the shelves that opened the panel to his Warrior Angel collection.

"Impressive." Lex commented. "So how exactly did I get ripped off?"

"They sold you the '04 model." Danny replied. "It's designed to detect ectoplasmic presences, but doesn't distinguish between power levels. I'd be willing to bet that since you installed it you've gotten a lot of false alerts 'cos of all the ambient non-corporeal ghosts that just exist normally."

"You're saying they have something better available." Lex pressed.

Danny shrugged. "It's nothing compared to what mom and dad had, theirs could physically stop ghosts from coming in. But from the GIW, the '05 model was a bit better. They fixed that glitch, but sort of narrowed the spectrum of what they could find top and tails. It'll detect most of them, but the higher level ghosts won't show up properly. Although I gotta ask... what's with shielding all the labs?"

Lex frowned suspiciously, but deliberately kept his tone level. "You noticed?"

"Dude, walking through Metropolis I can't help but notice which buildings have shielding around them, and when all of them turn out to be LuthorCorp subsidiaries, it sort of lights up a big pointing arrow."

"Pointing arrow to what?" Lex challenged, not precisely worried, but taking a cautious risk. He had admittedly thought of informing Danny about the project some time ago, considering that his insights tended to be astute if not accurate. The boy was well additionally attuned to extra-terrestrial threats, albeit inter-dimensional travellers rather than beings from the farthest reaches of space. Lex was, however, curious to see how far the boy's reasoning went, and what conclusions he came to on his own.

"Well, looking at what is there and what isn't..." Danny began, eyes thoughtful and calculating as the boy vocalised his thoughts. "You have shields on a number of labs in the city, but not on the fertiliser plant here nor on the offices for Pleasant Meadows or Rickman Industries in Smallville. More than that... you've shielded Star Labs and a branch of Cadmus Labs, but not Cyntechnics, and you've protected Metron Pharmaceuticals, but not Metro Tech."

Lex cocked his head slightly, seeing the gears moving inside the boy's head. This was part of the reason he enjoyed talking with the boy in the first place; Danny noticed things and fit puzzle pieces together in interesting ways. Plus there was the fact that he was not easy to manipulate, making him a unique variable in his current equation. "So what does it all point to?" Lex pressed curiously.

"Well, eliminating variables one by one..." Danny led, counting fingers off as he went. "You're not developing something specifically agricultural, otherwise you'd be utilising the resource available here in the fertiliser plant. And it's not strictly commercial or in housing, otherwise you'd probably be trying to protect Pleasant Meadows and Rickman's."

Danny paused, looking him curiously in the eyes. Lex was careful to keep his face neutral, despite the high levels of curiosity that the boy's logic inspired. "The fact that you've temporarily neglected Cyntechnics and Metro Tech tells me that your main point of interest isn't in technological developments at the moment. So I'm left with Cadmus, Star Labs and Metron. And given what I've gleaned from past projects with Cadmus and Star labs, coupled with the fact that you're working closely with a pharmaceutical company... I'm guessing that you're looking into something to do with pathogenics, probably some kind of biological weapon if I understand of your current business direction correctly."

Lex pressed his lips together, slowly clapping his hands together twice. "Well done, that's a surprisingly accurate deduction."

"So what do you actually plan to do with it?" Danny asked with thinly veiled curiosity

"Ah Danny," Lex replied. "Just because you figured that much out, doesn't mean I'm going to hand over the rest. You and I both know that's bad business. What I will tell you is that the main aim is defensive rather than offensive, and that the main target is extraneous to this world."

"Aww, and here I thought I'd earned a reward." Danny bemoaned sarcastically. "Am I allowed to ask why you started the project then? I mean, it's a pretty big jump to go from something like the Leviathan to this."

"And you did put forward a valid point about an enemy commandeering a weapon like that." Lex replied. He wasn't about to mention Fine's involvement, but there were certain facts that would probably placate the boy's curiosity, as well as another area of inquiry which had been troubling him for some time. "However after some consideration I got thinking. Like with the settlers bringing in new viruses to the Native Americans in the sixteenth century, it is possible that the invading forces we find ourselves encountering could be a threat on a simply biological level."

"So you're planning to what, kill them before they kill us?" Danny asked incredulously. "Lex, what sort of invading forces are you even talking about, ghosts? They're literally made of energy and anything that affects them is incompatible on a biological level with humans. And if you're talking about the meteor showers, then any adverse viruses or diseases would have been seen shortly after the first shower back in '89. All we've seen is mutations caused by the radiation from the meteor rocks."

Well, that had answered Lex's curiosity about ghosts. It was roughly the same as what the common para-physiological science proposed, but hearing it from Danny was a more reliable source since he had genuine experience in the field. However his concerns could not be so easily dismissed. "The rocks themselves were exposed to cleansing radiation on their inter-stellar journey here, not to mention the heat they endured on entry to Earth. But I'm sure you know that during the second shower, actual living beings were encountered. They are the main threat I'm concerned about."

The boy rubbed the back of his neck. "I dunno, Lex. I get where you're coming from, but I can still pick a couple of holes in your theory. I mean, whatever it is you throw at them, who's to say they're not immune?"

"I'm not counting on that." Lex replied carefully. "The project is aimed at protecting humanity against that sort of threat."

"So you're not creating a virus but a... vaccine?" Danny guessed, stumbling across Lex's the true aim of the project but not the magnitude of his redesign from Fine's original plans. He wasn't intending on showing Danny the lab, that privilege was reserved for someone else, but Lex was still curious to hear the younger boy's interpretation of this piece of information.

"Of sorts." Lex replied, swirling the last sip of coffee around in the bottom of his cup. "The theory is to gather the world's most deadly viruses together, and use them all to generate the ultimate vaccine."

Danny shook his head, blue eyes flashing in dismissal. "Still wouldn't work. If your main defence against an alien virus is a vaccine, then how do you know you can counter an alien virus? Even if you were able to account for every single virus on Earth, and could cure every single one, it's unlikely that you could cure an alien strain without experiencing an example of it yourself. And even if you did... viruses change too quickly for you to counter it. It's possible that in trying to create a vaccine like that you'd end up exposing the world to a bigger threat. I mean look at something like the SARS virus, it started off in animal carriers and mutated so quickly that it swept over half the world."

Lex hummed thoughtfully. These were repercussions he'd originally thought of and dismissed, but the way Danny voiced them, they suggested one or two revisions to the project. "You're worried about alien strains developing immunities to the vaccine?"

"I'm worried that if your theoretical invaders did bring an insidious disease with them, it would be safer to counter it once they're in contact with us than to force the viral strain to become immune to the vaccine before it can be studied. All it would take is for it to find an animal carrier and then we'd be stuck with it forever."

"That's very utilitarian of you." Lex commented drily, putting the empty coffee cup on the table between them.

"It's practical." Danny replied. "It's easier to isolate a disease once it's been encountered than to let it disperse and mutate. Start curing the weaker strains and then the mutations would be easier to counter."

Lex nodded, pressing his lips together thoughtfully. Danny left soon after that, claiming that he needed to head home. But Lex had a lot to think about; he headed back towards his office, pulling the files out of his desk. Danny had raised some interesting concerns about the project, and while a week ago he'd been informed of his completion, there were elements that could do with some reconsideration given the discussion he'd just had.

Lex settled back into his chair, studying over the project files. There was a lot he needed to think over, and one more person that he wanted to share his thoughts with.

_Line Break_

Lana rested her head against the helicopter window as she looked down on the Metropolis skyline. It was dark, the sun having gone while they were travelling, but when she'd arrived at Lex's he'd already had a helicopter waiting. She sent a fleeting glance to the billionaire in question, earmuffs firmly placed over his ears to drown out the noise of the helicopter. He hadn't precisely explained where they were going, but the bright lights of the city told her most of what she'd needed to know.

She'd arrived at the mansion late in the afternoon after speaking with Lois. With everything that had been going on lately, she'd proven to be a great friend, and a particularly unbiased ear. Lana was happy to be in a relationship with Lex; the man was supportive and trusted her with everything. There was no doubt between them like there had been with Clark. But at the same time, any relationship with Lex was never simple, and Lois had been particularly supportive in helping her sort out some of the issues in the wake of her still existent regrets about Clark. Lex was supportive, and he trusted her implicitly, and that was what Lana needed most right now.

'_I've been working on something'_ he'd confessed, eyes sparkling in his curiously excited way when she'd taken her seat next to him in his office at the mansion. _'Something bigger than either of us.' _And then he'd asked how deep she was willing to go, in pursuit of the truth and in trusting him. Of course there had been only one answer.

And so she'd found herself on a helicopter direct to Metropolis, the whirling blades carrying her away less like a fairytale princess and more like an illicit accomplice as they flew over the darkened streets of the city. The helicopter slowed down, carrying them to the roofs of a series of smaller buildings on the dockside of Suicide Slums. She felt the light thud as the helicopter landed, and felt Lex's warm hand guide hers out of the cabin and towards the door on the roof.

They walked down a flight of metallic steps, footsteps echoing loudly in the sterilised white hallways. On either side of the narrow corridor there were frosted doors, but Lex led them both open, through an archway and down to a subterranean basement.

"What is this place?" She gasped, taking in her first look at the room. Blue white lights hung down from a high ceiling, illuminating a laboratory like expanse. Scientists in white lab coats hunched over metallic lab tables and bubbling beakers, high voltage machines and cabinets marked 'Warning' or 'Danger' lined the walls. On one side there was an illuminated row of samples, all sorts of organic and nonorganic tissue on glass platelets. From the corner of her eye Lana caught sight of a radiation cabinet, and what looked like a cabinet filled with bottled samples and bright test-tubes.

"The future." Lex replied grandly, a hint of pride in his confident voice. "I'd like you to be by my side when it arrives."

Lana frowned before flicking through the Manilla file Lex had handed over her before they even left for Metropolis, studying the contents. "You've been collecting viruses?"

"The most deadly on the planet." Lex promptly replied.

Lana looked up at him, letting her concern come into her eyes. "What are you gonna do with them?"

"Change the world." He replied, turning around so that she could see the overwhelming certainty in his eyes. "Lana, we've been able to alter the viruses, transforming them into the ultimate vaccine." The man continued, walking over to a table and picking up a small vial of bluish liquid. One shot of this and theoretically you'd be protected from any disease that could be unleashed."

"Unleashed?" Lana pressed, closing the file as she continued staring at Lex. "By whom?"

"Well, according to Fine the CIA believes the black spacecraft might be the first of many." He admitted, an urgent note stealing into his eyes. "Listen, you need to keep this between the two of us. Even Fine doesn't know we're developing the vaccine here."

"I thought you two were working together." Lana replied, confused about Lex's change in attitude. "Why don't you trust him anymore?"

"Because I think he might be reporting back to something a little higher up." Lex replied, turning back to the table and picking up a piece of paper. He handed it to her, and Lana's eyes widened as she realised she was looking at a picture of the spaceship. Surrounded by leafy jungle, but Lana couldn't fail to recognise the rigid angles and steely menace of the ship that had landed nearly a year before in front of her.

"You found the ship?" She murmured, struggling to contain her shock.

"I was tracking Fine and he led me directly to it." Lex commented. "But that's not the intriguing part." He pulled a second photo out from behind the first, the only difference between the two being the presence of Milton Fine. The man was dressed in a strange skin-tight suit, but it was definitely the same man who Lex used to have such a good repour with. "These two photographs were taken a hundredth of a second apart. Where did he go?"

Lana blinked, her eyes flicking between the two time stamps. If what she was seeing was to be believed, then Fine had disappeared from the scene in less than the time it took to blink.

"Oh, my God. Do you think he came out of that ship like the others?"

"Well he's certainly not a ghost." Her bald-headed friend replied. "That's why I was going along with him. I thought I could buy some time to find his weakness. But I'm starting to think he doesn't have one."

Lana creased her brows together, recalling one specific event from that hellish day nearly a year ago. Lex's father had been nearly catatonic, but was spurting messages like a deluded prophet. However, one thing he'd said stood out before anything else. _'Their home is their poison'_. Lana looked up, meeting Lex firmly in the eyes as she squared her shoulders. "He might." She replied, searching his eyes for any sign of doubt and finding them lacking. "After the meteor shower, when I found your dad in that strange trance he grabbed me and he told me how to stop them."

Lana watched as Lex's concerned face morphed into something distinctly self assured, and found herself smiling at the thought that for once she wasn't going to be stuck playing damsel in distress. No, this time she would be personally involved in saving the world from the alien threat.

_Line Break_

Lex groaned, rubbing his head tiredly as he stared at the project files. The whole thing was giving him a headache, and while he knew it was worthwhile in the long run, there was so much he now realised needed to be done. His discussion with Danny had highlighted a few flaws that he had initially dismissed, and now it seemed he needed to do his best to rectify it, although the comment about being unable to perform sufficient tests without a native sample haunted him.

However the main cause of his current headache was Milton Fine. Lex was desperately trying to track down the man, now knowing beyond a doubt that the man was of extra-terrestrial origins. The small level of insurance was carefully tucked into his office drawer, and it would stay close to his person until the threat that Milton Fine entailed was nullified. However the man in question was ever elusive, only appearing at his own desire.

"Good evening, Mr. Luthor." Lex managed not to start as he heard the presumptuous tone of the man in question. "May I?" Fine asked as he walked across to Lex's small office bar.

"Please, help yourself." Lex replied negligently, watching as Fine poured two out two glasses of amber liquid into the crystal glasses. "Everybody else does."

Fine smiled at him, handing the second cup over to Lex before turning a studying eye to the liquid in his own glass. "Some say the toast came about by a man who feared that his drink had been poisoned." The brown haired man commented almost idly, if not for the undertones of insinuation in his voice. "But he was a quick-witted man. He joyfully clanked his mug with the mugs of his mates sloshing his lethal beverage into everyone's drink with cheer." Fine held his glass out, gently tapping the rim against Lex's own. "A simple tap then must be a sign of trust."

Lex sucked his teeth and set his glass aside. "I'm not really thirsty." He commented, evaluating the man in front of him

"I thought we had an agreement. You would inform me of the virus's progress." Fine paused for a moment, raising an expectant eyebrow. "But I seem to be shockingly cut out of the loop."

"A fact you've probably known for weeks." Lex replied drily. "Come on. You must have assumed I wouldn't inherently believe your CIA bluff."

"And that's why I chose you." Fine replied, and an almost _proud_ edge entered into the man's usually collected voice. "For your insatiable distrust and your propensity for covering all the bases."

"I'm sure you didn't waltz in here thinking I'd just roll over." Lex rebuffed.

Fine shook his head, a dark smile on his lips. "No, not you. Not without a bone."

Lex raised an eyebrow as he briefly cricked his neck. "I'll take the truth. I assure you the vaccine is processed and ready. But I'd be foolish to hand it over to someone whose agenda is still up for grabs."

"Lex, it's a vaccine." Fine scoffed. "What threat could it possibly pose?"

"Now, that's a question I've been asking myself for weeks." Lex replied calmly, his hand making its way to the drawer as he withdrew his insurance piece. The hunk of green meteor rock had been carefully stored in a lead lined box, but it sat comfortably in his hand as he pulled it out to rest in front of Milton Fine's pompous face. "I'm hoping this will help me get a few answers."

The rock glowed briefly, clearly reacting to something in the man's presence. But Fine's face was calm, all humour dropped to threatening seriousness. "Close." The man commented, forcing the meteor rock out of Lexes hand and rolling across his office floor. "But I'm not one of them. I was only made by them."

Suddenly Fine's fingers morphed, a metallic blade erupting from the flesh to press hard against Lex's neck. "Where's the vaccine?" The man demanded, and Lex gasped for breath.

"Kill me now, you'll never find out." Lex emitted, and took a deep breath as the blade withdrew.

"Which is why you are going to escort me to the lab and show me the product of _our_ project." Fine demanded. "Isn't that right, Mr Luthor?"

_Line Break_

Danny sighed as he flopped heavily upside down on the loft sofa. His head hung limply over the seat and his legs were crossed against the seat back. His discussion with Lex hadn't gotten him any closer to finding the where the lab actually was than he had been. All that had really come of it was _maybe_ giving the younger Luthor some doubts about what he was trying to do.

"Find anything?" Chloe's voice asked, and Danny cracked open a tired eye to look at her. From this angle she looked upside down, standing next to Clark at the top of the barn staircase.

"Nothing groundbreaking." Danny replied, flopping his head back against the seat cushion as both Chloe and Clark came to sit. "I only know that the project design is to make a vaccination, rather than a super-virus. But that doesn't tell us much more than we already knew."

"How'd you get him to tell you?" Clark asked from the desk chair opposite him, blue eyes stormy with something akin to contempt.

Danny shrugged; a gesture which he knew was drowned by the sofa cushions. "Made him think I was guessing, I mean, when you know what to look for there's a pattern in what he's doing. Lionel only told me that there was a pattern to look for."

"Clever." Chloe commented from beside him.

"Not enough." Danny sighed. "I mean, from the way he was speaking, the lab is in Metropolis so we can scratch Star City and Edge City off the list, but that still leaves about twenty potential places it could be."

"So why don't we just search them all?" Clark pressed, and although it wasn't in his face, Danny could feel the worry that was dripping off his cousin."

"Do you want to know the pattern I highlighted to Lex?" Danny asked irritably. "It was the ghost shields. In other words, I can't investigate without being observed, and his security system in all of those twenty labs would detect either of us if we used our powers pre-emptively. I don't want to take that risk."

Danny shook his head, swinging around so that he was sitting properly in the chair. "I think Lex was on to Brainiac, I mean he was talking about an imminent extra-terrestrial threat, and it's not like alien invaders from outer space arrive every day."

"That's a pretty big leap." Chloe replied. "Are you sure?"

"I can only go off what I can sense." Danny replied. "And what my gut tells me. I mean, talking to Lex is sometimes like talking to Vlad, but that's what it seems like."

"So Fine tricked Lex into making a virus/vaccine," Clark mused aloud. "And now Lex knows that Fine, Brainiac, is from Krypton. Then what?"

"Fine still needs Lex." Danny remarked. "For whatever reason, he chose Lex for this project. If he just needed the vaccine, he could have conned anyone, but he specifically targeted Lex."

"But now Lex knows about Fine, so doesn't everything go up in smoke?" Chloe interrupted.

Danny shook his head, remembering all his dealings with Vlad. Knowing what Brainiac was wouldn't make Lex any safer, in fact probably now he was in more danger, especially if Brainiac knew that Lex knew. In his head he was trying to run parallels with anything he'd experienced, anything Clockwork had taught him, but he kept coming up with half-baked ideas that didn't make any sense. "Brainiac would have accounted for the possibility that Lex would find out, probably even planned for it."

"So we're back at needing to find the lab and destroy it before Fine gets to it." Clark sighed.

"Seems like it." Danny commented.

"And neither of us knows where to look." Clark replied, his voice filled with discouraged exhaustion.

"I think we know someone who does." Chloe commented, looking between the two of them. "Lana."

Things sped up from there, Clark raced out of the barn, probably to storm the campus in Metropolis to find out what Lana knew. Danny, knowing that Clark's reconnaissance skills were exactly zero sped after him. Normally he would have teleported, but knowing how tenuous his control of his mist form was, and knowing how similar it felt to teleporting, he had to run the whole way. He didn't even switch to his ghost form as he ran, hating the fact that his super-speed was not as fast as Clark's was on the best of days.

Cursing his luck, he raced through the familiar path to Chloe and Lana's shared dormitory invisibly, but froze when he saw Lana and Lois standing frozen in the doorway. "Smooth one, Smallville." He heard Lois comment, and Danny took the opportunity to slip unnoticed into the room. Clark wouldn't see him unless he switched to x-ray vision, but with his focus stuck firmly on the girls it was unlikely Clark would even notice he was there.

"There's something I have to talk to you about." Clark defended, his voice sounding weak in his shock at getting caught. "Look."

"How did you get in here?" Lana accused.

Lois bit her lip anxiously, saying that she thought she heard a keg being tapped before slipping out of the room. Danny didn't blame her, he would have left himself given the painfully tense atmosphere, but they needed to find the lab, and that had to take priority.

"Lana, I realize I shouldn't be going through your stuff but I think you're involved in something extremely dangerous." Clark urged nervously. Danny bit back a sigh and invisibly rifled through the papers on the desk. Neither of them would notice, not when he'd left the top layer undisturbed so he could look through the bottom ones. And Danny quickly realised which lab Lex's project was in.

Turning back to the two, Danny noted that Lana's gaze had morphed into an icy glare. "Are you worried I'm involved in it or that I'm involved in it with Lex?"

"No." Clark defended. "Lana, this has nothing to do with my feelings. Lex doesn't know what he's gotten himself into. Neither do you."

"You break into my place and you expect me to believe anything that comes out of your mouth!" Lana accused, arms crossed tightly across her chest.

"Lex is in trouble." Clark pressed, not realising just how deep his ship had already sunk. "And if you care about him at all, you'll tell me where that lab is. Before it's too late."

"Get out." Lana hissed between slitted teeth. "I was willing to put up with the lies and the deceit once, but this time you've gone too far. Leave, Clark. Now."

And Clark left, Danny flitting behind him as his dark-haired cousin regretfully left the building. The elder man's shoulders were slumped, and weariness dripped off him like a cloak. Danny would have said something, but he got the distinct impression that Clark wouldn't want any emotional support just at the moment. Not from him.

"Now we know where the lab is." Danny commented, slipping into visibility once Clark had moved beyond the campus boundaries. He deliberately avoided the confrontation with Lana, knowing that Clark would want some time to deal with that on his own before he spoke to anyone about it.

Beside him Clark gritted his teeth and nodded, picking up the pace once more as both of them changed directions, heading towards the edges of Suicide Slums. Danny shook his head as they ran, knowing that this time he wouldn't be able to bring Clark out of his emotional tailspin. All he could do was wait and hope, he couldn't be the one to kick Clark out of his stupor again, but with a task to do and something to set his mind to, he had to trust that Clark's emotions wouldn't interfere with what they were trying to do.

All Danny could do was hope that when they got to the lab it wouldn't be too late.

_Line Break_

Lex squared his shoulders as he led Milton Fine into the lab. His one tactical advantage had been stripped from him, and he had yet to come up with his next move. The man in front of him was of extra-terrestrial origins, that much was clear. And he likely possessed the same powers demonstrated by his predecessors immediately following the second meteor shower. However, Lana had highlighted that those two were able to be stopped by fragments of meteor rock.

Fine did not display that weakness. And with the confession that he was _made_ by 'them', had demonstrated that he would be a much harder opposition to overcome. He was clearly some advanced form of Artificial Intelligence, and Lex would have found that development quite remarkable, if it weren't for the fact that the man was all but holding him hostage.

"Impressive." Fine commented conversationally as they entered the room. It was empty now, the lab technicians having long since returned to their homes for the evening. "Looks like I underestimated your willingness to tackle a non-profit venture."

"Well, LuthorCorp doesn't take the threat of an alien Armageddon lightly." Lex replied, keeping his voice level as he watched Fine pick through the various experiments left overnight on the lab tables. "You were never gonna create a vaccine for humans, were you?"

"Is that what you think?" Fine replied, turning around to face Lex with an almost smug smile on his face.

"It was gonna be your way of protecting extraterrestrial guests when they arrive and unleash some horrible disease on us." Lex accused, still keeping his voice blank.

Fine's eyes were carefully neutral, sparkling faintly in the pale lab light. "So you went behind my back and mass-produced the vaccine for mankind."

"I wanted to give my people a fighting chance before you got your dirty hands on it." Lex commented acerbically.

"I applaud your noble efforts to protect your species." Fine replied, moving over towards the bench where the primary vaccine store was kept. Lex couldn't see clearly past his turned back, but he got the impression that Fine had taken out a syringe. The man moved slightly, and Lex saw the man inject _something_ into one of the bluish vials.

"Unfortunately, it's all based on faulty assumptions." The man drawled, turning around to face Lex, the vial now filled with the almost black liquid of this new concoction. Fine picked up a jet injector, and loaded the dark canister into the empty slot.

Lex took a step back, but found his wrist locked in an iron grip as he tried to pull away. Panic seized him, in a way that he hadn't felt in many years. His own eyes widened as he met Fine's cold brown orbs, seeing the malicious edge they had taken on. "I never intended to mass-produce the vaccine. One dose is all I ever needed." And Lex bit back a scream as he felt the sharp prick of the needle, fire burning through his veins as the _vaccine _did its work.

"Let the rest of the world find its own cure." Fine's dark voice finished, and Lex's eyes rolled, falling limply to the floor as he danced on the edge of consciousness. He heard a sharp smash, and white lights danced on the edge of his vision as he heard electrical sparks dance through the air. He heard the sound of glass shattering, and felt soft pricks against his skin as the glass landed. But he couldn't see, and already the sound of the warning siren was fading as he struggled to stay conscious.

A chill washed over him, and it was as though he could feel the injection moving through his body. Beneath his skin his veins trembled, the foreign sensation of beetles crawling inside each and every blood vessel. He railed against the sensation as it drowned out the world around him, dimming the senses until all he could feel was the inescapable creeping as the injection made its way towards his heart. A soft gasp escaped him when it reached the muscle, drowning him in an uncomfortable heat, the crawling blood in his veins turning to fire as the injection raced through him, agonised him, changed him.

His eyes flickered briefly open, giving him just enough time to note a glowing figure, but between the electrical sparks and the pain tearing through him, he couldn't tell if he even recognised the man standing amongst the turmoil. The last thing he registered before he lost his battle with unconsciousness was a pair of bright green orbs hovering just above him, and then everything faded into darkness as the pain consumed him.

_Line Break_

Clark scowled as he forced his way into the lab. The whole room was a mess of sparking electricity and rippling flames, and it was clear that the whole building was quickly becoming unstable. Danny had shifted into his ghost form, and was walking through the bright sparks without concern. The boy paused as he reached the far side of the room, bending over to pick up a limp figure in a business suit. The man's head rolled to the side briefly, and Clark saw that it was none other than Lex Luthor.

Clark bit back a derisive snort. Once again Lex had been hurt by his own insatiable curiosity. It was times like this that Clark found it hardest to remember why he'd ever become friends with the man in the first place. Lex thought he held all the strings, but he'd been played even more thoroughly because of it. And now it was once more up to Clark and his cousin to pick up the pieces and make sure that Lex's foolishness didn't hurt anyone else.

"Looks like Brainiac got to Lex before we could." He heard Phantom call, his echoing voice bouncing impossibly through the electrical sparks and flaming explosions.

Clark grunted, watching as Phantom carried Lex safely out of the lab. It looked like he was left to finish the job they'd set out to do. He moved to the centre of the sparking lab, the bright flares not hurting him despite their violence. He took a deep breath and focused his eyes, sending forth a surging blaze of heat energy that turned the lab from a salvageable wreck to a flaming inferno. He raced out, meeting the glowing figure of his cousin.

"So what did Fine do to him?" Clark asked, gesturing towards the limp form of Lex in Phantom's arms. He was still mad at Lex, not only had he furthers the illicit machinations of Milton Fine, but he had endangered Lana in the process. And now, now Lana would have lost any trust she still had in him. Clark couldn't help the pooling resentment that swept through him, and in a way he couldn't help but feel that Lex's current predicament was down to his own blind foolishness.

Beside him Phantom sighed, pulling away from the ground as he started flying back towards Smallville. He was staying low to the ground, close enough that they could still talk if Clark ran beside him. "There's a reaction mark on his wrist." Phantom replied. "But whatever it did it's so low level that it's not detectably affecting his aura."

"Which means..." Clark prompted, briefly glancing at his cousin's face.

"I don't know." Phantom replied. "Given where they were, Brainiac could have just dosed him with the vaccine."

"But..." Clark pressed, hearing the doubt in his cousin's voice.

"But knowing who did it, Brainiac has something else up his sleeve." Phantom replied, a level of resentment in his voice that Clark didn't dare ask about.

They carried on in silence, Phantom's cloak billowing around him as they passed across the highway. Eventually they split off, Phantom carrying Lex off in the vague direction of the Luthor Mansion, and Clark heading back to the farm. It was late, the lights in the house were already off, but Clark's mind was still buzzing. Why, of all people, did Lex have to get Lana involved? Now she'd be just another target for Fine to pick off. Clark had tried to protect her from things like that, and he couldn't understand _why_ Lex couldn't at least do the same for someone he claimed to care for.

The night passed slowly, but Clark didn't get much sleep, tossing uncomfortably as heated thoughts raced through his angered mind. And once both Danny and his mom had headed out for the day he made his way to the Luthor Mansion, hoping to knock some sense into Lex's thick head. He squared his shoulders as he made his way past security; for some reason they never seemed to stop him despite how antagonistic his relationship with Lex was.

As he made his way through the hallways he heard the tail end of a conversation coming from Lex's office. It sounded as though Lex had used the morning to get checked over by a doctor, and almost regretfully he heard the doctor say that whatever Lex had been injected with, it hadn't left any adverse effects. In fact, the doctor commented that Lex was in better health than ever. Clark pushed his way into the room, holding the door open for the doctor as the man made his way out.

Clark sighed, some of the anger from the previous night washing out as he saw the fine lines of worry in Lex's eyes. Whatever else, Lex had gone through an ordeal, and Clark owed him a bit of empathy for the fear that Milton Fine had inspired. "Are you okay?" He asked gently.

"Yeah." Lex replied, meeting Clark's eyes from his spot near his desk. "You're actually not the person that I expected to see."

"Danny's in school." Clark replied. "He told me you'd been hurt."

"And I'm guessing my father told you about everything that happened at the lab." Lex surmised.

"You know, Lex," Clark commented "if you had listened to your father's warnings none of this would have happened."

Lex scoffed. "None of what? All the viruses were destroyed. And now LuthorCorp has a technology to create an extraordinary vaccine. Your cousin himself proposed several significant insights that could ensure the permanent protection of the human race."

"Lex, you were double-crossed." Clark countered bluntly. "Where's Fine right now?"

"I don't know." Lex confessed, and that was the crux of it. For all that Lex thought he was in control, this time he'd been used. "My operatives are scouring the globe. Clark, I was the good guy here. LuthorCorp spent over 10 million dollars producing that vaccine."

Clark shook his head and turned to leave, seeing that Lex wasn't going to listen to him. "One more thing, Clark." Lex's voice called from over his shoulder, and somehow sent a guilty tremble down his spine. "Lana called me."

Clark paused, turning around to face the steely stare of the man who had once been his friend. "I don't wanna hear you were rifling through her stuff like a crazy roommate again. If you want something from me, don't go running to Lana to find it. You really crossed the line."

Clark saw red; all his anger and betrayal and pain surging to the tip of his tongue. "All those years we were friends. Were you just waiting for me to step aside so you could swoop in and make your move?" He accused.

"I don't know, Clark." Lex rebuked, his subtly threatening tone giving way to castigation. "All those years you told Lana you loved her, were you just waiting to walk away and break her heart?"

Then the man had the indecency to sigh, and Lex's voice became, not soft, but coldly sympathetic. "Look there's a natural tendency to blame the person who's replaced you. I get that. But I didn't take Lana from you. You lost her all by yourself."

Clark bit his teeth and looked at the ground, unable to meet Lex in the eyes. For all that he was mad at Lex, for all that the dissolute billionaire had done; there was an element of truth in that statement. So Clark turned and walked away, knowing that anything he said would be a mask for his own insufficiencies. And while he did know that Lex needed a good talking down, he wasn't in a good position to give it. Maybe Danny could, but the days of Clark serving as Lex's conscience were well and truly gone.

Clark sighed, realising that in his distraction he'd made his way to the barn loft. He sat heavily down, hearing the groan of tired support beans as the old sofa strained to take his weight. Lately he seemed to be digging himself into bigger and bigger holes with everyone around him, and he wasn't sure whose advice he was supposed to trust.

Lionel Luthor had come out of nowhere, somehow bearing a Kryptonian voice and alerting all of them to Milton Fine's plans. That action in itself had thrown him, a man who he treated with wary caution coming to the rescue at the eleventh hour. But there was also Lana, the girl who he still loved with all his heart, and now would probably never speak to him again.

People who he had trusted had become untrustworthy, and people who he'd thought he could never trust had become necessary. And it was all caught up in a tangled web that he couldn't see the ends of. It had started a week ago with a card and two baseball tickets, and since then everything had just spun further and further out of his control.

"I thought you'd be outside Lana's dorm with your binoculars by now." Clark jerked at the sudden interruption, recognising the voice as the slightly antagonistic sarcasm of Lois Lane.

"I appreciate the concern." He replied, mentally dismissing his most worrisome of thoughts for the time being. "But Lana and I are none of your business."

"Please, Smallville," Lois scoffed, taking a seat on the sofa beside him. "I've had three exes put under military surveillance. I'm hardly qualified to dish out post-relationship tact. But it's time for some tough love. Lana's going to move on."

"She already has." Clark dismissed, struggling to keep the angered pain out of his voice. "With Lex."

"And it sucks." Lois replied bluntly. "But you gotta trust your gut that you did this for a reason. Whatever reasons guys have for dumping hot, smart, fun girls these days." She shook her head beside him, and Clark couldn't help but wonder what was going through her head. "Look, give her some space, Clark. Your whole night-stalker routine that is gonna ruin any of the good feelings Lana has for you."

"If there are any." Clark muttered, unable to help himself. While he had known that Lana and Lex were together for some time now, it didn't change the hurt. And the betrayed and disgusted look that had been in her eyes the previous night, Clark couldn't help but wonder how things between the two of them had gotten as bad as this.

"Look sometimes you gotta tuck your feelings away until it's the right time." Lois commented, sounding strangely sage so far as the brunette went. "Like stuffing dollars into a piggy bank for a bike you can't quite afford."

"Except, I can't quite imagine there is anyone else out there." Clark admitted.

Lois shook her head beside him, taking a deep breath. "Well, you never know, Clark." The brunette replied. "Maybe when you finally crack open that piggy bank you'll find that all this time you haven't been saving for a bike, you've really been saving for a Harley."

Clark let out a sharp breath, halfway between a laugh and a sigh. A small smile crept onto his face as he looked at Lois in bemusement. "There are times when I think you don't know me at all." He observed, studying her hazel eyes curiously. "And others where I think you know me better than anyone."

Lois scoffed, a small smile creeping onto her own lips. "Well, that's what I'm here for, Smallville, one save at a time."

"And speaking of saving things..." Chloe's voice interjected as she ascended the loft staircase.

"My cake." Lois smiled, looking at the sunken blue icing of her rum cake. It had apparently kept well over the week, although there may be good reason for that.

"Hello." Chloe said, putting the cake down in the middle of them. Clark looked inquisitively up at her, noting what looked suspiciously like a patch of flour on her cheek. "Your mom thought we might wanna share some of the leftover birthday cake."

Clark looked at the cake, then across at Lois, and then back at the cake. "Well, I'm sure there's a goat on this farm that will appreciate my knack for batter." She replied mock-dejectedly.

"Which is why we made muffins." Danny's voice added as the boy's head poked above the top step. He had a full tray of muffins in his hands, some looking like chocolate and a couple of what looked like pumpkin and poppy seed. He too had a smattering of flour on his shirt, almost as though he'd gotten into a flour-fight. Well, that explained the flour on Chloe's cheek.

"Thanks, Casper." Lois said, picking up the rum cake. "I'll be back in a minute. You know, save the world one happy goat at a time."

Clark smiled fondly after her, watching as Lois walked down the staircase with the lopsided cake in hand. Whatever else, Lois Lane was a constant. She was prickly and bossy, but she got him in a way that few others did, and under all her pride and sarcasm she was a really kind and caring person underneath.

"You handled the whole party thing really well, by the way." Chloe commented softly, nudging his knee gently with hers.

"Thanks." Clark replied meeting her briefly in the eyes before sending a quick glance at Danny. His cousin matched Chloe's gentle understanding eyes, and Clark got the feeling that both of them would understand. "The baseball tickets they hit me harder than I thought."

"Yeah, but those tickets, they weren't your dad's only gift." Danny commented, sitting shoulder to shoulder with Chloe.

The blonde briefly nodded, continuing the thought. "It didn't come with a big, pretty red bow but your dad raised you to be your own man. That was his real gift. And he gave that to you every day."

"And here I thought you just came to get tipsy off of rum cake." Clark replied, acknowledging the thought in his own way. They were both right, the tickets were only a symbol, representing a loss that Clark hadn't thought he'd be able to live without. But here, in the comforting support of his oldest friend, and the cousin he'd come to see as a brother, he couldn't help but think that maybe some part of his father was still with him. And he'd never have to be without it.

"Just one thing." Danny said, his face deadly serious, yet lit with underlying mischief. "Please don't do a surprise party for my birthday." Clark smiled and lightly punched the boy's arm.

"You're a dork." Chloe commented, flicking a crumb of muffin at the boy, and Clark rolled his eyes at the mock-offended look that came onto the boy's face.

"So what actually happened last night?" He found himself asking.

Danny shrugged. "I went to the Mansion; security came out when _Phantom_ tripped the sensors." Danny summarised. "I told them basically what had happened and took Lex to his bedroom. Okay, I only told them the abridged bystander's version, but they bought it. Then I eavesdropped on what they told Lionel, and here we are..." The boy paused, looking at Clark thoughtfully. "How was he?"

Clark sighed; somehow unsurprised that Danny knew he'd gone to visit. "He seemed fine. And the doctor said he was as good as ever."

"So we have no idea what Fine actually did to Lex?" Chloe asked with a tight frown.

"Looks like it." Clark replied tiredly, picking up a chocolate muffin from the plate. "All we can do is keep an eye on him and hope whatever it is that Fine did failed."

_Line Break_

Lex smiled as he walked into his office, seeing the lovely Lana Lang sitting comfortably in the sofa. The paper bag in his hand made his heart light at the thought of sharing chicken chow mien with her. Still smiling he walked over to the table, spreading the little take away boxes out between them.

"I'm sorry if things got awkward." Lana babbled, continuing the thoughts that had been rolling through Lex's mind all day. "I was really hoping Clark wouldn't end up in all this. I just don't wanna hurt him."

Lex turned to look at her, her brown eyes wide and beseeching as she sat cross-legged on the sofa beside him. "I don't either." Lex replied. "I care about him too. But then I have to remind myself that Clark's specialty is barging in where he's not invited and then somehow making you feel like you're the one who should apologize."

Lana frowned, her face openly displaying her discomfort. "Okay, I have a great idea. How about a moratorium on the Clark topic?"

"Twist my arm." Lex replied, a soft smile playing on her lips.

"Don't tempt me." Lana rejoined, her voice deep with a touch of flirtatious innuendo. Lex smiled, stepping up from the sofa and making his way over to the bar so he could get the two of them something to drink. "You know, I still can't make sense of all this." Lana continued, her voice now laced with curious confusion. "Why would you be asked to produce a super vaccine just to have it destroyed?"

"I don't know." Lex shrugged, turning briefly to look at her. His shirt sleeve pulled back slightly, revealing the still raised reaction mark from the injection. He may have been declared in perfect health, but he didn't like the idea that Fine had injected him with anything. Before the brunette could notice he tugged the sleeve back in place. "But then again, I think like a red-blooded human." He finished, sending her a soft smile.

"Well, he was obviously preparing for something. " Lana commented. Lex frowned as the bottle opener slipped, nicking into the flesh of his thumb. But even as he watched the skin glinted silver before sealing completely over. "What happened?" Lana asked, clearly having noticed his temporary pause. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Lex replied slowly, looking up into her eyes even as his mind whirled. Fine had injected him with something the night before, something that the doctors could neither detect nor find fault in. But he had 'never been healthier'. Originally he'd thought that meant that Fine's concoction had had no effect, but in this light...

He had been wounded, but had healed almost instantaneously. If that was going inside his body then it was possible that Fine's serum had helped him, given him a gift that would provide him with a true advantage. He doubted it had been Fine's intention, but this mistake was dramatically in Lex's favour. He now knew exactly what Fine's pathogen had done, it hadn't just given him an immunity to all known diseases, but it appeared it had given him a complete immunity to any bodily harm.

Les smiled smugly as he looked at Lana; assured in the knowledge that he could keep her safe thanks to Fine's own arrogance. "Never better."

* * *

><p>AN; There's a brief mention of the game 'Go' in here, it's an ancient game played on a 19x19 square board where the aim is to surround the largest area of your opponent's stones. The rules are really simple, but it's ridiculously complicated because one move on one side of the board can cause a ripple effect across to the other.<p>

Just so you know I had no idea where I was going with this chapter, I originally had another point of action on the Danny and Clark side, but I had to move that when I realised that it just wouldn't work with the timeline.

Fare thee well,

Bluerose


	35. Commencement

Chapter 34

Commencement

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Danny Fenton shook his head distractedly, idly watching as the hay bale he'd just thrown landed firmly in the tray of the truck. It was early in the morning, the sun barely kissing over the horizon, but Danny was already up and getting some of the chores done. The tray fully loaded, he swung into the main cabin and set out towards the cattle field. Clark was sleeping in this morning, and Danny felt like getting most of the chores out of the way before the day got away from him. Time, lately, seemed to be playing tricks on him, passing him by in a dizzying blur that he'd barely been able to make out.

His seventeenth birthday had come and gone in a confusing haze of happiness and congratulations from friends and family. Lois had gifted him a 'Danny Phantom' t-shirt as an 'ironic statement', to which both Chloe and Clark had immediately cacked themselves laughing. Lex had stopped by when Danny was out in one of the fields and had presented Danny with a copy of 'The Art of War', although he still couldn't quite figure out why Lex would give him that particular title. And Ember had dropped by in the evening, inviting him to go to a rave in one of the Zone's more popular spots.

It had been a fun day, even if Danny himself had initially held it with a level of detachment. As a ghost, his human birthday held less sway on him, and as his first birthday since his family's death, he hadn't really felt much like celebrating. But everyone had come together to pull him out of his funk, making sure that he felt loved and supported in his new circle of family and friends. The day had turned out peaceful and enjoyable in a way that somehow was entirely normal.

Actually, that was probably the best way to describe the past month; _peaceful_. There had been relatively few ghost attacks, no meteor freaks had caused trouble, and Danny had even had time to get his mist form under control; if he limited it to very short bursts it was useful and he no longer involuntarily slipped into that enticing in between state. It was calm. And even whatever had happened to Lex that day with Brainiac hadn't had any visible effects. That wasn't to suggest that things hadn't been _busy_. In fact quite a bit had been happening between school and Martha's job as a senator. Just that everything had been peacefully normal.

Danny smiled and shook his head as he tossed the hay out for the cows. After all this time of living around him, the cattle on the farm seemed to have developed some immunity to his ghostly nature. He spent the early morning hour idly petting one of the cows' heads as she ate the golden hay. Beneath his hand the cow shifted restlessly, and Danny's eyebrow creased in confusion. Now that he thought about it there was a sort of anticipation in the air, like the world was standing on the edge of a precipice. But it didn't feel malicious, just expectant.

Releasing a slow breath, the raven-haired boy drove the truck back up towards the farmhouse and immediately proceeded into the upstairs bathroom. With everything going on around him he'd lost track of the time, the days seemed to have gotten away from him completely. But as he stepped under the running water he fully realised the date. He was graduating high school today. He was graduating, but he wasn't sure how he felt about it. Sure he'd been skipped ahead, but he was still at a loose end. He didn't know what was supposed to come next.

Danny stepped out of the shower, ruffling the towel through his hair as he went. His eyes fixed on the mirror, blue eyes meeting those of his reflection. As he stared, he remembered a day, three years before as he first walked up the steps to Casper High. He and Sam had been walking side by side, Tucker a few paces behind him. And he'd been so nervous, in retrospect it seemed foolish to be scared of something as mundane as school, but he had been. And the only thing that had gotten him through the day was Sam's promise.

'_Four years time and we'll walk outta here. Whatever happens between now and then, we can handle.'_ Sam had said, slinging an arm around his shoulders and Tuck's as they paused on the top step.

'_How do you think that?' _Tuck had asked, briefly looking up from his PDA as he stared at the building.

''_Cos no matter what, we've got each other.' _Sam had replied, leaning slightly heavier on Danny's shoulder._ 'Friends forever, right Danny?'_

'_Friends forever.'_ Danny had replied, offering her a bashful smile, even if he hadn't understood why at the time.

'_Right, and when we get out of here, we're all gonna remember today and we're gonna laugh 'cos of how silly it was to be this stupid.' _She concluded before breaking into a smile and dragging them through the khaki doors. _'Now hurry up, if we get there early we might luck out on locker assignments.' _

Danny sighed, touching his fingers to Sam's ring as it hung on his necklace. "I wish you were here, Sam." He whispered, turning away from the mirror. Most days he could manage, the months in between losing his family and now having numbed his grieving to a bearable level. But days like this tripped him up. The fact that he was graduating a year early had little to do with it; it was the fact that he was there and they weren't that hurt the most.

He shook his head, knowing that today was going to be hard as he made his way down the stairs. His aunt was in the kitchen preparing breakfast, and the smell of butter pancakes drifted warmly up the stairs. She was coming today, as were Clark and Chloe. Danny had wanted to invite Ember, but the realisation that the media would likely follow his aunt around today put a slight damper on that plan. His aunt was coming to his graduation, but then was supposed to catch a plane to Washington for the national educational summit, so she was a person of interest at the moment.

That said; he still planned on visiting Ember later in the evening. She'd been wonderfully patient with him over the past few weeks, even supportive in her own way. But that didn't change the fact that he hadn't exactly gone out of his way to make time for her recently, and for all that she claimed that time meant nothing in the ghost zone, he knew that she felt like he'd been giving her the cold shoulder. He also knew that sitting through the two hour graduation ceremony wasn't exactly something the pop diva would call 'fun', it was just disappointing that he couldn't have someone he'd known for more than a year at the ceremony with him.

"Good morning Danny." His aunt smiled as she moved a pancake to the top of the golden stack.

"'Morning, Aunt Martha." Danny replied, putting on the kettle so his aunt could have a cup of coffee. "Is Clark up?"

"I haven't seen him, but I think he's out in the barn." His aunt answered, looking concernedly out towards the red building. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be." Danny answered, pouring the hot water into the coffee plunger.

"You know, my sister would have been so proud of you." Martha said; the faintest glimmer in her eyes as she blinked away.

Danny wasn't sure what to say. "Thanks" he murmured, carefully sitting at the table. "I hope so. I mean..." He sighed, shaking his head. "Things have worked out a lot different than when I first walked into Casper High."

"I felt that way too." Clark's voice added as the elder came through the door, idly rubbing the grease off his hands with a rag before taking a seat at the table himself. "My first day at Smallville, I still thought I was just a kid with weird powers, and that the closest I could ever get to someone like Lana was helping her pick up her books."

"The fact that she was dating Whitney Fordman had nothing to do with it, I'm sure." His aunt teased lightly as she put a cup of coffee down for her son.

Clark's emotional freeze was brief, if powerful enough to make Danny aware of it. But he continued on nonetheless. "That's sort of the point though. So much changed between then and when I graduated, but looking back I don't think I'd change any of it."

Danny let out a muffled laugh. It was hard to imagine exactly how much had changed for him in the past three years. Walking into Casper High he'd been the geeky kid of two harebrained Ghost Hunters. He'd been scared and so very... he'd been human; filled with the anxieties and insecurities that only a human could feel when faced with something big and unknown.

Since then he'd grown up a lot, become a being from a world he couldn't have believed existed. He'd faced creatures that some people considered gods and toppled kings. He'd learned hard lessons that many people would never have to face, and seen amazing things that no human could ever conceive. He'd walked in both the future and the past, and seen just how much people controlled their own destiny. He'd visited space and fulfilled that dream, had found out that not only did life exist on other planets, but had met an honest-to-goodness extra-terrestrial.

He wasn't the same kid that had walked up those grey cemented steps. He'd come into himself. And while people like Dash, or Paulina or even Lancer had left a lasting imprint on who he was, it was not them who he owed credit for who he was today. It was Clark and Chloe, his Aunt and even Lex. It was his Mom and Dad, Jazz and Tucker. Who'd guided him through the tough times and given him spirit to continue on. But most of all it was Sam, the dark haired girl who would always live in his heart. Who'd looked at him and seen not the human or the ghost, but who he really was, and loved him all the same. And while he could never be that same naïve child again, he felt that he'd changed for the better.

Danny smiled, picking up a pancake up from the plate. He was graduating from high school, yes; closing that chapter in his life. But he'd already seen that there was so much more out there than could be found within the walls of any high school. This wasn't a graduation so much as a commencement, opening to a clean new page in his life. And as he took a small sip of his hot chocolate, he couldn't help but think that he was more than ready to face whatever came his way.

_Line Break_

Lana sighed contentedly, feeling a soft breeze play across her shoulders. Lex's arms were wrapped around her, warm and comforting as she dozed in her half-sleepy state. Lex had invited her over for dinner the night before, and they'd ended up asleep together on the sofa in the sitting room in front of the fire. The breeze breathed over her once more, and absently she curled further into Lex's protective arms. She felt a small contented smile pull onto her lips, but she was too comfortable to think of anything more.

She felt the light flare over her shoulder, coming from the direction of the fireplace. And suddenly Lex was pulling back from her. Dazed, unseeing eyes met hers as the man stood up and backed away. His hands were pressed to his ears, as though he was hearing something painful. But the only sound in the room was Lex's agonised grunts. She tried to call out to him, to bring him back into the room. But he didn't seem to hear her.

Lex stumbled, and seemed to gain some form of direction because he was running out of the sitting room and down the corridor. His hands were fisted to his temples, and his movements were frantic. If Lana didn't know any better she would have guessed he was on some kind of drug trip. But he wasn't, he hadn't taken anything the night before. The man grunted in agony, his hands fisting to the side table where his car keys were kept, and suddenly he was out the door.

Lana chased after him, calling after him desperately. But he was already gone, and by the time she got to the garage his Porsche was already speeding away. Lana slid into the seat of her own car, quickly following the silver car down the driveway and out onto the highway. Lex's car was erratic, sliding all over the road at a speed too fast for Lana to even get close. Desperate she pulled out her phone, frantically hoping that the man would pick up.

"C'mon, Lex. Pick up." She murmured into the phone, quickly changing directions as he pulled into a side road. "Pick up!" But the phone was ignored, and Lana watched as once more the car in front of her swerved precariously across the road. Lex's car drove off the sealed road and onto a dirt track, Lana cursed as the phone diverted to message bank before slamming on the brakes. Lex had pulled up, diving out of the car and plunging into the overgrown forest she dimly recognised as the border of Maier's field.

Lana tossed her phone aside as she jerked out of her own car. Not even bothering to lock it, she chased Lex into the forest. He was already a way ahead, and all Lana could see was the flare of his black jacket against the undergrowth. Jagged twigs and clawing sticks grabbed against her as she tore through the woods. Lana ducked under a heavy branch just in time to watch Lex fumble through a small creek, panting in pain and rubbing his temples. She was gaining on him, but not enough.

Lex dove out of the forest and into a grassy field. Lana tore out just seconds behind her, the long dry grass crunching under her feet, but she only had eyes for Lex. The man had paused in the centre of the field, but was spinning around dazedly. He hunched over in pain before throwing his head back, hands pressed firmly against his temples as he sank deeper into his pained throes. Suddenly he stopped, and Lana continued her approach as soon as she saw the human reason come back into his eyes.

"Stay there!" The man barked, gesturing with a warning palm that made Lana freeze.

"What's happening?" She demanded, trying not to let her fear and confusion overwhelm her.

"I don't know!" Lex called back, and Lana heard the edge of fear in his usually controlled voice. That was enough to fill her with dread. Lex was always cool and controlled; it took a lot to scare him. And if _he_ was scared...

Lana jerked back as the ground in front of her exploded. A cloud of dark dust leapt up into the air, blocking her sight of Lex off completely. Lana ducked her head back, trying to block the debris from her eyes. But she still saw too much. The earth around Lex was moving, throwing walls of dirt up around him nearly twenty feet into the air. It was as though the ground was being sliced by a violent golden light, hacked away by the strange electronic whirring noise that echoed around them.

It sounded like the earth was screaming, the noise a strange mix of a synthesised jet and the sucking of a straw. Lana couldn't describe it. It was completely foreign, completely _alien_. And as the noise stopped and the dust settled, she couldn't help but exchange a fearful look with Lex.

Wind suddenly tore around them, sending Lana's hair flying into her eyes. But she still saw the encroaching shadow, creeping up behind Lex like some horrific monolith. And Lana looked up, gasping as she recognised the ominous black shape floating in the sky above Lex's head. She took an involuntary step back, her eyes wide as she looked the same alien spaceship that had brought so much pain into her life ever since she first saw it.

She felt movement behind her and spun around to see the smirking face of Milton Fine. She heard Lex's demand for the man to stay away from her, but couldn't force back her own words. "What are you doing?" She asked, flinching as she heard the desperate fear in her own voice.

"I'm preparing him." Fine repeated, his face somehow betraying a smirk behind its neutrality.

Lana blinked and turned back to Lex, just as a strange bluish beam tore down from the sky to encircle Lex. Lex screamed in pain, and Lana felt herself screech as she jerked forwards, desperate to save Lex from whatever torture Fine intended. But she couldn't get there in time, the blue beam pulled away in a bright flash of light, leaving no trace of Lex. Like a twisted mimicry of a _'Star Trek'_ teleportation beam, Lex had vanished.

Lana heard herself screaming, barely audible over the bright flashes and whirring that permeated through the field. She turned around, hoping to face Fine, but he was already gone. And as the golden light settled she ran forwards to the exact spot where Lex had been standing just moments before. But he was gone, and now it was Lana who found herself spinning around hopelessly, Lex's physical pain taking residence in her heart as she realised she had no hope of finding him.

She sunk to her knees in the middle of the field, looking at the dark brown etching left in the field. Like some sick crop circle it stretched out around her, but it was far more jagged than a stereotypical crop circle. Dazedly she stood up, looking at the etching in the ground.

She was standing in the middle of a small diamond, but two of the edges pulled out further. Symmetrical around her were two bars, equidistant from the diagonal of the diamond. And near the tips of that were two large circles. Lana tried to picture it in her mind, to picture an aerial overview.

What she came up with didn't make sense. If she tried to scale it down, it seemed like she was standing in the middle of some sort of abstract letter 'Z'. But what that meant she had no idea. All she knew was that Lex was _gone_. And the aliens had taken him.

_Line Break_

Chloe smiled as she looked at the line of red robed seniors gathered at the back of the outdoor platform. It had been just under a year since her own high school graduation, and since the second meteor shower. This year the ceremony was being held a week earlier than the rest of the state – mainly in commemoration of the terrible events of the year before. But as she searched the crowd for Danny's signature ruffled dark locks she couldn't help but ponder over how much had changed.

Her graduation had been turned into a farce by the meteor shower, and the whole day had morphed into a melee of panic and adrenalin as the military invaded and had made the citizens retreat to safety. Lana hadn't even been there, the stage pointedly empty as her name was called. And everything had degenerated into horror as the day wore on. People were running, the streets blocked up as people tried to evacuate, hysteria overtook so many, and that was even before the meteors hit. It had been terrifying, and Chloe knew that a large part of the reason she'd survived that day was sitting right at her side.

Clark Kent sat tall in the white plastic beside her, and Chloe could see a glimmer of pride in her dark-haired friend's eyes. And Chloe knew it was well earned. The meteor strike was the reason that Danny had come to them, and the next week marked the one year anniversary of his friends and family's deaths. Yet despite that, despite probably suffering the largest individual cost caused by the meteor strike, he had endured. Chloe didn't know if it was due to his abilities or his own strong will, but Danny had kept going, hadn't let the pain drag him down.

Her eyes flicked back to the long line of seniors, finally seeing a familiar pair of blue eyes amongst the line up. She smiled at the boy, and got a wide beam in return. "He looks happy." She commented, nudging Clark beside her.

"He deserves it." Clark replied quietly.

"Has he made any plans for next year?" Chloe asked.

"Not that we know of." Clark replied. "I probably wasn't the best example, leaving CKU the way I did."

"I don't think that's why." Martha sighed from Clark's other side. Chloe hummed thoughtfully, leaning slightly forward over Clark to look the alder Kent in the eyes.

"How do you mean?" Chloe pressed curiously.

Martha sighed once more, shaking her head absently. "When he was little, Maddie used to write about how keen he was to go into astronomy; he wanted to join the space program." She paused briefly, her eyes flicking towards the stage as the headmaster stepped up to make a speech. They were seated towards the back, and fortunately the opportunistic press who often followed Martha around had been kept outside until the end of the ceremony. "But now I don't think he can justify to himself _leaving _long enough to go to college."

"Didn't you have that same problem, Clark?" Chloe asked in a whisper as the man spoke. It was almost the same speech as the year before, and Chloe wasn't overly keen on listening again.

"That was a factor, yeah." Clark admitted. "But it's different between Danny and me. I decided not to keep going after dad died; Danny is still getting an education, just outside the traditional system." Clark paused, his own eyes tracing to Danny in the crowd of seniors behind the stage. "Besides, destiny has more in store for him than a career he could find in any college."

Chloe frowned, studying the eyes of her oldest friend. "You know something, don't you?" She pressed, her eyes slightly narrowed as she tried to figure what was going through his head.

"Sort of." Clark replied. "But I've been told that Danny will find out when the time is right, and until then I think it's worth waiting for the surprise."

Chloe frowned but didn't speak as the first graduate was called out. She was puzzled by what Clark had just implied, but couldn't think of what he could mean. She'd always known she'd go to college, major in journalism and work at the _Daily Planet_. To not have a definitive plan wasn't something she could really understand. Then again... Danny often had very different ways of thinking, even for someone with special abilities. If she got him talking she'd often hear insights and perspectives that just didn't make sense from a human angle. Like the thing with the Turquoise, any human would just destroy it but instead Danny had insisted on preserving it.

So from that point of view maybe it made sense that Danny hadn't planned for college. Aside from the fact that he was graduating a year early, maybe there was something inbuilt to his powers that made it difficult to make plans in that way. Or maybe he already had a plan, and just hadn't told anyone about it. After all, despite having come clean to Chloe about the true source of his powers, there was a lot about ghosts, their nature, and the Ghost Zone itself that he was reticent to divulge.

Still, looking at him, in the red and yellow robes of Smallville High, she couldn't help but feel proud of him. Even if he sometimes acted a complete riddle, there was an air of innocent cluelessness about him that made him endearing. There weren't many people who could go through the absolute hell he'd been put through in recent months and still stay true to themself, rather than buckle under the pressure. There was just something about him that took adversity and just said 'give it your best shot'.

The line of seniors was gradually shortening, the students happily moving the tassel of their mortarboard as they took the certificate. The sun was out, casting warm rays over the graduating class. Chloe smiled as she watched her young friend walk up to the steps, and when the name 'Daniel Fenton' was finally called she joined in proudly with the polite applause that managed to carry throughout.

Danny crossed the stage easily, clearly foregoing his usual air of clumsiness for the day. Chloe caught his brief smile as he accepted the diploma before joining the mass of students on the other side. Her eyes stayed on him until the last name had been called, and as he walked over she was the first to offer him a congratulatory hug.

"I'm so proud of you." Martha commented as soon as Chloe had released him, and Chloe found herself smiling as Clark ruffled the younger boy's hair. It didn't matter that one boy was from another planet, and that the other was technically half dead, they were a family. And Chloe couldn't help but feel gladdened that she had been included in what to Danny was probably one of the most important days of his human life.

"So you're heading into the Zone?" Chloe asked when she had a minute. Danny had taken off the red robes and was once more in a plain white t-shirt. Although this time he'd layered a short red one over the white long sleeves.

"Yeah." Danny replied, his blue eyes sparkling happily. "I have a couple of friends who I haven't seen in a while, and Ember's on my butt for missing her gig at one of the café's a week ago."

Chloe's heart gave a brief uncomfortable flutter, but couldn't place why as she looked at the boy's buoyant smile. "Well I hope you have fun, and don't be too long. I heard Clark saying he wanted to take the two of us out for dinner in Metropolis to celebrate."

Danny smiled and pressed a hand to his chest. "I feel touched; a party in the Zone and dinner out with the two of you? I should graduate more often."

Chloe rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Get going you." She commanded, gently nudging him in the shoulder. "Unlike some people, I have some work to get done at the _Planet_. I'll see you later."

Danny smiled and sent her a two fingered salute before disappearing back off into the crowd. Chloe smiled, shaking her head fondly as she made her way back to her car. The plan was to split up for now; Martha had to get to her summit in Washington and was meeting Lois at the farm, and Clark had a couple of chores that needed to get done. Chloe herself had a couple of deadlines that she'd been pushing, but had decided that supporting Danny had come first.

An hour later she parked her car in the lot and took a brisk walk to the _Planet_. While she may have taken the morning off, she really doubted that her editor would be so forgiving if she pushed another deadline. Not slowing down she pushed open the doors and quickly took the staircase that led to her particular part of the Daily planet. She was just musing over the best opening line for an article about the rising homeless population when she saw a familiar figure walking dazedly through the bullpen.

Chloe's eyes creased in confusion. Of all times, why would Lana Lang choose _now_ to come and visit her at work? She shook her head and grinned. If Lana was willing to talk to her, then Chloe was happy to listen. "Hey." She commented, smiling at Lana. "I was beginning to think I was living with a ghost." Chloe paused, reconsidering that statement. "Not that it would be the first time."

Chloe paused, realising that Lana wasn't smiling. In fact, as she studied her oldest female friend, Lana looked downright terrified. She was wearing a dark coat, her arms wrapped protectively around her chest. But perhaps the most concerning thing was the dazed fear floating through her watery brown eyes. "Lana, are you alright?" Chloe asked, trying to be as supportive as possible.

"I'm so scared, Chloe." Lana replied, her voice a weak whisper that left Chloe straining to hear. "I knew he was getting in too deep."

"Who?" Chloe asked, although she had a sinking suspicion already.

Lana shook her head fearfully before replying. "Lex." The brunette murmured. "They took him." If anyone else had said that to her, then Chloe probably would have written it off as a conspiracy theory. But Lana wouldn't lie, not about this. And in those four words she had just confirmed their greatest fears. Chloe shepherded Lana over to a more private area, inviting her to explain more. Chloe didn't know what to think, not with Lana as scared as she was acting.

"We were in a field." Lana murmured after a while, leaning forward conspirationally. But the underlying panic in her voice was only just off the border of hysteria, and Chloe knew that for now all she could do was listen. "An... and there was this flash of light and then Lex was taken."

"Taken where?" Chloe pressed.

"Into the black ship I saw in the meteor shower." Lana whispered fearfully. "It's back."

Chloe blinked. "Do you think Fine had something to do with this?" She asked, even if she already suspected the answer, she had to know. She had to know just how bad things were, how much worse they were likely to get.

"Fine was there." Lana replied firmly. And Chloe's stomach plummeted. They had hoped, after this long since Fine had injected Lex, that it hadn't worked and Fine was re-strategising. But this smelled too much like Fine was still on track. "He said that he was 'preparing him'" Lana finished, confirming Chloe's worst suspicions.

Chloe watched as Lana bit back a sob, pulling away and lifting her brown eyes to the ceiling. "I can't believe I let this happen."

"Lana, you can't blame yourself." Chloe reassured.

"It's my fault he was involved in the first place." Lana retorted, brown eyes begging for a comfort that Chloe didn't know how to give. "Chloe, what if he's dead?" The brunette asked hopelessly. And for once Chloe couldn't find the words to answer her.

_Line Break_

Phantom laughed as Ember cried in victory, whacking another mole on the head. Ember had decided that it would be fun to head to one of the Zone's biggest amusement parks for the afternoon, and he'd thought that would be a novel experience in itself. He knew theoretically that anyone could become a ghost, and he also knew that there was everything from viable ghost farmers to flourishing businessmen in the Zone. So it shouldn't have surprised him that there were amusement parks floating around. But neither his previous explorations, nor his studies with Clockwork had led him to believe that such a vibrant place existed in the Ghost Zone.

It was enthralling, pulsating with ghostly life. Splashes of vivid colour painted the stalls, and entrancing lights flashed overhead. The carnival grounds were lit with floating lanterns, glimmering in bright shades of yellow and red. At the far end of the promenade stood a Ferris Wheel, reaching tall into the Ghost Zone sky and flickering with effervescent lights. It was charming, an impossible blend between the late nineteenth century sideshow feeling, and the animated life of contemporary amusement parks. The whole place practically vibrated with the cheerful sounds of people laughing, of buzzers buzzing and of stall holders heckling potential customers for attention.

There were hundreds of ghosts milling around, all happily spending time in the bright lights of the carnival atmosphere. And the best part of it was that none of them really cared that he was there. He was just another ghost in the crowd and he loved it. Never before in the Zone had he been able to feel like a normal person, he was either the number one enemy, or the revered hero who'd saved them all from Pariah Dark. This bit of normalcy felt like _home_ in a way that he couldn't accurately describe. Phantom chuckled once more as Ember hit the last mole, the buzzer at the top flashing as the game closed down.

"Who would've thought that all that practice hitting things with your guitar would pay off?" Phantom remarked as the stall holder handed over a prize – a small purple teddy bear with a guitar in its little paws.

"Well whaddya think it's for?" Ember snarked back, beaming.

"Oh I dunno, playing music?" Phantom replied, leading the two of them away from the 'Whack-a-Mole' booth to make room for the next players.

"Hey." Ember shrugged, a proud gleam glittering in her eyes. "When I'm slamming, I'm slamming. And if that involves giving a certain dipstick a good whack upside the head, well I'm not gonna complain."

Phantom just rolled his eyes, used to Ember's sense of humour. "You know, I'm surprised you thought of somewhere like this." He commented.

"What?" Ember asked, looking at him with big green eyes. "An amusement park? C'mon babypop, even kids on your side go to parks."

"Yeah." Phantom replied. "But I haven't done anything like this since... well, since before Sam and Tuck died."

Ember sighed, but didn't let the smile drop off her face. "Then take it as a good thing. Here you are, still able to enjoy existence and not letting that loss get you down. They loved you, Clockwork only knows half the Zone saw that, and they would've wanted to see you happy."

Phantom let a small smile cross his lips, she was right. Sam wouldn't have wanted him to wallow in misery for the rest of his life. And he got the feeling that she would be glad to see that he'd made friends and continued on the way he had. Just that morning he'd been missing her desperately, but here in the Zone with Ember, knowing that when he got back to Smallville Clark and Chloe were waiting, he couldn't help but feel that he was really and truly moving on.

"Ooh." Ember cried, tugging on his wrist as she caught sight of something. Suddenly Phantom found himself being tugged through a sea of ghosts as Ember dragged him through the crowds. "You are so doing this."

Phantom's eyes widened as he realised where she had stopped. A huge tank of water sloshed in front of them, spilling over as the large ghost sitting in the chair was dunked violently into the deep pool. The crowd clapped in amusement as the large blue furred ghost emerged from the soggy depths, long trails of glowing water rippling through sopping fur.

"Step up, step up, who's next to take the challenge?" The carnie ghost dared, his red eyes searching the crowd for the next victim. Phantom found himself being pushed to the front by a beaming Ember, and before he knew it he was sitting in the temperamental seat above the tepid tank of water.

"Roll up, roll up." The carnie called. "Once in an existence opportunity here, folks; take the chance to dunk a celebrity. Hero or villain, scourge or saviour, here for you today we have a real treat. Our own Danny Phantom!"

Phantom tuned out the rest of the ghost's collaring, instead sending a scowl towards the still beaming Ember. _'I hate you'_ he mouthed, earning him an even brighter grin as the blue haired ghost poked out her tongue cheekily. The first ghost took a chance, picking up one of the carnie ghost's glowing green balls. The amusing thing about a game like this was that it was open to all. Anyone could take a shot, but only one shot, and the booth owner was even allowing small ecto-blasts to the ghosts that could manage it.

The first ghost took a shot, but the ball went wide and the crown gave a sympathetic groan. Phantom laughed along with the carnie ghost, as half the crowd started cheering. It wasn't until after the fourth ghost had had a shot that he started playing along with the carnie's banter, rallying the crowd up just as much as the owner. He teased the challengers, finding himself having fun as both he and the carnie ghost built up something of a rhythm in their banter.

Around them the crowd grew, and he realised he was turning the booth into quite the attraction. Most of the patrons were smiling at him, laughing along with him as each ghost tried and failed to push the lever and dunk him in the tank. None of them were jeering at him, none of them hated him, and he felt truly happy to be a part of this world. It seemed most of the amusement park's patrons were enjoying the notion of dunking the boy who had saved them all from Pariah.

"Would the fair lady like a go?" The carnie asked Ember some twenty minutes later. By now the crowd had swelled to the point where Phantom could barely see over the enormous variety of ghosts that stood before him. And there were every sort; humanoid, animalistic, Phantom even thought he caught the flash of a bright gold phoenix. And they were all cheering in front of him, calling for the one ghost who could manage to dunk the famous Danny Phantom.

Ember grinned as she stepped forward, her green eyes flaring in a confident smirk. "C'mon Ember. Don't tell me that playing around with the guys in the band has ruined your aim." Phantom mocked jovially, smiling daringly down at Ember.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Ember teased back. "Doesn't matter 'cos you're going down." Phantom laughed even as the crowd around them cried out _'Dunk! Dunk! Dunk! Dunk!' _

"Wouldn't that be the day?"Phantom ribbed, a smug grin on his face as he taunted the blue haired ghost. And Ember beamed as a purple fireball charged in her hand. She tossed it idly between her two hands before jerking her hand forward. The whole crowd seemed to hold its breath as the fireball sailed through the air, and Phantom traced its movement as it rushed towards the inch wide lever with just enough velocity to set off the trigger.

Beneath him the seat collapsed, and he found himself falling the three feet into the water, cold liquid splashing around him as he tumbled into the soaking depths. He came up sputtering, feeling the water run through his white hair as he came up for breath. A smirking Ember raced up to him, laughing as she took the opportunity to ruffle his sopping hair. Phantom found himself grinning, shaking the excess water out of his hair as he pulled himself out of the tank.

Still laughing he shrugged off his cloak he wrapped the sopping fabric around Ember's shoulders in retribution. She pulled away, scowling at him briefly before the smile crept back onto her face. Phantom found himself still smiling ten minutes later as he bought a packet of caramel popcorn to share. He didn't know whether it was the company or the happiness of the day in general, but for once he felt completely at peace. And as he glanced at Ember's still smiling green eyes he couldn't help but feel a welcome feeling of contentment creep into his core.

_Line Break_

"What, do you mean 'taken'?" Clark demanded, staring searchingly at Chloe as he struggled to understand. After Danny's graduation ceremony he'd headed back to the farmhouse to get a few chores out of the way. The plan had been to meet up later in the evening in Metropolis so they could head out to dinner with Danny. But instead Chloe had driven back to the farmhouse, and immediately informed him that Lex had been taken.

"I mean, ripped from the earth and sucked into the sky." Chloe retorted exasperatedly. "His abductor did leave a calling card in the field. From Lana's description, it sounded a lot like Zod's symbol."

Clark frowned; setting aside the hay bale he'd been carrying to meet her in the eyes. "Lionel's drawings warned of Zod coming. Maybe it's actually happening."

"What is happening?" Chloe demanded, frustrated. "I don't get it. I thought that Zod was trapped in that Phantom-prism other-dimension thing."

"That's what I'm worried about." Clark replied. "Fine knows I wouldn't release Zod willingly. He's obviously changed strategies."

"Have you talked to Danny about it?" Chloe pressed, and Clark sighed.

"He's closed off again." Clark replied. "I think Fine must've done something to him but I don't know what." Chloe sent him a questioning glance, and Clark shook his head tiredly. "This last month he hasn't really spoken about Fine or Lex, usually he'd be spouting out theories, but he hasn't said anything."

"You think it's like what happened with Vlad?" Chloe asked and Clark frowned. He hadn't considered that, and after all what had happened to Danny had left some psychological scars. But at the same time this felt different.

"I don't think so." Clark replied. "I think whatever happened it's got Danny running scared, and he won't talk until he knows more about what Fine wants. Although I still can't help but wonder, of all people, why would Fine want _Lex_?"

Chloe's eyes creased in uncertainty. "Do you think Lex is part of plan B?" She questioned, her head cocked in consideration. Clark nodded slowly. That was the only thing they could all agree on, whatever Fine wanted it was circling around Lex. And whatever Fine had done to the man a month ago had only let them grow complacent about his motives.

Clark paused, his thoughts suddenly veering onto a different path. "Maybe. Which means Lana's in the middle." Clark realised, his eyes narrowing in self depreciation.

Chloe pressed a gentle hand to his shoulder. "I know what you're thinking. She used to come to you. That's different now. And you know what? That was your choice."

Clark sighed, leaning back against a support beam "I don't feel like I've made any of the right choices." He confessed. "I've been so angry with Jor-El; I didn't listen to his warnings."

"It seems every time you turn to Jor-El something bad happens." Chloe empathised.

"What if he's just trying to protect me?" Clark asked. "Danny's basically said as much. What if Jor-El's trying to protect all of us?"

"You'd need to talk to him." Chloe replied, her eyebrows raising in scepticism.

Clark scoffed. "And it comes back to how much I can afford to trust him."

"Is there any way to call Danny back early? He'd probably know what to do." Chloe suggested, but Clark was doubtful all the same. Danny did know a lot, and in many ways he was a safer source of Kryptonian knowledge than Clark himself. Usually Clark would prefer to talk to Danny first, but in this case there wasn't time to waste.

"No." Clark replied. "When he goes into the Ghost Zone I can't get in contact with him; all we can do is wait until he gets back."

"I don't think there's time for that." Chloe replied sadly, and Clark nodded.

"I know." He replied, his eyes flicking up to the loft where the key to the portal in the caves was kept. "You'll tell him when he gets back, right?"

Chloe nodded, offering him a brief hug before heading out the door. Her whispered "good luck" was almost drowned out by the sound of her car igniting. Clark let out a shaky breath as he mounted the steps, walking over to the bookcase and pulling out one of the books. Months ago he'd hollowed it out, leaving an octagonal shaped slot to hide the key in. It wasn't a perfect hiding place, not in comparison to Danny's hiding things inside the floor, but it was better than the toolbox where it had been kept.

The metal was cool in his hands, but Clark didn't let his mind focus on that as he made his way to the cave. He was deliberately not thinking about Lex or Lana, or his concerns for Danny and Chloe. Instead he was steeling himself for the discussion with his birth father. He couldn't afford for things to go wrong, not this time. Taking a deep breath he plunged the key into the key slot and was instantly transported in the ensuing flash of bright light.

"Hello, my son." Jor-El's powerful voice vibrated through the cavernous crystal walls of the Fortress.

"I had no other choice but to come here." Clark replied, letting the heat creep back into his voice. He walked through the crystal spirals to the main crystal console. The last time he'd been here was when he'd begged his birth father to save Lana. He hadn't known that that would be at the expense of his own dad. After that he had hoped never to need to talk to Jor-El ever again, but circumstances didn't even allow him that.

"I know you are still angered by the loss of Jonathan Kent." Jor-El replied, his voice ever emotionless.

Clark's response was dry. "He was my father."

"I am your father." Jor-El asserted quickly, and Clark could have sworn he heard a distressed edge to his birth father's potent voice. "Pain is part of life, Kal-El. But you cannot let it blind you."

"Fine has returned to release Zod." Clark said, knowing that he would get nowhere talking to Jor-El about his dad. His birth father just didn't understand human love, and Clark knew he would get no further on the issue without letting his own emotions control him. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Fine is merely an extension of the craft that can regenerate in any form." Jor-El explained.

"Danny said as much." Clark acknowledged. "If Fine is part of the ship, then who is controlling it?"

"It's not just a ship. It's the Brain InterActive Construct." Jor-El emphasised. "I believe your 'Danny' refers to it as Brainiac. It is an advanced technology that will stop at nothing until its master, Zod, has been released."

Clark's eyes widened, recalling a conversation so many months ago. Danny's eyes set on the fire as he recounted a story about how Brainiac came into being, and the fierce determination the man had in achieving his aims. "No, there's gotta be some way to stop him."

"There is one way." Jor-El replied, his stoic voice cold. "Zod was imprisoned in the Phantom Zone for crimes that led to the destruction of our planet."

"Zod killed you." Clark breathed, eyes creased in confusion. He almost wanted to feel sympathetic for his father, but he wasn't there yet.

"And your mother." Jor-El added blankly. "And our entire race. Just as he will do on Earth."

"I won't let that happen." Clark denied, squaring his shoulders in determination.

The air shifted, and Clark got the distinct impression of acknowledgement before his father's voice once more reverberated through the crystalline chamber. "Zod's physical body was destroyed to prevent him from escaping the Phantom Zone. He can be freed if he finds a body. A vessel to inhabit."

The voice paused as a one of the crystals separated out from the console. As it pulled away, Clark saw the silvery edge of a blade. Instinctively he grabbed it, plucking the weapon from the air as his hand clasped firmly around the crystal hilt. It looked like a dagger, but not a normal human one. Along the sides of the blade were Kryptonian glyphs, reading 'The strength of the House of El lies in your heart'. The blade was irregularly shaped, bulging similarly to an hourglass with a pointed end. Clark didn't know what to think of such a gift.

"You must find the human vessel and destroy it." Jor-El instructed, and perhaps this was the first time Clark found himself grateful for the stoicism of his birth father's voice. It made it easier to deal with the instruction, easier to pretend that his father wasn't telling him to go and kill a human. And in blank emphasis the voice continued, adding a disturbing weight to Clark's heart as his father finished his cold instruction. "No matter whom it may be."

_Line Break_

Phantom laughed as he floated out of the portal, still feeling bubbly after spending the afternoon with Ember. Looking back, it was hard to believe that they'd been enemies for so long. Beneath the crackly exterior she was a really good friend, and he found he couldn't imagine life in Smallville without her in it. He'd offered to her to come back with him and spend a couple of hours with his living friends, but she'd declined saying that she had a band practice back in her lair. But he had thoroughly enjoyed the few hours he got to spend with her, it was a welcome break in his normal routine and one he hadn't realised he'd needed.

He shifted back to his human form as he walked up the stairs. The storm shelter was still his safest bet when opening a portal into the Real World since only people he trusted ever went down there. Danny shook his head, noting the low angle of the sun as he emerged from the darkened cellar. He was maybe an hour later than he'd anticipated, but he felt it was worth it. Still smiling Danny made his way over to the house, hoping to have a quick shower before he headed into Metropolis to meet Chloe and Clark.

Twenty minutes later Danny stepped out of the shower, ruffling his hair in a half attempt at drying it before walking back to his bedroom. His eyes flicked idly over to the desk where his sketchpad was out. The previous night he'd gotten halfway through a sketch of Chloe and Ember back to back, but hadn't been able to add the colours in. Shrugging, Danny walked over to the drawers and pulled out a clean dark shirt and tugged it over his head. Fully dressed, he grabbed his cell phone, flipping it open to check the time.

There were seven missed calls; two from Clark and five from Chloe. Listening to the first few messages he frowned, each succeeding recording was more urgent than the last. Something must have happened while he was in the Zone. Not wasting another moment he teleported straight into Metropolis, hurrying down the steps to the basement bullpen at the _Planet_.

"Danny!" The blonde called as soon as she caught sight of him, a strange mix of anger and relief flitting through her eyes. "I've been trying to call you."

"Sorry" Danny replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as he met her eyes. "Cell phone coverage doesn't really reach the Zone. What's going on?"

Chloe's eyes narrowed as she poked him in the chest. "What's going on is that once again you weren't here and now things are going to hell."

Danny blinked. "Wait, what?" But instead of waiting for a reply he pulled her into the empty copy room. "What happened?"

Chloe released a long suffering sigh, blowing the lose strands of blonde hair out of her eyes. "Lex was abducted this morning."

"Something tells me you're not talking about run of the mill kidnappers." Danny murmured. "Brainiac...?"

"Was there." Chloe interrupted. "Lana saw the whole thing, if we didn't already know about Brainiac I would have said it was fake, but..." She sighed, shaking her head. "He left a symbol in Maier's Field. Probably you're the only one who'd be able to see it properly, but it sounded a lot like..."

"Zod's." Danny surmised, guessing by her harried tone as he leaned heavily against the wall. He should have known that Brainiac had something like this up his sleeve, but after so much time he'd grown complacent. They all had. "Where's Clark?"

"At the Fortress. He needed advice and you weren't there. Again." Her voice had picked up an underlying level of aggrievance.

"I'm sorry." Danny murmured questioningly, not fully comprehending the reason for her annoyance.

Chloe let out a sharp breath. "It's not the first time, Danny. I know... look, I get that you like being in the Zone but lately it's like whenever we need you you're always in your own little world."

He would have been indignant if he didn't know it was true. "I don't know what to say." He replied.

"Nor do I." She murmured. "It's been going on for weeks, and now we're paying for it. You know how much Clark hates going to Jor-El, but he didn't feel like he had a choice. And whatever Clark hears from Jor-El, you know it's not gonna be good."

"I'm sorry." Danny repeated. "But I don't know what I would have said even if I was there. Brainiac out strategized us, and I don't know how to counter that. I won't know until he's done whatever it is he plans to do to Lex."

"That's not the point." Chloe replied hotly. "The problem is that you weren't here. We needed you, and you weren't here. It's been going on ever since that thing with Maddie, you're either sick or missing."

"I get it." Danny replied as evenly as possible. "But half the time there's nothing I can do. I'm a ghost, not a god and I'm not omniscient."

"Where were you a month ago?" Chloe asked, randomly, if not for the underlying anger in her voice. "When Clark was told he had to kill Lionel?"

Danny sighed, shaking his head. "Brainiac." Danny replied slowly. "He's figured out who I am, if not understanding exactly what. And much as I try to deny it I have many of the same weaknesses all ghosts do." Danny paused, looking pleadingly into her eyes. He knew her anger was just coming from fear and confusion. That she was taking it out on him because she couldn't let herself do that to Clark. But it didn't stop the fact that the barbs hurt, especially considering the fact that they were grounded in truth.

He had been in the Ghost Zone when Clark had first met Maddie, and maybe things would've played out differently had he been there. And lately Clockwork had called him into the Zone for lectures so often he knew there were important things he'd missed. In all honesty it annoyed him as much as them that he was missing so much, that he was failing them like than when he knew he should have been there. But the thing with Brainiac was different, and it still scared him stiff to imagine what the man really wanted with him.

"He trapped me." Danny confessed listlessly. "Kryptonians developed some of their own ghost containing technology and he exploited that. He used their version of the Thermos and trapped me. And I hate that I don't know what he wants because I _know _he's factored me into his plans." He huffed, eyes firmly on the scuffed tile of the linoleum floor. "He wants a weapon, and Hecate knows that I'm about the biggest one there is."

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up to a pair of sympathetic emerald eyes. She didn't ask for an explanation, and Danny was glad for it. Today was turning into more of an emotional rollercoaster than he could really manage, and he was just glad for the support. "It's okay." The blonde said softly. "Whatever it is we'll figure it out."

Danny nodded, taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly as he pulled away from the wall. "Let's go over what we know." Danny suggested, setting his own emotions aside for the time being. It was easier to try and make a plan of attack than to try to deal with his own guilt. "You said Lex was abducted and Lana was there. Did she mention anything other than Zod's symbol?"

Chloe frowned, apparently seeing through his abrupt change in emotions, but she went along with it. "Apparently Brainiac is preparing Lex, what for, I don't know. But that's what she said."

"Preparing him." Danny repeated, his eyes narrowed in concentration. "What...? Brainiac said he was going to cleanse the Earth in 'preparation' but I still don't..." Danny paused, looking over at Chloe. "Brainiac wanted Clark as the vessel for Zod."

"But we stopped him then, Clark refused." Chloe replied, looking confusedly up at him.

"Right, so maybe he's looking for another way to force Clark's hand." Danny suggested.

"Or a contingency plan." Chloe returned. "What if that's what he meant by 'preparing him'?"

Danny shook his head. "Impossible, a human couldn't host a Kryptonian soul, let alone Zod's. The energies are incompatible. It'd be like using a piece of paper to contain a dam, he'd need..." Danny's eyes widened in realisation; his heart racing as he realised the extent of Brainiac's plan "The vaccine." He gasped, locking eyes with Chloe. "It was never about curing humanity, it was all about Lex. Brainiac needed a way to make a human host compatible with Zod. The vaccine isn't to protect him from a virus; it's to make sure he survives the preparations."

"But that means..." Chloe began, emerald eyes glittering worriedly.

"Lex is gonna come back different." Danny replied, nodding in acknowledgement. However, before he could expand on his thoughts he was overwhelmed by a rampaging torrent of emotion. Scorching sunlight burned against his ghostly senses as Clark's aura descended into the basement. One look at his cousin was all it took for Danny to realise that whatever Jor-El had asked of Clark, it was nothing good.

"Jor-El wants me to kill a human." Clark said bluntly as soon as he stepped into the copy room, and Danny bit back a gasp at the pain that dug into his core. Everything else was lost, the emotions and auras of everyone else around them completely drowned out by the rage and insecurity in Clark's wildly flaring solar aura.

"Why?" Danny couldn't help but ask, but seeing the grim set of Clark's eyes he knew that he was not going to like the answer. And his heart only sunk further as Clark explained what had transpired in the fortress. Every fibre of his being rebelled against the notion, he couldn't let Clark go ahead. In his mind he was already spinning out alternatives, but none of them could work. He core screamed in frustration, hating every minute that it was forced to circle something so repulsive.

"Wow." Chloe's voice murmured, breaking the silence that had built around them as Clark finished his recount. "I've heard of fathers demanding a lot of sons but asking you to commit murder? That goes way beyond domineering dad."

"Chloe, I'm not killing anyone." Clark was quick to reassure, sending a fleeting glance towards Danny. He saw the sympathy in his cousin's eyes, but somehow it rang hollow given the subject of their discussion. And Clark didn't even know who the vessel was.

Chloe just sighed, her head shaking sadly. "Well, I hate to say this, but disobeying Jor-El has always had grim consequences."

"There has to be another way." Danny interjected, hating the desperate edge that came into his voice. He couldn't let Clark kill Lex, but at the same time he couldn't let Zod escape. His core was already tingling with the need to _protect_, but he had no direction, and the knife edge they all sat on didn't yield any viable answers.

"Okay, well, what about...?" Chloe started before trailing off listlessly. "What about the vessel? I mean, why doesn't this Zod guy come fully composed?"

"All Jor-El told me was that Zod's spirit would possess a human." Clark replied.

"It's because of how he was incarcerated." Danny added in emotionlessly. "The Phantom Zone... it's for the worst of the worst. When Zod was thrown in, he was stripped of his corporeal body. He doesn't come 'fully composed' because he doesn't have a body anymore. That's why Brainiac wanted Clark in the first place; Zod needed a host."

"This is the Zod whose hobbies include mass destruction and world domination?" Chloe pressed, and Danny could feel the fear rippling through her aura. If he were like many of the other ghosts he'd be in heaven from the emotional tension in the room, but as it was he was starting to feel nauseated. There was more he could tell them, more that Clark probably deserved to know. But he couldn't bring himself to, not when Clark's predominant emotion was fear and Chloe was bordering terror. It was amazing that they were able to conceal it so well, but Danny could still tell, and he couldn't allow himself to make it worse.

Instead he just nodded sadly. "And if we're right about Lex..."

"You think Lex is the vessel?" Clark interjected, his voice a harsh mixture of surprise and anger.

Danny pressed his lips together before nodding once. "It fits. Brainiac injects Lex with a serum that gives his immune system a serious boost, and then lets us all get complacent before abducting him to 'prepare' him. Plus there's the fact that I know Brainiac wants a clean slate when Zod eventually arrives."

"That's probably why the ship took him." Chloe tacked on lethargically.

Clark frowned, and Danny could see that his cousin didn't want to believe what they were saying. Danny didn't want to believe it either, not when the consequences were so dire. "If that's right" Clark began, pausing as he struggled to keep his voice neutral. Danny felt Clark's cerulean eyes fall on his, looking forlornly between him and Chloe's emerald orbs. They all knew what he was going to say, and none of them want to hear it. "If that's right then I gotta kill Lex."

_Line Break_

Clark sighed, giving up on the notion of finishing his chores and instead headed up to the loft. He sent a fleeting glance out the window, looking out at the late morning sun. He'd spent the night plagued by the thought of having to kill, his mind conjuring up dark images of Lex falling back as blood pooled from his stomach. He had hardly slept, and he knew he wasn't the only one. His mom had been stressed because her plane had been first delayed and then cancelled, forcing both her and Lois to stay in Smallville for the extra night. And Danny hadn't come home all night, instead staying out on patrol between Smallville and Metropolis.

Clark's hands absently found their way to the drawer where he'd concealed the dagger, his fingers thumbing idly over the smooth surface of the blade. The more he looked at the thing the more he found himself doubting. He didn't want to have to do something like this, and this was just one more reason to despise his Kryptonian heritage. What sort of father told their kid to _kill_ someone? His fingers found their way to the glyph of the House of El, tracing along the infinity like shape inside the pentagon. The blade was clearly his, but the duty he'd been given was something he didn't think he could handle.

"You know, Clark," The voice of Lionel Luthor intruded on the silence as the elder billionaire walked up the wooden staircase. "In certain cultures, when a father presents his son with a knife it represents a rite of passage."

"How do you know this is from Jor-El?" Clark questioned.

Lionel gestured towards the dagger. "The glyphs on the blade, they're Kryptonian." He replied before turning a critical eye towards Clark. "What does Jor-El want you to do with the dagger?"

Clark frowned, setting the Kryptonian dagger aside and crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Clark I came here to find you." Lionel reassured, digging around in his pocket until he found a folded piece of paper. "When I woke up this morning, I found this. Must have written it in my sleep. It's another warning from Jor-El?" Clark eyed the piece of paper as Lionel foisted it to him. "Tell me what it says." The grey haired man urged.

"'Sacrifice the vessel.'" Clark managed not to jump at the sudden appearance of Danny's voice beside him. Lionel was not so lucky, his usual unshakable exterior startling slightly at Danny's abrupt arrival. "He really wants you to do it."

"The vessel?" Lionel pressed, settling himself down quickly, despite sending a confused glance at Danny. "I don't understand."

Clark found himself frowning, his eyes stuck on the black glyphs on the white piece of paper. The words pounded against his mind, only adding to the tumult of his emotions as the morality taught by his dad battled with the demands of his birth father. "Let me help you." Lionel consoled. "Clark, please. You don't have to make this decision alone."

"No, he doesn't." Danny interjected, turning his attention to Clark. "It isn't just your decision to make."

"There's nothing you or anybody else can do." Clark replied, looking between the two of them. Danny's blue eyes were empathetic, and Lionel's were shadowed with determination. But neither of them could really understand what it was that Jor-El had asked.

"Don't underestimate me, son." Lionel urged.

"Jor-El wants me to kill the person who will be the vessel." Clark replied, his voice painfully blank. But when he couldn't finish Danny picked up his thought.

"Zod will possess a human form." He explained. "And then he will destroy Earth just like he did on Krypton."

"But I can't kill anyone." Clark added, shaking his head self depreciatively, sending a dark look towards Lionel. "You of all people should know that."

"Clark," Lionel said, laying a hand consolingly on his shoulder. "The real test of a hero is knowing when the greater good will be served by an evil act. To save the Earth the cost of one life is the price that must be paid."

"You're wrong." Danny retorted, blue eyes narrow as he stared at Lionel. "The test is in finding a solution without resorting to the simple choice."

"In this case, Daniel, there can be no other solution. Not in the face of such an alternative." Lionel replied calmly.

Danny cocked his head, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Then we haven't looked deep enough. I've lived through 'the simple choice' before, and I know that simply destroying a person is never the right solution." Clark just listened; it was simpler than trying to deal with what was going through his head. And in a way he hoped that Danny suggesting that there was another solution meant that he really could find one.

"You sound like Immanuel Kant, Daniel." Lionel interjected, spouting a name that Clark didn't recognise. "Preaching the idea of 'perfect moral duties'. But those rules aren't practical in the real world. A perfect duty to not kill fails when your inaction causes greater harm."

"I'm not saying don't act, I'm saying look for an alternative solution." Danny retorted, clearly following the argument more than Clark did. "Sacrificing one on behalf of the whole may be superficially better, but it's wrong. We can't just go around acting like we have the dispensation to decide what the lesser evil is; none of us have that right. Killing an innocent only goes to corrupt the whole, not make it stronger."

"Daniel, in most situations we're not facing a war criminal of this magnitude." Lionel answered calmly. "An innocent life the vessel may be, but for the safety of the rest of the Earth it is a sacrifice that must be made."

"Even if that life is your son?" Clark interjected, realising that neither was going to give ground. Each saw the world in different ways, and while Clark desperately hoped that there was another solution out there, he needed to hear what Lionel thought when it was Lex's life in question.

Lionel looked shocked, sitting weakly back against the trunk. Clark hated seeing the pained look that crossed into Lionel's eyes, but it did give an answer in itself. "Lex is the vessel of Zod." Clark expanded, noting the way the elder billionaire's shoulders slumped slightly. Lionel clearly didn't want to believe it, and the fact that it was his son who was the vessel seemed to change something in his eyes. "He was abducted yesterday morning. Out of Maier's field."

"Maier's field, you say?" Lionel pressed, looking up at Clark. There was a strange determination in his eyes, a fierce glint that Clark couldn't fully comprehend as he nodded emotionlessly in answer. Lionel looked briefly between Clark and his cousin, the evaluative glimmer never leaving his eyes before he left in an abrupt dismissal.

Beside him Danny sighed, switching into his ghost form just as Lionel's car pulled away. "You're following him?" Clark asked, raising an eyebrow towards the younger boy.

Phantom nodded quietly, green eyes dulled as they briefly fixed on the dagger. "I have to stop him from doing something stupid." The boy replied, his feet pulling away from the ground. "I don't think anyone should be near that field at the moment. And I really didn't like the look in his eyes."

"He's going to figure you out." Clark murmured in concern, and Phantom just sent him a grim smile. The boy pulled away and was floating halfway out the loft when Clark called him back. "We will find another solution, won't we?"

Phantom bowed his head briefly, white hair falling over closed eyes before the boy looked up again. "I promise Clark, come hell or high water, Lex will come out of this okay." Clark nodded, seeing the fierce determination that sparked the boy's glowing emerald eyes. And then the boy was gone, vanished in a pool of swirling green mist as the boy teleported to wherever Lionel was.

Clark sighed, rolling his head back before once more fixing his gaze on the dagger. An evil act was an evil act, and Clark could never allow himself to kill another man. Everything Lex had done, all the horrors the man had wrought; none of them were worth being murdered for. And Clark would not let himself become that person. Danny was right. An evil act was an evil act, whatever you labelled it as, and Clark would never allow himself to fall into that trap.

His hand fisted around the piece of paper, crumpled up in his hands. _'Sacrifice the vessel'_ the message read. But as Clark walked out of the barn and into the bright sunlight, he couldn't help but think '_Not today_'.

_Line Break_

Phantom sighed, ruffling his hair as he floated above the field. Zod's symbol stood out, harsh brown against soft gold like an infected scar on the earth. It stood out more in daylight, the dark upturned soil etched into the jagged symbol of the house of Zod. Even from the air he could feel the residual energy traces radiating out from the centre, no doubt the exact point that Lex had been taken from nearly a day before.

He drifted invisibly, floating in the eddying currents of the light wind as he surveyed the field. He knew Lionel would be coming here; the glint in his eyes was too much like Vlad's when he got an idea stuck in his head. But what exactly the man intended, Phantom didn't know. Sure enough five minutes later the black car pulled up, stopping on the far edge of the field. Phantom watched as Lionel sat in the car, tension mounting as both of them waited.

Phantom felt it before he saw it, something akin to static electricity fed by striking vipers, sending a horrendous pressure pounding through his head and driving him down to the ground. There was a bright flash of light, followed by an electric sort of whooshing noise that accompanied a bright blue beam. And then it was gone, the pressure vanishing instantaneously as a figure stepped forwards out of a cloud of dust.

"Lex?" Lionel's voice called as the elder man stepped cautiously forward. "Lex? Son, are you alright?"

Lex was whirling around dazedly, his eyes a hazy wash of confusion. But Phantom's eyes widened and he had to stop himself from backing away. His aura was different. Completely different. It had become a messy integration between the normal subtlety of a human aura, and the potent power of Clark's solar Kryptonian aura. And the two aspects roiled against each other, making Phantom pull back as wave after wave of violent confusion emanated out and washed over him.

"Everything feels different." Lex gasped, dark eyes fixing on Lionel. Phantom took a steadying breath, trying to calm himself. He could feel Lionel's aura shifting, predominantly giving off fear. But the man had always been able to conceal that, and no doubt that same fear was going to turn into something damning if he was allowed to vocalise it.

"I imagine it does." Phantom interjected, letting his invisibility wash away. In front of him the two men jumped, Lex whirling to face him almost too quickly for a human. "But it can be alright."

"Phantom?" Both asked simultaneously, but it was Lex who continued. "You rescued me from the Lab."

Phantom nodded. "I did, you needed help."

"And what are you doing here now?" Lionel interrupted, his fear giving way to accusative anger in his confusion.

"I knew I was needed." Phantom replied. Normally he wouldn't pull the mysterious card, but between the two billionaires he'd be hard pressed to keep his identity intact if he didn't. "Were you hurt?" He asked, directing the question towards Lex.

Lex blinked, dazed eyes fixing once more on his father. "You tried to warn me about Fine, but I didn't listen."

"You never have." Lionel retorted, seemingly ignoring Phantom's presence. "No matter what I give you the things you've always wanted were beyond your grasp. This time you've overreached yourself."

"Did you come out here to lecture me or to help me?" Lex seethed, an almost betrayed look entering his eyes.

"It's too late to do either, isn't it?" Lionel retorted hotly, leaving no time for Phantom to dissolve the conflict. "You made a deal with the devil. He always comes to collect."

Seemingly without thinking Lex struck out, uncontrolled Kryptonian powers turning a mild slap on the cheek into a punch that threw Lionel nearly thirty feet towards his car. Without thinking Danny teleported, appearing just in time to catch the billionaire and set him down safely. There was little he could do for the broken nose, but at least Lionel wouldn't be hospitalised for a collision with his car.

"Stay quiet." Phantom commanded between slitted teeth. Lex raced over to them, overwhelming fear written on his face as he looked at the stunned form of his father.

"Dad, are you okay?" Lex asked beseechingly, genuine concern flickering through those fear filled eyes.

"What have they done to you, Lex?" Lionel spat, unheeding of Phantom's warning. "What have they turned you into?"

Lex sent his father a betrayed look, but it was too quick for the human eye to see as the man sped away. Phantom sighed, deciding that the bigger problem right now was Lex. He needed support, and if nothing else Phantom was able to offer him that.

He caught up to Lex halfway to the mansion, laying a comforting hand on the man's shoulders. Lex froze at the contact, slowing down from super speed to zero in an instant. "Your father is afraid and doesn't understand." Phantom said, looking the man in the eyes. "But you don't need to be."

"Did you see what just happened?" The man screeched. "I could have killed him."

"But you didn't." Phantom reassured. "What has happened to you is something you don't yet understand, but you will."

"You know what happened." Lex replied, eyes narrowing in suspicion as he threw Phantom's hand off his shoulder.

"I can feel it." Phantom said by way of answer. "Your energy is different than it was when I last saw you. The man you call Milton Fine has granted you access to powers a human cannot hope to understand."

"But you do?" Lex pressed, crossing his arms in front of him in suspicion.

"To an extent." Phantom replied before continuing. "I can still remember what it was to be human, unlike many of my kind." Phantom confessed, his shoulders loose as he looked at the man. He needed to try to reach out to Lex, to make sure that he didn't run away from what had happened to him. If he could keep Lex out of Fine's hands then maybe things would work out alright. It was the only thing he could think of, the only way to keep Clark from feeling the need to kill the man.

"I remember what it was like to wake up as you have, with the world feeling different and _wrong _for the change." Phantom paused, his green eyes meeting Lex's evenly. "I can help."

"You're not afraid of me?" Lex asked in clear confusion. And it was understandable; after all, there were few people in his life who accepted him for who he was, and this whole Kryptonian powers thing would only further isolate him.

Phantom offered a gentle smile before shaking his head. "Why should I be? You're not afraid of me for all that I'm a ghost, and despite what has happened, you're still you. And that's all that matters." Lex nodded once before offering his hand out. Phantom understood the gesture for what it was; a sign of faith. For whatever reason Lex was willing to trust him. And Phantom was not going to let that go to waste.

Phantom sent a fleeting glance in the direction of the Kent Farm. He knew Clark probably wanted him there with him, but right now Lex needed him more. He knew that none of this was as simple as it looked; that no doubt Brainiac was still working away with his machinations. But he had made his choice; Phantom was going to help Lex overcome this. And just as he had promised Clark earlier, he made the same promise to Lex.

"I promise, Lex, I'll help you get through this." Phantom swore, sending the man a determined smile. Clasping Lex's hand in his own and giving it a firm shake. It would be difficult, and he knew the path he was carving was far from the simplest one. But he felt in his core that it was the best way to save Lex, and he would do anything to ensure that everyone survived this. Phantom was committed to this, and there was nothing else to be said. "No matter what." He finished, letting determination flood through his bright green eyes.

Lex replied with a small smile, his blue eyes flashing. The man nodded, a small wave of happiness washing through his tumultuous aura. The two of them set off speeding through the forest as Lex led the way back to his mansion. And if there was a slight selfish edge to Les's blue eyes smile, well, Phantom chose to ignore it. He had to hope that, for once, Lex would choose to follow the right path.

* * *

><p>AN: Hey, I had to do Danny's graduation, but I'll admit I did not find it easy. I think the American service is different to what I experienced here in Australia.<p>

Kudos to anyone who gets the dunk tank reference, hope you enjoyed Danny's brief moment of peace. I wasn't planning on a carnival originally, but it just worked so well as a contrast to what was happening in the Real World.

The ethical argument between Lionel and Danny is mainly to emphasise that Danny does in fact think about right and wrong outside of his obsession. (For anyone interested it touches on the debate between deontological and consequentialist ethics, but primarily highlights the difference between Lionel and Danny's standpoints)

Okay, notes finished, I just need to say a cheerful thanks to everyone who's stuck with me for so long. I love you all, and I've thoroughly enjoyed hearing everything you have to say.

Grazie,

Bluerose


	36. Maelstrom

Chapter 35

Maelstrom

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Lana sighed, listlessly rifling through the pictures on Lex's desk. For the past month they'd been investigating Fine and the location of the black ship, hoping to figure out his specific plans. Now it seemed like that was going to be her only way of finding Lex. She slid the top pictures aside, delving down to the older layer of images showing the man in places like Myanmar and Somalia. But there was nothing that suggested a pattern, and she had no way of finding where the ship was, let alone whether Lex was still alive.

Suddenly a burst of wind blew into the office, tousling some of the pictures out of the way. She looked up, her eyes widening when she saw him; dark jacket and formal pants, and concerned eyes that glimmered beseechingly at her. Lex, _her_ Lex was back.

"I thought I'd never see you again." She heard herself murmur, pressing a hand to her heart as she closed the distance between them.

He wrapped her in a hug, strong arms closing around her so securely she couldn't help but feel safe. He was back. "It's okay." She heard him whisper, and it was only then she recognised the relieved tears that were stinging in her eyes. She took a step back, drinking the sight of him in as though he were water.

"What happened?" She asked hesitatingly, almost scared for the answer. He'd been gone for over a day, and his abductor was a man who was now known to be alien in origins. She'd been a breath away from a complete panic attack when he was taken, and now he was back she just needed to know that he was safe.

"I've been given a gift." Lex replied, looking down into her eyes. And she could see... something; a glimmer of uncertainty and confusion that she'd never seen in his blue eyes before. Lex looked away from her, walking over towards his desk. Lana wrapped her arms around herself uncomfortably, watching as his fingers laced over the mother of pearl cover of a wooden box on the corner. The man gently pried the lid open, drawing out a small silver handgun.

Lana took an involuntary step back as he turned around. There was a strange beseeching look in his eyes as he moved the gun, the silver metal catching her attention like a fire in the night. Slowly Lex moved the gun until the silver mouth rested against his open palm. Suddenly there was a loud bang, and a soft metallic clink as the shell fell to the floor. Lana gasped in fear, but hesitatingly approached when she realised that Lex wasn't in pain.

She held out her hands as she looked up into his eyes, and Lex unfolded his closed palm. Lana gulped, seeing the distorted lump of metal that had once been a bullet, caught against the flesh of Lex's hand. There was a ring of blackened gunpowder, but no blood, no wound, not even the slightest bruise from the force of the deadly piece of metal.

"Your hand..." She murmured, eyes flicking warily up to his. "There's not a scratch on it.

"You need to know the truth about me." Lex replied, meeting her firmly in the eyes. But Lana was already backing away. She'd seen that before, when those two monsters stepped out of the black ship. They'd deflected the bullets like it was nothing, steel skin immune to the weapons that should kill a normal man... and Fine had done that to Lex; made him like those monsters.

"They've turned you into one of them." She spat, her voice a confused mess of anger and fear as she withdrew from him.

"He may have their abilities, but it's still Lex." Another voice cut in, and Lana span around fearfully to face the white cloaked form of Phantom. And Lana didn't even want to know what the ghost was doing here; she only knew that it was too much. But suddenly a warm wash of peace fluttered across her heart, relieving some of her panic. It was an unquestionable feeling of safety and protection, but the exact cause she couldn't identify. All she really saw was Lex stepping towards her as his blue eyes locked with hers.

"Lana I'd never lie to you." Lex said with absolute conviction. "How could I keep something like this from the person I care about most?"

Lana nodded, biting her lip in uncertain acceptance. Lex had been honest with her; Lex had told her the truth. And she didn't want to run away on him, not when he had trusted her with this. She sent a fleeting glance to the white haired ghost, encouraged by his presence. He was able to break away from the stereotypes of his species, had managed to reach out and become something of a hero to first Amity Park and now Smallville. And if he was here, she knew there was hope for Lex. He didn't have to be like them, even if he had been given their powers he didn't have to be like them.

She bit her lip, nodding briefly before turning her attention back to Lex. Her eyes flashed in worry as she remembered something. Late the day before she'd dropped by the _Planet_; hoping to find some comfort from Chloe to settle her nerves, but she'd arrived to find her blonde friend already occupied. Clark had been there, the one thing she'd heard him say sending a harrowing shiver down her spine. _'__If that's right then I gotta kill Lex'_.

"Lex." She murmured urgently, meeting him in the eyes as she forced out her warning. "I overheard Clark talking at the _Planet_. Now that you're back... Clark, he's going to try and kill you."

Les pulled away, a tired look entering his eyes as they flicked between her and the ghost standing behind her. "It's fear, Lana." Lex commented disappointedly. "My father's infected him with it. Like he used to do to me. Clark can't stand the fact that I'm different now." He paused for a moment, blue eyes swirling with darkness as they looked down at her. "There's someplace I need to go." Lex finished, breaking eye contact.

"Take me with you." Lana beseeched, catching his wrist as he tried to walk away.

"No." Lex dismissed, shaking his head. Lana struggled to keep the pain out of her eyes, she'd only just got him back and now he planned on _leaving? _"Hey." He said, bracing her face between warm hands, as though she was the only person he ever wanted to see again. "Know that I'll always love you."

"You're talking like we'll never see each other again." Lana said, searching his dark eyes in confusion.

"That's your choice." Lex replied, his voice taking on a challenging edge. "If you want us to be together meet me on the roof of LuthorCorp Plaza. I'll be there tonight." And then he was gone, the office dors shutting closed behind him in a gust of wind. Lana frowned, bracing her hand on her chest as she struggled to catch up with what she'd just seen. It took her a full minute to figure out that he wasn't alone.

"You know what's happening to him." Lana accused, sending a reproachful glare towards the white haired ghost that seemed to have taken up residence in the sofa opposite her. "Why didn't you go with him?"

"I did." Phantom replied carefully. "Duplication can be helpful, although it has its limitations. He needs help, but you need someone who understands to talk to."

Lana just glared at him, still confused about his motives. If he was so keen to help, why hadn't he stopped Lex from being abducted in the first place? And why bother now of all times?

Phantom sighed. "I take that you are aware of Milton Fine's extraterrestrial origins?" He asked; green eyes bright against the warm glow of the afternoon sun in the office.

Lana nodded hesitatingly, still not convinced of his motives. "He's the one that did this to him."

This time it was Phantom that nodded. "Fine is playing a very convoluted game." The ghost replied idly pointed to the chess board still left on the coffee table from two nights before, the half finished game still set up. "In terms of chess, Lex is the pawn that made it to the other side of the board."

Lana watched as one of the white pawns moved across the board, seemingly by itself as Phantom motioned his hand at the board. It was unsettling to see this small display of power; the last time she'd seen a telekinetic they were trying to kill her, and it only served to remind her that the person she was talking to wasn't human. As she watched, the white pawn made it to the black side before being replaced by a tall white queen.

Lana pressed her lips together, eyes flicking between the board and the green eyed ghost as she struggled to find the meaning in his actions. "Lex got... promoted?" She asked, struggling to recall the right term. "But isn't that a good thing?"

Phantom nodded. "Normally yes," he replied his eyes turned back to the board. Once more the pieces were moving, but this time the black queen took the newly made white one. "But only if it's not part of a bigger plan. Lex is... not in the strongest position as things stand. He needs support, more than someone like me can give."

Nodding numbly she frowned, still struggling to catch up. She understood what Phantom was saying, sort of. But as her eyes strayed to the spot where the black queen now stood she couldn't help but feel vulnerable. She cared a lot for Lex, she wasn't yet sure if she could say she loved him, but she needed him in a way that she couldn't describe. When he had been taken she'd felt like her heart was being torn apart and the thought of having him back safely sent a surge of warmth through her that she couldn't describe.

"You know," Phantom commented, his green eyes staring blankly at the game board. "I never used to like chess. But I eventually had to learn. The man who... taught me... he was an expert, his favourite piece was the queen since it's the most powerful piece on the board. But I think different." Phantom paused, his hand idly reaching over the discarded pile of pieces at the side of the board. The ghost picked one of the pieces up, thumbing it between softly glowing pieces.

"There's a piece that's powerful in its unpredictability, and I think it's my favourite for that reason." Phantom said idly as the rest of the pieces shifted off the board and to the side. Lana's eyes were fixed on the ghost's, thoughtful green eyes staring at her curiously. Then the ghost smiled, the same almost cockily cheerful one he'd given her all those months before when he first showed up in Smallville.

"It's not only our own choices that determine our future." The ghost observed, standing up and away from the sofa. "It's the choices of those around us. You say you're worried about Clark's choice, but you have yet to make your own. For what it's worth, good luck, Lana." Phantom commented, turning away from her and towards the door. "I know you can make the right one." And then he vanished, disappearing in a pool of swirling green mist.

Lana sighed heavily, thinking over what the white cloaked ghost had said. He'd basically likened their lives to a chess board, and Lana loathed the insinuation. She didn't like the thought of being controlled like that, like she was just some predictable piece in that alien's game. Absently her eyes went back to the chess board, recalling the stark image of the black queen taking the white one. She frowned as she saw an aberration to the now empty board. Sitting in the centre of the game board was a solitary white piece. She frowned, reaching over to the board and turning over the ivory figure in her hands, struggling to understand the gesture.

Phantom had left her a single white knight.

_Line Break_

Martha Kent sighed, briefly setting down her suitcase as she stared at the small private jet in front of her. It was... a very kind gesture on Lionel's part. The man had come by that morning just in time to hear Lois complaining about the airline that had managed to lose their booking. It wouldn't have been that alarming if it weren't for the fact that she was supposed to be in Washington first thing tomorrow morning. She'd already pushed her flight plan back as much as possible so she could attend Danny's graduation.

But the airline had apparently suffered a crashed server overnight, and suddenly Martha and Lois had found themselves without travel options. Then Lionel had offered up his private jet, saying that it was the best way to handle an emergency. It was something that she'd never consider normally, she didn't like to accept favours like this from anyone, but this time she'd had little choice. Nervous though she was, she needed to be at the summit, it was the culmination of months of preparation and policy for her, and it was to be her first true test as Kansas State Senator.

She sighed, letting out a long calming breath as she picked up her bag once more. In front of her Lois was already handing her suitcase over to the baggage handler and Martha moved to do the same. The man sent her a kind smile as he took the bag out of her hands and proceeded to take it to the baggage compartment. She sent a fleeting glance to Lois before determinedly walking up the small staircase and into the cabin of Lionel's private jet.

"Wow." Lois breathed behind her as they both took in the decadence of the cabin. "If you're gonna be 20,000 feet above the ground, might as well do it in the lap of luxury." Martha found herself blinking as she studied the space. It was nothing like a commercial aircraft, instead the walls were all covered with a warm wooden panelling, and two luxurious seats sat over the wings on either side of the plane. Everything about it screamed of decadence, and Martha wasn't sure whether to feel grateful or overwhelmed.

"Well, enjoy it while you can." Martha commented, sitting down in one of the large armchairs. "If our flight hadn't been cancelled, I'd never feel comfortable doing this."

"Well, you might wanna start finding your comfort zone." Lois replied, taking a seat in the opposite chair. "I get the feeling that this isn't gonna be the last time you're invited to fly the Luthor skies."

"This is just a friendly gesture." Martha replied dismissively as she looked over at the young woman.

Lois raised her eyebrows sceptically. "Right." The brunette replied, casting her eyes around the cabin until they fell on a wine bottle left on the table in front of her. "Look, another friendly gesture." Lois commented, plucking a small card off the bottle and handing it across to Martha. "Card's for you."

Martha creased her eyebrows as she took the card off Lois, quickly scanning the message, blushing slightly when she got to the end. Lionel was... very sweet. But for the moment all that could be between them was a purely platonic relationship, as friends.

"Lionel can be a very generous man." She asserted as Lois's loaded stare. "I'm not interested in a relationship with Lionel or anyone."

"Really?" Lois pressed, eyebrows raised high in scepticism.

"Yes." Martha affirmed, setting the card aside on the table in front of her.

"Or are you just worried about how Clark and Danny would take it?" Lois pried, and Martha found herself pressing her lips thinly together. There was, perhaps, some truth in that statement. Lionel had become a rock in her life, someone who cared for her and would support her no matter what. And after that experience all those months ago when he'd practically sacrificed his life for hers, well, Martha couldn't help but find herself warming up to the man. "Okay. Enough said." Lois commented, turning away and looking out the window.

It had been a hard year, for all of them. She herself was still trying to come to terms with Jonathan's death. Even now she'd still wake up in the morning and find tears in her eyes when she smelled her husband's scent on the pillow beside her. It was hard. And she could see, sometimes, in the boys' eyes that they weren't over it either. And she couldn't criticise either of them for it. Clark had taken it really hard, and she knew her son still blamed himself for what had happened to Jonathan. And for Danny, it represented another death of a family member when he had already lost everything.

As things stood she knew there was a lot the boys weren't telling her. And while her worry was partially assuaged by knowing exactly where it was Danny disappeared to, it added a different worry to see reports of 'Phantom' on the news. The fact that through the year there were whole weeks where the younger boy had just completely vanished did little to comfort her fears for his well being. When Danny had come to them she'd promised to keep him safe, and she didn't know how to do that for him.

And her own boy was hardly any different. Clark used to be so open with her and Jonathan about everything, but since Jonathan's death he'd closed off. She suspected that he discussed things with Danny, but she still worried; especially when he had been so hesitant to talk to her about his initial suspicions about Lionel. It was like Clark didn't want to risk her getting caught in some unknowable crossfire. And she _understood_ that perspective, knowing how desperately she had tried to shield him from the rest of the world all his life. But she still worried terribly for him, concerned that even still Jonathan's death was clouding his decisions.

Kind though the gesture of lending her his private jet may have been, Martha couldn't help but wonder if his presence earlier that morning had an ulterior motive. Martha sighed, shaking her head to clear it of wandering thoughts. Instead she pulled out some of her meeting notes, planning on catching up on some revision before she arrived at the summit. As the plane prepared for takeoff she sent a fleeting glance at Lois; the young woman was more perceptive than she seemed, but Martha had other concerns on her mind than what exactly she wanted there to be between her and the silver haired Luthor.

_Line Break_

Clark scowled as he pushed open the hospital room door, having just got off the phone with the patient in question. Lionel was sitting on the bed, eyes shadowed and bruised around a reddened nose. By the looks it had been set, judging by the white bandaging grossing the bridge of the man's nose, but he was still out of it from the pain.

"You found Lex." Clark commented dryly, studying the man in front of him.

"Yeah." Lionel replied, slipping on his jacket suit as he prepared to leave. "He was in the field. He's..." Lionel trailed off; sounding almost, well, haunted was probably the closest emotion to the glimmer in Lionel's grey eyes. "He's not... He's changed."

Clark's frown deepened as he narrowed his eyes. "What happened to you?" He asked, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Everything Fine has been doing is..." Lionel started, pausing in confused consideration. "It was meant to _prepare_ Lex. Somehow he now possesses the same powers as you, Clark. You can't begin to imagine what he's gonna do with them."

"Why do you say that?" Clark pressed, hating the look in Lionel's eyes. He knew that Lionel was dancing around the truth; he had to be since the elder billionaire hadn't made any reference to Danny. But Clark couldn't help his own morbid curiosity.

"He wasn't raised like you, Clark." Lionel admitted hesitatingly. "I taught him to survive at any cost, to be completely ruthless."

Clark scoffed, his eyes flashing in a defiant challenge. "Maybe that's what'll save him. There's still a part of Lex that can fight this."

"You see that in him because you want to." Lionel dismissed, shaking his head tiredly. And Clark could almost see the secretive veil in his eyes, hiding whatever had happened between him, Lex and Phantom. "There's always been a dark force at work inside him."

"I don't wanna hurt Lex." Clark replied, echoing his own words from barely two hours before.

Lionel's eyes turned dark, grey icing over with sceptic disappointment as the grey-haired man met him in the eyes. "If Zod is as evil as you believe him to be" Lionel said, closing the buttons of his dark jacket, "it's easy to understand why he chose Lex to inhabit as his vessel."

Clark frowned, his arms falling to his sides as he considered Lionel's words. He knew there was a lot of truth in them; after all, _he_ was the one who had walked away from Lex for his deplorable actions. He was the one who had left Lex when he knew the man was beyond redemption. So why should he be drawing a distinction now? Lex was still the same, and in a way his actions as Lex were only slightly preferable to what he'd heard of Zod.

"What about Lana?" Lionel pressed, interrupting Clark's dark thoughts. "Someone very close to you. She's a big part of his life right now." Lionel paused, standing up from the bed and proceeding across the room. He paused halfway through the door, turning to look back at him. "Be careful what you decide to do, Clark. Which one are you willing to sacrifice?"

Clark frowned, staring blankly at the hospital room door after the eldest Luthor. His dark words echoed in his mind, pervading over his every thought. He stood up dazedly, the question turning relentlessly over in his mind. Who would he choose? The way things were he couldn't see a way to save Lex from being pulled fully into Fine's plans. And without Danny he couldn't even begin to think of a solution, not outside of the dagger Jor-El had given him. And if he had to choose, if it really came down to that point...

Clark sighed, shaking his head as he realised that his musings had brought him to the front door of the Luthor Mansion. Part of him wanted to talk to Lex, to try and convince him to stay away from Fine. But another, darker part of him wondered if that would only release a darker monster on the world. One that he couldn't face. Lex had been his friend, once, and no matter what had happened between them, Clark had always hoped that their friendship would be enough to keep Lex away from his dark potential.

"You'll never find him." A feminine voice spoke over his shoulder, and Clark jerked at the iciness as he recognised Lana's voice. He had managed to make his way to Lex's office, hoping to get the chance to talk to the man himself. He knew that Danny was there, as Phantom, probably trying to help him in the same way he had with Maddie or Victor stone, mentoring him about how to use his new powers. Trying to keep him from abusing them. But at the same time, Clark needed to talk to him, to find out where Lex really stood.

"Lana, he's in trouble." Clark replied, hearing the desperate edge of urgency that appeared in his voice.

Lana scoffed. "I suppose you're gonna tell me you came here to help."

"I don't want anything to happen to him." He reassured, but stopped when he saw the cold anger that flared in those brown eyes.

"Like what?" Lana spat venomously. "Having your best friend turn against you? I heard you and Chloe talking about _killing_ Lex. I don't know how you knew he was gonna come back different but I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

"Lana, you can't stay with him." Clark warned, hoping she'd believe him and stay away. If she wasn't there, then he wouldn't have to choose. He wouldn't be forced to make a decision that wasn't his to make. "He's not what you think."

"He told me his secret," Lana replied coolly, evenly. Her eyes were hard as they stared him down, almost accusing in their simplicity. "And it doesn't change the way that I feel about him." Clark felt his heart break a little hearing that, knowing that that fear, at least, was groundless. He had known in his heart that she would accept him for who he was, before, but hearing those words in her voice about _Lex_ broke a part of him that he didn't even know was there to break.

"What's happened... it doesn't scare you?" He asked, his voice sounding pathetic and pleading to his own ears. Because he'd wanted to hear them said to him, had wanted her to know who he was and love him all the same. And pushing her away to keep her safe, it didn't change the fact that he still loved her. He loved her so much he'd had to let her go, and now his heart was breaking all over again.

"I am not going to abandon Lex." Lana replied coldly; completely unaware of the pain that statement rent through his heart.

He didn't know how, but he held back his emotions, locking away the heartbreak until he could face it on his own. "Neither am I." Clark confirmed. "Listen, Fine would not give him powers without expecting something in return." He cautioned, and saw a flicker of almost recognition in her eyes. "It's not over, Lana. I can help him if you tell me where he is."

"How do I know you won't hurt him?" Lana accused, brown eyes chilling as they met his.

"You know me." Clark replied simply, hoping that she still understood.

"No, I don't." Lana denied, shaking her head in bleak non comprehension. "You have all these different sides to you and I can't tell if any of them is the real you." Lana paused, closing her eyes briefly and letting out a slow breath. Once more those brown eyes opened, fixing him with an almost challenging stare. "If you have ever really cared about me tell me what's happening to Lex."

Clark gulped, feeling bile catch in his throat. He couldn't tell her without putting her in more danger, but at the same time he needed her to understand. "Lana, please." He practically begged, hearing the desperation in his own voice.

"You don't trust me." She commented icily, and he got the feeling he'd just failed some kind of test. Clark could only watch as her usually kind face became a cynical mask. "You've never trusted me, have you? I don't know how I could have ever loved you." Not looking back she turned away, storming out of the office. Clark was frozen, the pain in his heart becoming pure agony at the sheer venom in her voice.

"And to think," A new voice cut through the darkening office, having appeared out of nowhere mere moments before. "Her loyalty could have been yours if you'd been honest with her. I'm sure Zod will cherish her allegiance."

Clark growled, snapping around to deliver Milton Fine a fist straight to the gut. The man went flying, crashing into one of the wooden bookshelves at neck breaking velocity. The man had the audacity to appear _now_. Just as Lana took the broken remnants of his heart and trampled them with her spiteful words?

The pooling agony in his chest turned vicious, and his voice was barely more than a ferocious snarl as he spat at the dark haired man. "Leave Lana out of this!" He demanded, nostrils flared as he glared down at the man who had started all of this.

"It's your own fault, Kal-El." Fine retorted, standing up from the shrapnel completely unharmed. "You were supposed to be the vessel but your father's spirit was too strong in you. If you'd have released Zod the first time they would have been spared." The man paused, eyes considering as he stalked almost predatorily behind him. "I'm giving you one more chance."

"Nothing could make me release a monster like Zod." Clark growled between gritted teeth, turning once more to meet the man in the eyed.

Fine didn't seem dissuaded. "Except maybe your one weakness: Humans." He commented, moving away from Clark so he could lean over Lex's desk, a false imitation of the master in his castle. "They're so fragile. They'll never survive without their technology. No matter how crude. Take that away, and they'll devolve back to the animals they really are. Quite like that pet spirit of yours."

Clark gnarled, heat flashing into his eyes, warning the man to back off. Fine smirked, seemingly proud to have elicited a reaction. "Ah yes, I know all about your little defender. His kind is quite... malleable once you know what drives them. Just a small push in the right direction and they'll do whatever you want."

"Danny's not a part of this." Clark spat, glaring over the desk at the brunette.

"His very nature makes him part of this, Kal-El. He has no choice, and whatever loyalty he harbours towards you will be eclipsed by the demands of his obsession. Eventually that drive will force him to bend to Zod's will." Brown eyes lit with mocking superiority as the smirk deepened. "So, Kal-El, the stakes are set, and you can't save all of them."

"I'll never do what you want." Clark hissed instinctually, glaring solidly at the man. Fine was wrong, about everything. And Clark promised himself that no matter what he would find some way to destroy this monster of an example of artificial intelligence.

"Then it begins." Fine smirked, eyes glittering as a soft white light enshrouded his right palm. "Enjoy the show." The man pressed his hand against Lex's laptop computer, and suddenly there was a massive electrical spark. The lights overhead exploded, a shatter of glass glittering in the temporary highlight of electricity as the bulbs were overloaded. Clark gulped, staring at the abruptly blank space where Fine had once stood.

Cautiously he walked around the desk, casting his eyes over the laptop screen in desperate hope that he could fix this. But the screen was darkened, Kryptonian glyphs in neon green scrolling vertically across the screen like a computer in _The_ _Matrix_. He tried to see through the coding, but it was hopeless, and the one person he knew who could read both Kryptonian and computer coding was currently tangled up in one of Fine's plans. He slammed his fist angrily into the desk, trying to vent his frustrations, but he found no respite. Letting lose a shaky breath he frowned, turning his thoughts to Metropolis, and a blonde haired reporter who happened to be competent in computer code.

_Line Break_

Phantom closed his eyes tiredly, listening more than seeing the city below him. When Lex had seen Lana at the Mansion he had requested that Phantom stayed hidden unless he was really needed. Lana had been on the cusp of a panic attack when he revealed himself, extending his own aura to help quell her fears. He'd duplicated, leaving one of himself behind to talk to Lana while simultaneously attending to Lex. It wasn't fun maintaining duplicates so far apart, but it had been necessary as both Lex and Lana had needed to quieten their fears after that discussion.

"How did you die?" Lex asked idly from the balcony alcove, forcing Phantom out of his thoughts. He had long since reabsorbed the duplicate, and the two of them were currently standing atop the clock tower in Metropolis. Lex had wanted to go to LuthorCorp Plaza, but Phantom had instead guided them to a building with more open access to someone still stuck walking.

Phantom shook his head, trying to fight back his instincts at the question. "Most of us don't like talking about it." He replied, green eyes meeting Lex's blue evenly. "None of us died happily and it's not fun being forced to remember." He sighed, shaking his head and looking away. His eyes gazed over the city, watching as the sun sank into the horizon.

"It was an accident." He eventually said, breaking the silence that had built between them. "I was hanging out with some of my friends, you know, just being a kid. Strictly speaking we should never have been there, but we were. They sorta dared me to check something out, and I ended up electrocuted."

"Do you ever blame them?" Lex asked, making Danny blink. He'd gotten lost again, each time he recalled that memory it was so vivid in his mind that it was almost real. Forcing the memory out of his mind he shook his head.

"Never." He replied firmly. "I loved them, and they supported me after it happened. I'm eternally grateful that they were there for me, didn't think any differently of me even when they knew I was a ghost."

Lex nodded; his own eyes speculative as the young billionaire stared out over the city. "They accepted you, even after..."

Phantom smiled and nodded. "They were true friends, we were inseparable as kids and even my dying didn't destroy the friendship we had."

"Are they... Do you still see them?" Lex asked cautiously.

Phantom bowed his head, white bangs falling over his eyes. "They're gone." He replied. "They were able to move on." He shook his head, clearing his mind of painful emotions as he looked back at the billionaire. "But they were the ones who reminded me of who I am. When I first realised what had happened, they were the ones who encouraged me to keep going, kept me from feeling like a monster and sort of... reminded me of what it means to be human."

"But you're not." Lex pointed out. Phantom pressed his lips together in thought. Lex did need a friend right now, but revealing his secret to the man at the moment would probably cause more harm than good. He didn't want to risk it being taken as a betrayal of trust.

"No, I'm not." Phantom replied, using the half truth for all that it was. "But that doesn't necessitate that I'm inhumane either. For the most part I can _think_ like a human and _feel _like a human. And I know that just because I'm a ghost doesn't mean I have to take my differences out on humans."

Phantom sighed, floating over to stand near where Lex was. "It's like you said to Lana; 'I've been given a gift'. And I chose to use it to help humans."

He watched as the young man nodded in consideration, staring out over the city reflectively. Phantom could imagine that he'd done the same thing before from his LuthorCorp Plaza office, musing about how much power his wealth brought. But this was a different type of power than Lex was used to, and Phantom could still sense the difficulty he was having in adjusting. Occasionally the man's aura would flare in a way that was repulsively similar to a maddened Vlad's, but other times it vibrated in such a similar way to Clark's that he'd find himself looking for his cousin.

"How much do you know about Milton Fine?" Lex asked, the question seemingly random in contrast to what they'd just been talking about.

"A little." Phantom replied with a dismissive shrug. "Enough to know that he's bad news."

"You've met him." Lex commented dryly, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Phantom nodded. "Twice. Won the first round, lost the second. To be perfectly candid I'm hoping not to have a third."

"So you don't know what he's planning?" Lex pressed, and Phantom got the distinct impression that he was being utilised as a resource, rather being respected as a friend. He tried to force back the wave of disappointment that came over him at that thought, all this year he'd been trying to show Lex to view other people as an end in themselves, rather than a means to an end. But it seemed that Lex wasn't able to do that, not with him in his ghost form.

"I could hazard a guess." Phantom replied, allowing a frown to pass his lips. "But..." He paused, his gaze falling to the horizon. The lights on one of the offices had just gone out. All at once.

"Something's wrong." Phantom murmured disconnectedly, watching as the building stayed enshrouded in darkness.

There was an ominous crackling silence as the building beside it blinked into shadow.

A third building shut down in quick succession, not even a second after the first.

Buildings four five and six blacked out simultaneously, promising something foreboding as the blackness clawed outwards.

From there it was like a blanket of darkness, rolling out across the city as one by one each building shut down. In the streets below the traffic lights blacked out, and the confused screeching of brakes and blaring of horns echoed up to their building top.

Behind them, the eternal white light of the clock tower flicked off, leaving both Phantom and Lex bathed in the dark light of the new moon sky.

Phantom turned a wary eye to the centre of the city, watching as the golden orb of the _Daily Planet_ was first encased in darkness before it ground to a shuddering halt. And the entire city seemed to hold its breath, frozen in confusion as the night bathed them in blackness.

It started quietly, the cry of a child panicked by the sudden onset of darkness. That cry was joined by a second and then a third. The first sound of the blackened night was one of confused fear.

But the fear didn't last long, quickly giving way to a wave of hysteria that washed through the city so powerfully that Phantom felt it all the way to the core of his being. The hysteria brought its own sounds, echoic screams that bounced hollowly off skyscrapers, quickly joined in by masculine growls and animalistic cawing.

The second wave died down quickly enough in its own right, but the third sound of the night ripped through Phantom with such agony that he found himself frozen in place. Humans cannot handle hysteria for long, not in its most extreme state. Instead, it morphs, and can turn even the purest soul to its darkest most basal tendencies. The third sound of the black night was chaos, unbridled and unrestrained. And Phantom felt it.

He felt as the first people gave in, using the cover of darkness to resort to petty crimes.

He felt as others followed, mob mentality taking over as the people on the streets were swarmed by thieves and arsonists.

He felt the first blow, a man taking his theft too far as he took a baseball bat through a car window.

He felt the crowd pause, just for a moment, before pure anarchy descended.

Phantom gasped at the sudden onslaught, his core suddenly screeching at a volume he'd never heard before, no longer a gentle whisper but a screaming banshee wailing for him to _Protect! PROTECT! PROTECT! _Behind him he heard Lex ask what was wrong, but it was barely audible over the demands of his core. He knew, with his rational mind that he needed to stay with Lex. Lex needed help, needed to be protected from Brainiac. But already his vision was clouding in front of him, his core throbbing in agony with every second he delayed going down and protecting the masses.

"I can't..." Phantom murmured, pupils blown in pain as he stared down at the city. He felt his breath catch in his throat, feeling sympathetic agony as down below a man was trampled under the mob. He could feel the fear billowing up around him, feel the pain as people were hurt and he failed them. Feel the trauma with every instant that the mob surged forth, bringing lawless anarchy to the darkened streets of the once gleaming city.

Clark had once asked what it felt like, how he separated his obsession from a hero complex. And he'd really struggled to explain it, not when they both were able to motivate him into greater action, and both left him with guilt if he found out that he'd failed. But the difference was apparent now, even if it had never been before, he could feel it. Because the pain was crippling; forcing him to act and keeping him from moving all at once until he was completely paralysed. But the longer he stayed there, the worse it got, the more intense the demands on his core and the more pain he felt in his inaction.

"Lex," He struggled out, turning his eyes in the direction of the man. But he saw nothing other than the chaos in the streets below. "I... I can't stay. I have to help them." He paused, biting back a groan as he felt a woman below fall under a shower of shattering glass.

Phantom didn't know what Lex was thinking, what he saw, he himself could barely see past the blurring pain in his core. "You need..." He gasped once more, rubbing a hand against his chest as a teenager was rendered unconscious when a baseball bat struck his head. "You need to find Lana, your powers... they were given to you by a monster... But you don't have to be one. It's our choices that define us, how we're seen and how we see ourselves. You... you don't have to do what he wants you to do. Know that..." He trailed off, green eyes blurring out completely as he felt it.

Phantom let out an agonised cry into the night as he felt it, felt her. She was young, maybe only six years old. She'd been with her parents when the darkness struck, on one of the busier streets driving home. And he felt it, every agonised second as she was dragged out of her car, the mob terrifying around her. He heard her echoing screams down to his core as she cried into the night for help, for someone to save her, for someone to _protect_ her. And he felt it. Every breathless heartbeat as a single stray bullet made its way into her heart.

Unseeing eyes watched as her life faded from the world, an agonising chill sweeping over his core. In an instant any rational thought was completely gone, destroyed by the mob just as she had been. He couldn't think of Lex any further, couldn't think of names or places or people. He was a ghost, and he had failed to _protect_ her. And that was all he knew.

A chill swept through the darkened night as Phantom swept down into the fray, splitting up into six ghostly duplicates as he reached down into the chaotic city. Uncomprehending eyes evaluated the swarming masses, calculating the best way to save them, from each other and from themselves.

Six different Metropolis streets froze for a bare instant as Phantom landed, stilled by his chilled ghostly presence. And he spoke, words of strength and hope that made the crowd pause, disband and return to safety as best they could. Even though he would never remember the words he'd recall individual faces, a man with a leather jacket and brown eyes, a young woman with red hair and pink lipstick. But he was not enough, a candle to an inferno.

And for every person he protected, his core screamed in failure as five more were injured in the swarming mob. And so Phantom fought, seeking to incapacitate the most violent members of the mob and simultaneously protect the most innocent. Time became meaningless, unnecessary. All that existed for him in that moment was the crowd and his core, stretching him in all directions as he succeeded and failed in equal measure. All he could comprehend was his obsession, the integral basest fibres of his being as he struggled to fulfil his purpose. His core ceaselessly demanding him, shrieking at him; _PROTECT! PROTECT! PROTECT!_

_Line Break_

Chloe let out a shaky sigh as she stared at her computer screen. Like every other in the room it was reading weird coding in a language only she recognised as Kryptonian. She bit her lip, staring at the panicking crowd as they flooded out of the room; reporters who she'd worked with for months quickly became part of a fleeing horde, brought into a hysterical frenzy as soon as the lights had shut down. She herself was struggling, still feeling guilty for the way she'd lashed out at Danny the previous day.

She'd been scared, downright terrified. And she'd let that fear get the better of her. The truth was that Danny was there for them more than he wasn't, saving the day. But the news of Lex's abduction had set her on edge, and between that and Clark going to the Fortress it had been easier to attack Danny for being away than deal with it for herself. And he'd just taken it, he hadn't defended himself, not really, and even when he was recounting Fine – Brainiac's – plans for him, he hadn't gotten angry with her.

That was something she liked about Danny, there was just something _safe_ about him. Like no matter what he'd just be there to protect her. And it was scary that he hadn't been. But that fear didn't give her the right to attack him the way she had. And now she wholeheartedly regretted it. But panic had set in as soon as that computer virus attacked the servers, seemingly taking everything out with it. And from the news that was reaching them, it was literally everywhere, stopping everything. The only electronic thing that was working properly was the emergency evacuation lights and the emergency frequency on the radio.

"Chloe?" She heard a recognisable voice call, piercing through the clamour of escaping people as Clark Kent pushed through to her desk. "What's going on?" He asked, and it was clear that even he was not immune to the panic that had set in across the entire city. "The street lights are out."

"You tell me." Chloe commented, maintaining her calm as best as possible as she twirled a computer monitor around to face Clark. She had to keep calm, she always had around Clark. She knew he relied on it too much for her to risk panicking in front of him herself. With the way his eyes widened she could see that he knew something more about what was going on.

"It's already reached Metropolis." Clark murmured, blue eyes filled with fear as he looked between the screen and her.

"You know where it started?" Chloe pressed, if only to confirm her fears.

Clark pursed his lips. "Smallville." He replied tersely. "Fine did something to one of Lex's computers. Thought if anyone could figure out what it was, it'd be you."

Chloe released a brief huff. "It's an electronic virus and it's spreading faster than I can track it." She replied doubtfully. "After it scaled every firewall and knocked down all the communication it's infecting most of the city's infrastructure."

"All because of me." Clark emitted. "I refused to release Zod. Now Fine's trying to force my hand."

"Well, he's definitely playing hardball." Chloe commented, pushing the conversation away from Clark's self doubts. Usually she'd be the first to comfort him and try and force him to see clearly, but they just didn't have the time. She could only hope that finding Clark some sort of direction would help. "I mean... elevators, gas mains, subways; the entire city is shutting down. I mean, it's like Y2K on acid."

She shook her head, turning up the volume on the battery operated radio. "The complete and sudden collapse of the city's infrastructure has caused havoc and panic throughout Metropolis." A crackling voice accounted. "Reports of scattered looting and violence are beginning to surface, with no sign of ending. Localised evidence suggests the appearance of the ghost '_Phantom_', recognised as limiting numbers of physical assaults, but as the..."

"Danny's out there." Chloe commented sadly, realising that things had to be getting really bad if he hadn't even come to talk to her before intervening with the crowd. "Clark, if this continues every major city in the world is gonna be infiltrated."

Suddenly there was a loud screech and the sound of shattering glass. Chloe blinked, realising that all of a sudden there was half a car wedged into the window where she'd just been standing. Clark's arms were wrapped protectively around her as the glass was deflected off his skin, keeping her safe as he formed a living shield.

Clark growled and turned to leave, but Chloe grabbed his arm and pulled him back, realising that he planned on going out and helping Danny in the city. "Clark, there's no use." She commented exasperatedly. "You can't save everyone."

"And I can't release Zod." Clark retorted.

Chloe shook her head, unable to see any way out of it other than the one thing they wanted never to do. "Well, what if Jor-El was right?" Chloe asked and hated herself for doing it. "I mean, what if the only way to stop Zod and stop Fine and stop all of this is to just destroy that vessel?"

Clark's eyes darkened and Chloe's heart ached at the thought of what this would do to him, but there was no choice. "I don't wanna leave you here." Her dark haired friend said, not responding to her at all.

"You have to." Chloe said, searching those blue eyes desperately. "Clark..." She said, and part of her wanted to finally cast everything aside and kiss him, fear and desperation making her realise that this could be the last time she ever saw the man who she'd unrequitedly loved for so many years.

But as she looked in Clark's eyes she realised that he wasn't the one she wanted there, he hadn't been for some time. Instead she wished she was staring into a different pair of blue eyes, eyes that had shown her Metropolis from the top of a skyscraper and had glimmered mischievously as their owner was covered in flour. The eyes of the boy who'd held her hand and told her she wasn't crazy when she thought she was going insane, who always somehow managed to make her feel _protected, _the blue eyes of the boy who'd first saved her life all those months ago when a plant ghost took over Smallville.

Instead she pulled Clark into a tight hug, hoping that it would be enough while knowing that it wasn't. "I don't know if I'm ever gonna see you again." She heard herself murmur, but it was lost in the vacuous silence of the office.

There was a moment of stillness, Clark looking confusedly at her, but then the phone rang. Of all the impossible things that was happening at the moment one of the payphones was ringing. Clark sent her a dark look before walking over to the booth, cautiously lifting the handset off the receiver. From this distance it was hard to hear, the voice slightly muffled by the phone. But when the person on the other end spoke she immediately recognised who it was.

"Hello. Clark." Lex's dark, almost malevolent voice spoke, and Chloe could hear the derisive daring that echoed in the bald man's tone. "I heard you wanna see me."

And then Clark was gone, the phone almost crushed back into the machine, leaving Chloe completely alone in a room filled with shattered glass and glowing screens of black and green. Chloe sighed, releasing a tense half sob as she sunk back into her own desk chair. Her eyes stared at the computer screen, hoping to discern any meaning. But it was pointless, and the only way she could see out of this was to hope for a miracle.

Almost reluctantly she turned the volume on the radio back up, listening carefully for anything that sounded like a green eyed, white haired ghost as she hoped for the end of this panic.

_Line Break_

Lois started awake suddenly, shaking her head to clear it of the foggy dream she'd been lost in. It took a minute for her to orient herself, but it was clear that she and Martha were still on Lionel's jet, which was apparently much easier to sleep in than a military chopper. She yawned, noting that the sky outside her curtained window was dark. It wasn't entirely unexpected, after all the plane was scheduled to arrive in DC around eight.

"You'd tell me if I had drool all over my face, wouldn't you?" She asked dazedly, sending a fleeting glance towards Mrs K. She was still involved in reading the same papers as when the plane took off, and Lois couldn't imagine how dry that was. "What time is it?" she requested as her sleep addled mind started waking up.

"It's about ten minutes to nine." Martha replied, setting aside the papers to look at her watch.

Lois's eyes creased in concern. "And we aren't there yet?" She remarked, sending a fleeting glance towards the closed door of the cockpit. "We should be strolling down Pennsylvania Avenue by now."

"You're right." Martha replied, but she didn't sound worried. "I lost track of the time. We must have hit some strong headwinds."

Lois shook her head. She may not be the brightest crayon in the box, but with her military upbringing she knew how long a flight that distance should take. And they'd been up for way to long. "More like gale-force. We should've landed an hour ago."

"Lois, relax." Martha dismissed complacently. "There are a million reasons why we could've been delayed. I'm sure everything's okay."

Lois shook her head in denial. There was a sinking feeling in her gut saying that something was wrong, call it years of military bred paranoia but a simple flight didn't take this long unless there was something drastically wrong. Like 'we should have been diverted and landed at a different airport' wrong. Before they'd taken off she'd spoken with the pilot, but he'd seemed to be a fairly professional guy. Not particularly remarkable, he had brown eyes and brown hair, the sort of cookie cutter look of an everyman. So it should have been fine.

But her gut was clenching in anxiety, and instead of being complacent she looked out the window. "I might have flunked geography," she commented, eyes widening in genuine fear as the image burned into her eyes. "But the last time I checked the East Coast, it didn't look like this." And she gulped as she felt Martha come across to look over her shoulder, both of them staring down at the snow capped tops of what had to be the Rockies. They were so far off course it wasn't even funny, and Lois even recognised one of the passes that she'd flown over with her dad when she was twelve. They weren't even in the Unites States anymore; their plane was currently cruising over the far northern reaches of the Canadian Rockies.

Panicked, she pulled away from her chair and marched over to the small intercom panel by the cockpit. Pressing the button she demanded to talk to the captain, but there was no response. She pounded once more against the door before sending a worried glance towards Martha. Something was horrendously wrong, and the fact that their pilot wasn't speaking to them said that Mr Plain and Boring, wasn't quite so unassuming as she'd originally thought.

The plane lurched, suddenly gaining altitude, and even Lois could tell they were now going way too high. The air in the cabin was thinning too quickly, and Lois knew that it wouldn't hold out for much longer. Desperately she took up her attack on the door again, frantically hoping that she could get through to the man on the other side.

"Open the door!" She heard herself yell, but already it was distant as black spots danced on the edge of her vision.

"Lois," Martha's voice came weakly through their cabin, pulling Lois temporarily back to the reality of their situation. "I'm not feeling well."

"Neither am I." Lois replied, sagging heavily against the door as it stubbornly remained locked. Dazedly she wondered how the pilot could survive like this, and her mind distantly wondered if he was some kind of alien that didn't need to breathe at all. That would be useful... not needing to breathe. That way her lungs wouldn't be burning and maybe she'd be able to think.

"I can't breathe." A hysterical voice gasped, and it took Lois a minute to see through the dizzying fog to realise that Mrs Kent had just collapsed. There was something she needed to do... but it was so hard to think.

"Wait a minute, Mrs. Kent." She gulped, gasping for air as once more she slammed her hand against the intercom, not even hearing her own desperate pleas for more air. But she was met with silence as once more she sagged to the floor.

Her eyes couldn't focus properly on anything, fixating and then unfocusing a moment later. Through the encroaching darkness she saw a rectangular panel on the roof, but it took too long to place what it was. She'd seen it on corporate jets, the little panel that held the oxygen masks for emergencies. As soon as she placed it she was moving, fumbling across the cabin as oxygen starved limbs started to fail.

Weakly her fingers found a knife, heedless of the crystal tumblers that had been shattered in her search. Glassy shards sliced into her hand, but she didn't care. All she could see through the darkened tunnel of her vision was the rectangular panel. Taking as deep a breath as she could manage she lurched towards it, the knife scratching hopelessly against the plastic.

She didn't know how long it took; she couldn't focus on anything more than the little panel that signified their last opportunity for survival. A small smile came to her lips as the panel released and an oxygen mask tumbled down towards her, the emergency system activating and sending the rest tumbling down around her. The darkness was growing as she fumbled towards the mask, but she was too weak, and the world was crumbling around her as helpless fingers clutched around air. She felt her knees buckle and then nothing as the quiet embrace of black unconscious overtook her.

_Line Break_

Phantom gasped as another bullet lodged into his chest; the fifteenth time he'd felt it happen in the last hour. One of his duplicates had already been destroyed, overwhelmed by the sheer destructive rage present in the city. Even now it felt like with every life he managed to save there were two more that he couldn't. He'd caught bullets, blocked flying baseball bats and stopped various heavy, blunt and falling objects from inadvertently killing people as looters were overtaken by other members of the rabble.

After the initial surge of primal ghost instincts he'd managed to regain some semblance of rationality, not enough to truly be considered _human_, but more than a basal ghost. His core was still screaming at him, informing him of every single time he failed. But the lives he was able to save gave him the strength to keep fighting, and that was all he could hope for. He could think, could plan one step ahead and save two lives at the cost of minor injury than just one with the person coming out unharmed. It wasn't much, but it helped.

Some distant part of him realised that he couldn't keep this up forever; already another of his duplicates was weakening as a dark curly haired young woman was crushed under a falling air conditioning unit. And the city was alight with pandemonium and burning fires as the people fell further and further into anarchy. People were crowding the streets like wild animals, blocking the traffic and amassing a flurry of detritus debris. More than once he'd encountered a police SWAT team, pushing through the mob with their bullet proof shields, only to be pushed back by the sheer volume of people who were being consumed by the chaos.

He ducked under a metal pipe as a man swung it at him. Absently he caught it as the man came back for a second swing, turning his eyes towards the man. Glowing green eyes met angry hazel for a minute, the crowd seeming to slow as Phantom took in the man. He was middle aged, maybe in his mid forties, but he had the leather clad look of a biker gang member gone to seed, greying ponytail tied back loosely and black nylon pants held up by a pot belly.

"Is this really who you want to be?" Phantom asked the man, gesturing his head towards the pipe and the horde around them. The man froze, his face turning pale as he seemed to stop and really look at the barbaric nature of the rioting people around him. He shook his head infinitesimally, seemingly shocked by what he was seeing. Phantom nodded, managing to turn the man intangible and walk him through the crowd to the safety of an apartment building.

For him it was like taking a breath of fresh air, people scared or disillusioned by the insanity outside had retreated to the upper levels of their buildings. Anything accessible on street level had been abandoned, but Phantom had found small pockets of people gathering on internal staircases or on the higher floors who were willing to wait it out, gathering together for shelter and protection.

The streets outside were chaos, and Phantom kept finding himself disoriented by the _fear_ and _anger_ and _rage_ that was emitting from the auras of the mob. It was so powerful and so strong that it seemed to conglomerate into one single writhing mass that threatened to overtake even him. But here, in the quiet of the buildings it was different, people uniting together in love and compassion, willing to take care of each other and protect each other from the maelstrom that battered at their windows.

He left the man with a small family, none of whom appeared startled by his appearance. As he left they gathered around their radio, listening to an emergency report that Phantom himself found he couldn't bear to. Instead he drifted out of the building, floating back down into the crowd as he prepared once more to keep fighting. It was disheartening to see that in his absence even the small path of tranquillity he'd cleared had been claimed back by the mob, but he had to press on. Every so often he'd come across an individual who was willing to be rescued, and for him that would have to be enough.

Phantom darted around a braking car, pulling back as the mob surged forth to shake the small red vehicle off its suspension. Glass was shattered and the driver was pulled out. And it wasn't the first time he'd seen such a thing that evening. People were just diving in, panic driving them to steal whatever they could for themselves. As the crowd moved on like a school of piranha he sighed, instinctively knowing that it wasn't going to be the last time he saw something like that before this was over.

A strange wind blew, moving his cloak ethereally around him and Phantom paused, seeing a familiar face amongst the surging crowd. The brown eyed man smirked before racing away, moving too fast for a human eye to see. Phantom snarled, gaining a second wind as he pushed himself faster and faster, catching sight of the dark jacketed form of Brainiac as he pulled around a building and into a darkened alleyway.

The man was still, staring at him as steam rose eerily up from a sewage line, creating a pooling mist that eddied in the space between them. "Interesting." Phantom heard the man comment, stalking up to him almost nonchalantly. A moment later he felt cold hands catching his cheeks as the man cupped his face, forcibly turning his head to either side as the man's brown eyes studied him intensely.

"You truly are a most fascinating specimen, Phantom." The man said conversationally. "Usually your species seems to demonstrate power by making yourselves look larger than you are, yet you choose to alter your physical features." Phantom gasped as he found himself thrown heavily into a wall, crumbling bricks falling off him in a fine dust as he pulled away.

He didn't entirely know what the man was talking about, but then again he didn't really care. Brainiac was behind all this, and if he could just manage to keep Brainiac preoccupied, delay his plans a bit, then maybe Clark would be able to come up with a decent solution. "I don't need to look bigger than I am; it isn't the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog that counts."

Brainiac laughed. "Amusing that you use that analogy, Phantom; after all, last time you took such vehemence against being called Kal-El's pet."

"You're the one that started it," Phantom quipped, throwing an ectoblast towards the man and sending him flying into a pile of trash cans. "And who am I to come up with new material when you dig yourself such a deep hole."

"Then I suppose," Brainiac commented, metal clanging as the destroyed trash cans rolled away. "We'll just have to see if your bite matches up to your bark. Little Doberman." Brainiac smirked before surging forward, his knuckles morphing into silver spikes as the man landed a crippling punch to Phantom's abdomen. In that instant Phantom's concentration fractured, dispelling every one of his remaining duplicates in a wash of distractingly painful memories.

Phantom snarled, retaliating with a blindingly fast spinning kick that threw the man away and into the alley wall. He didn't give Brainiac a moment to recover, immediately following up with an ectoplasm-charged punch. For a moment he felt Brainiac's metallic flesh give, but it barely lasted an instant before a driving lance of cold steel was driven into his leg, forcing him to withdraw.

"Very good." Brainiac taunted, the sword like protrusion on his hand retreating back into his flesh. "You certainly are a skilled fighter, spirit. A quality that Zod will demand of you when he takes his proper place as ruler of this planet."

"I won't be his soldier." Danny spat, hurling another ecto blast towards the artificial man.

"You won't have a choice." Brainiac retorted, charging towards him before he could think. The man caught his shoulders, driving him through the alley wall and forcibly pushing him out the other side of the building. Phantom growled, directing all his focus towards the task of turning intangible. A merciful moment later he slipped out of the man's iron grip, tumbling to a halt at the back of a warehouse. On the ground was a shard of glass, glimmering in the half light of his glowing aura.

Phantom paused, temporarily distracted by his reflection. He didn't look like his usual self, either human or ghost. His eyes were a bright shade of silver, and he caught odd speckles of green and blue caught in their depths. His snow white hair was tipped with ends of obsidian black. His usually black tunic and pants had turned a bright shade of ivory, and even his glowing aura seemed to shine with a different shade of silver. It was a version of himself he'd seen only once before, in the _Smallville Ledger_ where he'd been described as the 'Phantom Angel'.

Gritting his teeth in further determination, he searched his surroundings for his adversary. He wouldn't allow himself to be distracted now, not with so much hanging in the balance. Silver eyes fixed on a figure in the distance, calmly picking his way through the razed remnants left at the back of the warehouse, although Phantom couldn't tell whether it had been left by the mob or not. The rest of the world felt strangely distant, closed off. Like all that really mattered was the man in front of him.

Brainiac grinned practically taunting him, his brown eyes smirking in the darkness. Phantom barely felt the charge coming before he was assaulted by a full frontal heat wave directed from the man's eyes. The instant the beam made contact he knew he was in trouble; the beams were so much hotter, so much more ruthless than anything Clark had ever thrown at him that he gasped in agony. He felt the beam burn through his shirt and scorch into the flesh of his chest, throwing him violently backwards and further from the warehouse.

Phantom came to a skidding stop, momentarily dazed by the pain of the attack. Blinking he stared overhead, realising that they'd ended up in one of Metropolis' power relay stations. Phantom stood to one knee, pressing a hand to his chest and hissed in pain at the stinging sensation the action elicited. Letting out a shaky breath he stood up fully, ignoring the protestations of his aching body as Brainiac approached once more.

"You are a determined little one, aren't you?" The man mocked, tipping his head sideways in a derisive salute, almost giving Phantom the impression that he was being played with. "But determination doesn't get you anywhere without the skill to back it up."

"Oh I've got the skill." Phantom retorted, focusing just enough to teleport behind the man and deliver a quick energy blast to the head. He may not be able to move as fast as a Kryptonian, but he knew full well how to use what he had to get around that. "Question is; do you?" Brainiac was sent flying, crashing into one of the powered down transformers. There was an almighty crash as the metal warped around the man, destroyed in the impact.

Brainiac stood up, heedless of the destruction around him. His smile turned sinister as his hands briefly sparked blue. "Considering that the virus infecting this world's infrastructure is of my own design; I dare say I still have the upper hand." Phantom froze, hearing the whirring of the generators coming back to life. The relay station was working but... the lines out had all been destroyed.

Phantom's eyes widened as he realised what was happening, he barely dodged out of the way when a bolt of electricity came his way, splitting off from one of the loose cables as Brainiac easily flicked it in his direction. Phantom braced himself, allowing the electricity to make contact. Gritting his teeth he allowed it to flow through him, into his inner core where the rest of his electrical powers resided.

He sent a shaky smirk towards Brainiac before lashing out with his own attack. In an instant he'd thrown a tendril of ectoplasmic rope out towards the man, wrapping it tightly around his torso before releasing that same electricity back along the line. Brown hair sparked as the additional ectoplasmic charge rendered visible damage on the artificial man, making him stagger back and collapse back into the destroyed metal of the transformers.

Not giving the man a chance to recover, Phantom pushed himself forwards, summoning his sword as he went. He was weakened, quite drastically so, and he knew it. But Brainiac was weakening too. Already Phantom could see the touches of black bile tinging the man's lips, indicating that he'd rendered some internal damage to the system with one of the blows he'd landed. Phantom gulped, drawing the sword in both hands as he pressed it heavily against Brainiac's chest.

The brown eyed man looked up at him, half trapped in the rubble. A small amount of oily black oozed out of darkening tear ducts, mingling with the bile on the man's lips. Nearly lifeless eyes smirked at him, mocking him with the sudden laughter that pealed from the man's black stained lips. "Do it." The man grinned, taunting him with his derisive laughter. "Destroy me. You may have won this battle, Phantom, but you're about to lose the war."

"I'll stop you." Phantom hissed, pressing the blade further into the man's chest. Phantom knew in his head that Brainiac wasn't real; that destroying him was about the same as destroying one of Vlad's duplicates when the man still had his powers. Like a hydra he'd keep coming back, never truly defeated until the main body was eliminated. Brainiac was a monster, corrupted by the tarnished programming Zod had instilled in him, and the only way to end their fight would be to destroy this replicate.

But it was one thing to know in theory, and another to see in real life. And in reality Phantom saw a man beneath him; maybe not made of flesh and blood, but still sentient, and therefore something that he'd sworn to protect. Something that he knew he couldn't destroy because of his own nature. But... if he didn't do something Fine would just take Lex again and then Zod would have his host. The pandemonium in the city would escalate until nothing was left, nothing but the crumbling ruins of a destroyed society.

Phantom nodded, steeling himself in determination; reminding himself that Brainiac _wasn't_ a man, and even if this particular copy was destroyed he'd still survive. He had to; it was the only way he could do what needed to be done. Phantom paused, not daring to close his eyes as he pulled the blade back. Disassociating himself from his core as much as he possibly could, he prepared for the onslaught of agony that he knew would come from this heinous act. He didn't let himself think, he just acted, burying the ghostly blade deep into Brainiac's chest. Like the crystals in the Fortress it pierced the steel Kryptonian made skin, burying itself deep into the cavity of what would be a living man's heart.

"You can't stop me, Phantom." The man gasped, black liquid oozing from his chest as he let out one last harsh, hysterical laugh. "You've already lost." There was a bright flash as the replicate was destroyed. Phantom sunk to his knees, his core screaming in agony, in failure as the night swirled around him. He let out a last, incoherent gasp as he collapsed forward, the pain in his core and his physical body too much. Icy blackness swirled around him as he fell into the clawing depths of unconsciousness.

_Line Break_

Clark frowned as he walked through the darkened archway that marked the gate to the farm. Not even a minute had passed since he'd taken Lex's phone call, but now he was here. He'd tried to call Danny, desperately hoping that he'd magically come through for him. But his cousin hadn't answered, and with every passing second it became less and less likely that the boy would be able to pull an appearance.

Gravel crunched under his feet as he kept an even pace. The house was dark, and there was no moonlight to provide any light against the encroaching night. But Clark didn't need it. This was his home and he knew every inch of it. Even Lex, for all his corruption, could not take away what this place meant to him. On the wind he heard a wolf howl, such a contrast to the screaming riot on the Metropolis streets that it made everything feel surreal.

Clark paused for a moment, looking up at the starry sky and just wondering how it had all come to this. Him being faced with one of the hardest moral decisions he'd ever had to make, and he was facing it alone. Even that morning, when he'd been talking to Lionel and Danny, he hadn't really believed that he would have to make the choice by himself. He'd half expected a miracle. Half expected that somehow Danny would sweep in with a perfect solution to everything like he had countless times before. But here he was, walking a darkened face to meet a man he had once considered his friend. And much as he hated to admit it, he couldn't see any other solution other than to kill Lex.

He realised now that that had been Fine's plan all along; separating the two of them. And the computer virus that was spreading to infect the entire globe was as much a trap for Danny as it was a weapon to motivate Clark. Fine would no doubt know Danny's – Phantom's – obsession, and by forcing the population of Metropolis into chaos like that, Danny would have had no choice but to fight to protect as many people as he could. And Clark hated it. Hated that the man could manipulate his life to the point where everyone he knew was little more than a puppet on a string.

Shaking his head tiredly he continued on, walking through the familiar wooden doors of the barn. He wasn't surprised to find them open; even though he'd closed them Lex's message had been clear. And somehow, despite the young billionaire having said nothing, Clark had known that he would show up at his farm. The man would see it as somehow symbolic, or as penance for the many times Clark himself had gone over to the mansion without an invitation.

"So, what did you decide, Clark?" Lex's voice spoke out in the darkness, echoing down from the rafters of the loft as Clark picked his way through the barn. "Are you gonna kill me?" His voice sounded cold, daring. And it was somehow filled with a level of barely repressed anger that Clark had never heard in his voice before.

Something about his tone sparked a level of vicious retribution in Clark's stomach. "You can't blame me for this, Lex." He replied coolly, thinking of every injustice Lex had committed; images of victims like AC and Victor stone, tied up in a lab as Lex prepared them for experimentation, flitted through his mind. And Lex had never even the guts to do it in person, pulling the strings and keeping his own hands clean while thousands more got caught in the crosshairs as collateral. And now it was _Lex_ who had the superhuman powers. He'd let himself become so blinded by his lust for power that he couldn't even see past his own self righteousness.

"You did this to yourself." Clark finished coldly, looking up to the darkened silhouette of the man who had once been his friend.

"Oh, come on, Clark." Lex spat walking halfway down the steps so he could lean over the guard rail, a sick perversion to the place his dad had labelled his Fortress of Solitude. "You love it!"

Lex walked the rest of the way down, pacing around him unrestricted in the darkened room. "Ever since that day on the bridge you've always seen yourself as my saviour." Lex commented darkly, his voice moving from angered to cynical mocking as Clark felt Lex's blue eyed gaze fix on him. "The one thing that would pull me off the dark path I'd started." Lex paused boring down into Clark's eyes with the fierce intensity of a hunter. "See, that's why you cling to the idea that there's still some good in me. You don't wanna face the fact that you might have failed."

"Or maybe I can't believe someone would have so little willpower." Clark retorted coldly, not rising to Lex's speech. In truth, he had come to believe that Lex was a hopeless case a long time ago, that even Danny's attempts to save the man were doomed to failure. But it wasn't because _he'd_ failed; he'd given Lex every opportunity to do the right thing. But Lex had always taken it and perverted it, spitting on any kindness offered to him until it was a perverted shadow of itself. It was Lex's failure, and Clark hated the fact that someone he knew, someone he had once cared about had done that to himself. _'There's always been a dark force at work inside him'_ Lionel's voice echoed in his mind, making him doubt that Lex had ever stood a chance.

"It's hard to compete with the willpower it takes to kill one of your best friends." Lex retorted quietly, tone dark and threatening as dark blue eyes met his firmly. "How did you know I was gonna come back like this?"

"You don't realize how much danger you're in." Clark replied, evading the question with his own pool of simmering anger.

"I used to think you had this strong inner core." Lex murmured almost reflectively, looking away briefly before contempt filled eyes turned back to meet him. "You were so virtuous. And yet you _lie_, _all_ the time." He spat, his voice rising above the harsh whisper and boring down into Clark's soul. "To me, to Lana, to all the people who cared about you. What kind of sick person would do that?"

"If you thought this friendship was so doomed then why did you fight to keep it?" Clark retorted through gritted teeth, barely containing the growl that rose at the accusation.

"Because I wanted everything you had." Lex spat, cutting over him with anger in his eyes. "The family, the inconspicuous life, the loyal girlfriend." Clark fought to keep his face blank, the pain resurfacing in an instant. Because now it was _Lex_ who she trusted, and now it was _Lex_ who she'd support despite his powers. And in that instant he hated every inch of Lex, for taking her from him.

Lex seemed to sense his emotional turmoil, his face settling into a satisfied smirk. "Well, at least I walked away with the part you loved the most."

"You're not yourself." Clark replied, forcing back the violence that wanted to rise to that statement.

Lex smirked, darkened blue eyes pooling with a foreign sense of power that Clark had hoped never to see on Lex's face. "Or maybe I finally am." Lex replied calmly. "You see, I met someone today, quite an extraordinary being so far as it goes. And he reminded me of something. It's not who we are or whatever part _destiny_ sets out for us. '_It's our choices that define us, how we're seen and how we see ourselves.' _He said that. And I see myself as _great_."

Clark growled, echoes of thousands of conversations with his cousin reverberating through his head. And instantly he _knew_ that Lex was just taking what Danny had said out of context. Danny had always said people need the chance to prove themselves, and that everyone deserved a second chance. But here Lex was, taking this and proving once and for all that he couldn't be trusted. A world where Lex Luthor had the powers of a Kryptonian was a world destined for destruction, and Clark would never allow that.

He didn't really register who landed the first hit, whether it was Lex's quick jab to his stomach or whether it was his own to Lex's face. But what he did feel was Lex's arms catch around him, so fast that he'd barely caught the movement, before the two of them were crashing through one of the pylons that held the loft up.

They grappled with each other, the small metal farm implements in the barn reduced to rubble beneath each of Lex's super powered punches. And Clark really doubted that the man even realised what he was doing. Lex's blue eyes were focused solely on him, blind rage bubbling in those usually refined eyes. And Clark felt a vague sense of catharsis in it. Each hit he landed was soothing in a way that he hated to validate, like he was finally taking something back from the man who had stolen everything he loved.

Lex's fist backhanded his face, sending him crashing backwards into the heavy barn wall. Clark grunted in response, surging forward and catching the man around the arms and Lex's hands tightened into vice like pincers in reaction. Ignoring the pain Clark twisted, gaining just enough momentum to throw the man bodily away.

There was a loud crash as Lex was sent crashing through the rafters where the hay was stored, wood splintering and hay flying as Lex's now Kryptonian strength body destroyed everything in its wake. Clark took a moment to draw in a deep breath, almost disbelieving what had happened. It was one thing to know that Lex was different, that Fine had changed him and given him powers that Lex should never have come to possess. But it was another thing entirely to see the effects with his own eyes. And no matter the force that Clark had thrown him, Lex should have been stopped by those beams.

"I knew there was something different about you." Lex's voice smirked from behind him, the man suddenly rejoining him completely unscathed. And a moment later Clark was the one sent flying, Lex managing to pick him up effortlessly and fling him up and into the barn loft. The railings splintered around him as he came to a skidding halt, coating him in a layer of powdery dust as Lex super sped up the stairs.

A moment later a cold hand was clasped tightly around his neck, cutting off his air as Lex sought to strangle him. But Clark had been in this position before; hundreds of meteor freaks had tried the same tactic. Clark rolled out from under Lex, drawing away just briefly enough to gain himself some momentum before throwing Lex heavily onto his back. An instant later his knees were in place, locking the bald haired man in place despite his struggling.

Without a thought Clark's right hand found its way to the Kryptonian dagger. The blade had been a heavy weight in his pocket all day, but in that second he was grateful for it. The crystal handle felt right in his hand, and in a sweeping arch he swung the blade down until it rested just beside Lex's neck. The Kryptonian glyphs glowed a bright shade of yellow, almost blinding in the near pitch darkness of the barn.

A fine sliver of blood pooled as the tip of the blade bit into Kryptonian steel skin. All Clark could think was how _easy_ it would be to end Lex's life now. To finally stop all the havoc and destruction that followed Lex like a shadow, to prevent these powers from just giving the tainted man licence to destroy more lives, to take revenge for all the people he'd destroyed, all the lives he'd continue to ruin if he was allowed to live. The blade pressed further into Lex's neck as Clark's anger burned, scorching to new levels of rage as every hateful memory of Lex's corruption swam before his eyes.

"Do it, Clark." Milton Fine's voice commanded, breaking Clark away from his thoughts. His hand fumbled with the blade for a moment at the intrusion as doubt pooled in his stomach. "Let's see if you're really your father's son."

Clark growled, his eyes flickering from Lex's almost smirking face to Fine's commanding one. The man was standing in the middle of the barn, his stance loose and smug. And Clark's anger boiled once more. The dark haired man didn't even care, everything was just collateral to him and nothing mattered so long as he was able to serve Zod.

Fine seemed to sense his shifting emotions, the man's face shifting to a dark smirk in the shadows. "It all comes down to you, Clark." Fine commented, stepping forward across the hay strewn floor. "No one else."

"Danny..." Clark emitted, but was quickly cut off.

"Is currently occupied." Fine overcut. "I must say you have trained your pet well, he is an excellent fighter. Pity that the replicate he is currently battling with is nothing more than a distraction." Clark bared his teeth, not noticing as the dagger bit further into Lex's neck, leaving a long trail that cut almost into his jugular. But Fine carried on uncaringly. "Do it. Clark. Prove to the world who you really are."

Clark snarled, anger and hate pooling through him until he could barely see. His blood boiled, but as he looked down into Lex's eyes he realised that there was another way out of this. Blindingly fast he flicked his arm out, letting go of the dagger at just the right instant to send it hurtling towards the overconfident form of Milton Fine.

The blade seemed to move in slow motion, cascading through the air with an almost eerie stillness. The blade flew true, lodging deeply into the man's chest all the way up to the hilt. For a moment all was still, but then Fine smirked, arms thrown back as the white crystal of the dagger turned a violent shade of glowing crimson.

Clark took a halting step back, gasping in new fear as the dark smirk on Fine's face deepened. "What have I done?" Clark asked as Fine collapsed to his knees. A strange wind swirled through the air and the barn suddenly seemed horribly bright as the red crystal glowed even fiercer.

"You've opened the portal for Zod." Fine shouted, his voice horrendously cutting in its certainty. A beam of menacing red light lanced down into the barn, channelling down into Fine before cutting out again. A dizzying read beam leapt out towards both him and Lex, and for a moment all Clark could see was darkness as he was thrown aside. Dark spots danced on the edge of his vision, but all he could focus on was Lex's agonised screams as the beam of red light forced its way into his chest like a bolt of lightning.

There was a bright flash of light, radiating out from Fine. And for a moment the entire barn was consumed in a surge of bright white man as the man vanished; destroyed or simply gone Clark didn't really care. All that he cared about was the dark suited man standing dissonantly still in the shadows of the barn loft. Clark frowned, slowly pulling himself to his feet before he took a cautious step towards the man.

"Lex?" He heard himself say, his voice sounding almost fearfully small in its cautiousness as he approached the man. "Lex?"

Lex's shoulders were square, more erect than Clark had ever seen them before. He stood too straight, too still, too... confident in his silent position. The moment stretched out as Lex seemed to react, turning around slowly with a fluid grace that he had never had before. Clark froze momentarily when he saw the eyes, filled with an icy chill that wasn't Lex's.

The man closed the distance between them, using the stairs to manifest himself in a physical display of inequality, of power. "You have your father's eyes." Lex's voice spoke, but it wasn't Lex. The voice hit a level of dark menace that even Lex could never hope to. Clark shivered as the man studied him, feeling like he was being dissected under that coldly calculating gaze. "Hello, Kal-El."

"Where's Lex?" Clark demanded through slitted teeth, his own eyes boring down into steely blue. A strange surge of fear and anger pooled in his stomach as he realised exactly who he was staring at. The erect stance bespoke of years in the military, and the way the man seemed to don power like a cloak told him that he was staring in the eyes of General Zod; the man who had destroyed Krypton. And everything he had hoped to prevent by destroying Fine had been turned on him.

"Lex is dead." Zod replied coldly, sending a shiver down Clark's spine at the emotionless way he answered.

"Why are you here?" Clark demanded, gathering his rage and fear and guilt together and pooling them into a show of strength.

Zod raised an amused eyebrow. "For the same reason as anyone who'd been imprisoned like a beast." Zod replied. "Revenge."

Clark eyed him warily as Zod turned away, his voice turned musing as he paced predatorily across the loft. "Your father banished me to an eternal hell trying to save a doomed race. And in the end, the only survivor of his pathetic crusade was his son."

"Then this is between us." Clark replied, closing the distance between the two of them. "These people did nothing to harm you."

"No." Zod replied shortly before his face morphed into an almost amused smirk. "But you feel no pain greater than to see others in agony."

"I won't let you destroy this planet like you did Krypton." Clark replied evenly, meeting the evil man firmly in the eyes.

"You don't have a choice," Zod murmured, his voice low and threatening as he returned Clark's icy gaze. "Unless you join me."

"I'll never join you." Clark answered with deliberate slowness, promising defeat to the man who sought to destroy everything he held dear.

Zod's mouth twitched almost amusedly before the man turned away and walked past him. "Well, I hope that's a decision you'll be able to live with." The man replied before pausing at the top of the stairs. "Forever."

Zod turned around, and Clark watched as he pulled a strange ring like thing off his wrist. The ring seemed to move of its own accord, spinning slowly through the air as a peculiar moaning sound cut through the night. There was a brief brush of wind as the ring floated past him, and Clark's eyes creased in confusion as he caught Zod's smirking gaze. Dark eyes bore into him, and Zod nodded his head infinitesimally towards him.

Then there was a strange pulling sensation, like a rope had been caught around the inside of his chest and was tugging him backwards. But then it changed, and the rope became thinner, attaching to every part of him until each individual cell felt like it was being drawn backwards. It felt like he was being compressed and pulled apart all at the same time, like his body was caught in some huge vacuum that both pulled him away and pushed him tighter and tighter into himself.

For an instant there was nothing, blackness consuming his vision as the barn disappeared from beneath his feet. And then he was blinking, feet skidding across a strange mirror like surface as he dazedly stood to his feet. He was in a strange crystalline chamber, edges jutting out like rocky mirrors. And on each surface he caught an image, like the chamber he was in was a room filled with thousands of little screens that played in jagged clarity.

He saw his mom, limp on a red carpeted floor beside Lois as their plane careened towards the earth.

He saw Lionel Luthor, pulled out of the window of his limousine as the mob swarmed around his car.

He saw Chloe, struggling against meaty hands that held her in place as she tried to escape the riot.

He saw Danny, rendered unconscious on the ground with a fierce burn oozing red as electrical sparks lanced overhead.

He saw the lights turn off, one by one, radiating out from Kansas until the entire globe was enshrouded in darkness.

He saw the entire Earth pull away, everything he'd ever known shrinking into a vanishing blue orb. His chamber like prison was taking him further and further away from everyone and everything he'd ever loved and cared for. He let out a strangled gulp as the orb disappeared, his hands touching the empty crystal pane as though he could somehow manage to bring the image back.

But it was hopeless. And for the first time in his life he felt like he had truly failed.

_Line Break_

Lana gasped, desperate for breath as she raced through the imploding streets. Around her the riot swarmed, the sound of shattering glass and small explosions the only sound that cut across the tumultuous cacophony of screams and screeches. Her legs were aching as she jumped over a car, sliding across the bonnet as she cut the shortest path towards LuthorCorp Plaza.

A man grabbed her, his arm wrapping tightly around her and halting her path. But she wasn't about to let that stop her, unhesitatingly she drove a sharp elbow to his solar plexus before delivering a spinning kick to his groin. The man fell back as she pressed onwards, ducking under a flying trash can as she reached the shattered remnants of the Plaza entrance. She drove through the shattered doorway, heading straight for the emergency staircase.

It was eerily silent, the echoing of footsteps on cement stairs a vast contrast to the maelstrom outside. She panted as she raced up the stairs, drawing deep breaths as she used her hands to catch on the railing and help her spin around the tight turns of the narrow staircase. There were over 40 levels to the building and each one added a screaming burn to her aching thighs. But it was worth it. She'd made a promise and she was going to keep it.

Slightly light headed, she paused as she reached the top level, her eyes fixing to the door that opened up to the rooftop. She took a deep breath, getting her heartbeat back under control as her hand touched the silver door knob. The door opened easily, giving her a clear view of the rooftop. A dark figure stood right in the middle, staring over the small ledge at to the side of the LuthorCorp sign.

He was clad in a long black leather trench coat, fluttering lightly in the breeze. His back was straight, his posture bespeaking power and confidence. And if it weren't for the familiar head of bald hair she might have mistaken him for being a stranger. But as the figure slowly turned around she was met with the familiar face of Lex.

"Lex." She breathed, walking across the rooftop to stand near his side. He was staring at her curiously, an evaluative look in his chilly blue eyes. Lana would have been worried, but this was _Lex_. The man who'd been there for her and picked up the pieces when she'd been falling apart. The man who'd done everything he could to make sure she was okay. The man who'd nearly broken her heart when he'd been stolen away and who'd saved it when he came back safe. The man who she now realised she couldn't live without.

Her hand fixed on the small white chess piece in her pocket, the little white knight giving her a strength she didn't know she had as she started speaking. "You know part of me thought this was another one of your tests." She commented shrewdly as she walked slowly over towards him. "You've been abandoned and betrayed so many times how could you know that I wouldn't be next?"

By now Lex had stepped down off the ledge and was walking ever closer to her. "Well, I'm not." She asserted, meeting him firmly in the eyes. "I'm here. In spite of everything that's happening out there, I'm here."

Lana paused, her eyes falling briefly on the orange glow of the city before turning her attention back to Lex. "I don't know what it is you and I have but I'm here because I wanna find out. Do you?"

Les almost smiled, laying his strong hands on his shoulders as his blue eyes bore down into hers. They stayed like that for a moment, frozen, before something in his eyes changed. Lex leaned forward, possessive lips pressing into hers and she easily permitted him entry. There was a new fierceness in the kiss, something more domineering than the usual soft edge, but it was _Lex_.

It didn't matter to her that the city was burning beneath them.

It didn't matter to her that Lex had come back different.

It didn't matter to her that whatever it was they had right now couldn't possibly last when society around them was collapsing.

It just didn't matter.

Because Lex was wrapping his arms protectively around her, making her feel safe within his warm embrace. And she knew that he needed her, someone to keep _him_ safe despite his newfound powers. He needed someone to pull him back, to keep him true to himself and stop him from losing everything that made him _Lex_. And she believed in what they had, in what they meant to each other; so much so that she knew she would never give up on him.

And for her that was more than enough.

* * *

><p>AN; I am not a chess master, nor will I ever pretend to be. The white pawn that promoted only to be taken by the black queen, yeah, that's me. But it is a useful analogy for Fine's type of tactical thinking and it's just so easy to write using that particular metaphor.<p>

So... what did you guys think of Danny fighting Brainiac? Did it meet up to expectations? Did it leave you screaming 'No!' when it turned out to be a ploy? You all asked for it, but even in his victory Danny loses against him... sometimes I like being evil. XP

Aaannnd... finished with the season finale of Smallville I will be back...

In all of two weeks with the continuation of this story

Seriously, if there's one thing that British and most Aussie shows have over the Yanks it's that they don't leave you hanging for the better part of a _year_ to finish the season storyline up.

Anywho...

See you later,

Bluerose


	37. Perdition

Chapter 36

Perdition 

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Clark growled, throwing an angry fist at one of the crystalline outcrops as the image of planet Earth faded from view. Looking out all he could see was darkness, but he wasn't sure if the darkness came from outside his prison or within. It was like he was trapped in a crystalline gilded cave, long slivers of silvery gemstone jutted out all around him, surrounding him with darkly glimmering light. It was similar in a way to the ice caves he'd seen when he went to the Far Frozen with Danny, but more malevolent in its darkness and jagged edges. Claustrophobic claws of crystal lanced out from the sides of his prison, giving him barely any space to move.

Crowing in frustration Clark took a hesitant step forward, hoping that somehow he could find a way out. He needed to get back, needed to stop Zod. But he didn't even know where he was to get back from. His boot pressed down onto the crystalline floor, and Clark pulled back when he realised there was more give in the floor than he imagined. Cautiously he repeated the motion, touching the toe of his shoe to the strangely mirror like floor.

The surface rippled, emanating out in thickly warping concentric circles that didn't seem to slow. He stepped back, concerned by the unending distortion of the floor so much that his back bumped into one of the crystal protrusions. There was a brief moment where his prison seemed to freeze still, a breathless instant of dread before the whole thing shattered, splintering away into thousands of crystal shards and he was falling down a deep silvery crystal tunnel.

He fell and kept falling, the tunnel around him a seemingly bottomless pit until time itself seemed to lose all meaning. For half a moment he wondered if this was what Alice had felt, falling down the rabbit hole, but then he dismissed it as entirely different. Instead a very different tunnel came to mind, and his earlier parallel suddenly seemed less sedate. Because the feeling twisting in his stomach right now was the same one he'd got the one time Danny had described his portal accident all those months before.

Clark twisted, struggling helplessly against his freefall. But just as he got used to the strange sensation of falling there was a loud roar. Wind surged around him and he felt something sharp biting into his skin. Then there was pain as he was mercilessly thrown into the ground. Clark froze there, red spots dancing on the edge of his vision as he struggled to retain consciousness. Everything ached, his limbs feeling loose and disconnected from each other, his skin feeling raw as he felt something harsh tearing against his skin.

Pained eyes blinked open, and Clark grit his teeth as he struggled to find his feet. There was something missing, and as he absently lifted his hand to wipe across a bloody cracked lip he wondered what it was. Here, where ever _here_ was, he could feel that there was something absent deep inside him. It wasn't something he really noticed before, something he relied on as vital but now was gone. It was a sort of... warmth; something that had surged up three years ago when the sun had had a strange solar flare. When he'd been turned human at the beginning of the year he hadn't noticed it, but now he missed it like air.

Parched lips cracked and coughed as Clark dazedly rubbed his chest, choosing to focus instead on things he could do rather than what was gone. Dazedly he looked at his surroundings, but all he saw was an endless desert of steel grey sand, interjected with harsh jagged black cliffs. It looked barren, completely vacant of anything that could be considered life, and the light bore down so brightly it seemed to drain what little colour there was in the landscape.

"Hello!" He called, projecting his voice as far as he could across the deserted sands. "Is anyone there?" but all he heard was the soft reverberations of his own echo as his voice bounced back off the sand and rocky cliffs.

It seemed like this was all there was, an endless, vacant, desert wasteland. The sky above was a fierce shade of bleach, but there didn't seem to be any source of light, there was no sun burning in the sky, no clouds to cut through the expanse. The sky above him seemed as desolate as the landscape, barren of anything but the biting desert sand that whipped around him. Harsh shards of dust bore into him, leaving his jacket in tatters as the fierce wind and sands cut through the well worn fabric.

Clark let out a deep steadying breath. He had no idea where he was, only that Zod had sent him there. But he had to find some way out of the wind; otherwise the windstorm would cut him to ribbons like it was doing with his jacket. That decided he stood up, deciding to walk up to the cliff face in the hope that the wind would be less intense there. Sand slipped under his feet, and more than once he found he had to stop as the wind threw cutting grey sand up into his eyes.

He made it about halfway towards the cliff face when he paused, frowning as he saw two black spots on the horizon fast approaching just over one of the grey sand dunes. They were coming fast, tearing over the sand hills so quickly that twin wakes of grey pooled out behind them. And Clark didn't know what to think because they seemed to be coming right towards him. He blinked against the desert wind, just a moment too long as suddenly the _creatures_ were upon him.

Clark couldn't see much, only two black shadows that leapt upon him. Then there was a blur, long clawed fingers scratching into him and the flash of sharpened black teeth. The creatures seemed to be enshrouded in draping black rags, halfway between a desert robe and the soft linen used to dress a mummy if it were dyed black. But the creatures attacked him from above, clawing at him from the air as they floated above him, driving him down into the ground.

He struggled back, desperately trying to throw the attacking creatures off. But he was too slow, and dagger like claws tore into his arm, ripping a long gash into his upper arm that was quickly soaked in oozing blood. He bit back a scream as the second creature screeched at him, wolfish teeth glistening black against the harsh brightness of the landscape. Clark bit back his own scream, unable to throw the creatures off as the blood loss got to him. Despite the harshness of this desert environment he felt cold, and blackness encroached along the edge of his vision as he was forcefully sent into the blinding depths of unconsciousness.

_Line Break_

Danny groaned, coughing painfully as he rolled onto his knees. His chest burned, and as he pressed a hand against his heart he felt a painful throb of weakness surge through him. His hand pulled away, coated in a layer of sticky puss and gooey red that had bled through his shirt. A gasp escaped him as he pulled himself to his feet, and his other hand fell heavily against cold metal as the thing behind him ended up supporting most of his weight.

Every part of him ached, his bones felt like they'd been shaken loose, and aside from his burning chest there was a stabbing throb emanating from one of his thighs. His knee buckled, driving him even further into the metal thing behind him. It took a minute for him to recognise it; it was the crumpled remains of a power transformer from a relay station. Idly he mused that at least that explained the crackling noise of electricity overhead. He creased his eyes, wondering what on Earth had just happened and which ghost he had to blame for feeling like he'd been hit by a train.

Another throb in his chest sent him reeling, crashing back down to his knees as it all came back to him; Lex's abduction, his return, the chaos in Metropolis and Brainiac, the insane look in those brown eyes as he beat him. Danny fought back the urge to vomit as he remembered the feeling of his sword sinking into Brainiac's chest, the resistance as black blood pooled out around his blade and the crazed laughter as Brainiac declared that he'd already lost.

Danny shivered, letting out a shaky breath as his arms curled protectively around him. He felt... fractured. Disassociated. He rolled over, allowing himself a minute to just stare at the stars and wallow in self pity. Time passed, whether it was minutes or hours he didn't know, but eventually the call of the city on his core became obtrusive. He relished in it, letting himself sink into that instinct rather than consciously think of what he was doing.

He morphed into his ghost form, lifting off the ground as his legs twisted into his ghostly tail. It was a relief in a way, his body escaping the pains of his flesh the only way it knew how. He pulled away from the relay station and back towards the centre of the tumult. The din of the city rose around him, and he found himself struggling across the surging masses. There was a pull on his core, somehow surpassing the horror around him and he followed it.

Phantom froze as he released a juddering cough, tasting the acrid taste of ectoplasm in his mouth. Moving through the city was hell, even more so than it had been earlier in the evening. Now he barely had the energy to move, but the riot was still causing as much damage as it had before. And with every second that passed, the sheer agony from failing in his obsession chipped away at what little reserves he had left. His tail disappeared as he was forced to the ground, no longer able to summon the energy to stay in the air.

But he was still moving, still going. And if there was one time he was thankful for only being half-ghost it was now. Sheer human stubbornness kicked in, allowing him to push through the pain and keep going to where the pull on his core was strongest. And even though he knew he was destroying himself by ignoring the other calls to _protect_; the fact that he was human as well allowed him to ignore it just enough to choose what he was going to direct his obsession towards. It was something that he'd never realised before, a small freedom in his ghost nature that he hadn't expected. But then again he'd never been in a situation so horrendously widespread as this where his core was pulling him in almost every direction.

He rounded a corner into a blocked off street and gasped at what he saw. It was Chloe. Chloe and Lionel Luthor together, slowly being overwhelmed. Phantom felt a wave of panic flutter over him, and forced himself onwards through the crowd. He knew he was being hit, his already battered body meeting more abuse as he pushed through the writhing throng, but eventually he was at Chloe's side.

Chloe panicked for a moment at his touch, throwing a sloppy punch at him which he only barely managed to catch in his near exhausted state. "And here I thought you'd be so happy to see me." He commented, somehow arranging his face into a confident smile.

"Danny!" The blonde shrieked, happily throwing his arms around him. And for a moment Danny just let go, basking in the brilliance of that small wave of pure relief that exuded from her sunlit watery aura.

"We need to get inside." Another voice called, and it took a moment for Phantom to recognise it as Lionel's. He nodded, absently twining his arm protectively around Chloe's waist as he met Lionel in the eyes. He didn't know what he was looking for but there wasn't time. Phantom reached forward and caught the man's wrist just as a man threw what looked like a Molotov cocktail into the crowd. Stretching the limits of his power he teleported all three of them to the top of LuthorCorp Plaza, the clearest image in his head after hearing Lionel's voice.

Phantom shuddered, collapsing heavily against one of the large air vents on the roof. The ring that initiated his transformation formed, but he managed to force it back, if only barely. Green spots danced on the edge of his vision as he looked at his surroundings, realising for the first time that they weren't alone.

"The city's tearing itself apart. All those people, we have to help them." Lana's voice spoke, soft and fearful. From his vantage point he couldn't see her and whomever she was talking to. But that also meant it was unlikely that the three of them had been seen. Lana sounded scared, but with the way his powers were shutting down he could barely feel Chloe's aura right beside him. Even Lionel's was too far and he was barely a yard from him.

"Help them?" A second voice asked, sounding nearly bemused. And it was almost Lex's apart from the inherent wrongness to it. In that one word Phantom heard two voices superimposed over each other, bouncing against each other in a terrible clamour that sent a violent shiver down his spine. Phantom didn't recognise the second layer to the voice, but there was something about it that set every single one of his nerves on high alert.

"With the powers Fine gave you," Lana's voice replied, sounding vaguely astounded. "You could end the riots. You could save everyone, Lex."

"Lex Luthor is dead." The second voice replied, and this time the additional layer came through far more. It had different inflections to Lex, more refined diction. But a cursory glance at Chloe told him that she only heard the malevolent tones coming from Lex's voice. Phantom frowned, suspicion rising uncomfortably in his stomach even as his core screeched in failure.

"My name is Zod." The voice replied, echoing menacingly across the rooftop. And then the two were gone, _Zod_ pulling Lana into his arms and flying away; apparently in full control of all the powers of a true Kryptonian on Earth.

Phantom gasped, his core flaring in agony within the confines of his chest and for a moment the world span around him. He felt gentle arms catch him as he fell backwards, his back slamming heavily into the vent as he tried to steady himself. He heard a male voice speaking, but it was muffled and then it too vanished as his vision faded almost completely.

He was loosely aware of being guided inside, but the next thing he was conscious of was sitting on a leather sofa in a huge office. There was a damp cloth being pressed against his head and he felt rippling concern drifting off from Chloe's familiar aura. She was talking to him, but it took a minute for him to register what she was saying.

"...at happened to you?" Her soft voice asked, laced with concern and underlying fear.

"Brainiac." Phantom wearied, eyes blurring as he tried to focus on her. "Well, Brainiac and everyone... everyone else out there."

"You fought him." Chloe murmured, her green eyes creasing in fear.

Phantom nodded painfully. "Yeah." He murmured. "And beat him, just..." He stopped as his weakened core gave a painful throb and for a moment it felt like he was losing his hold on reality entirely. Apparently the act of essentially _killing _a man, even if he was just a replicate, was more destructive on his core than he'd imagined. He gasped, struggling to pull himself together as Chloe released a fearful gasp.

"Danny, hold on." She whimpered, clasping his hands almost painfully tightly. "Can you tell me what's happening to you?" She asked.

Phantom let out a strangled gasp, finally finding her eyes again in the dark room. "All ghosts have an... obsession." He said, struggling for breath. "It's what... what defines us. Gives us strength. But it has limits... and being here... the city is kill... destroying me" He didn't know how coherent what he was saying was, all he could see was those two soft green eyes. It helped ease some of the pain in his body, made it easier to ignore.

"I would presume that the websites speculating about your obsession are wrong then." Another voice cut in, Lionel's. Phantom hadn't even realised he was in the room, but it made sense. It clearly wasn't Lex's _Plaza_ office and the only other executive with this sort of office in the building was Lionel.

Phantom let out a scoff that was probably closer to a pained cough. "Pretty much." He said, finally placing Lionel in the room, standing just behind a large desk.

"How is this any different to Pariah Dark?" Chloe interjected, mercifully drawing the conversation away from an uncomfortably private topic. "I mean, the reports said people were scared, but it was nothing like this."

"Fear." Phantom replied almost immediately. "And panic. Back then... everyone knew what they were fighting... came together against the ghosts. But this..." He paused as a wave of pain washed over him. "There's nothing to fight... nothing to run from. So they're scared."

"And with no policing body to enforce the rules the masses descend into chaos." Lionel observed.

"Maybe." Phantom conceded, not really up to getting into a second ethical debate with Lionel on the same day. "But the whole city isn't out there." He commented, rubbing his chest in pain. The burn seemed to have closed over at least, but it was still tender and he was just managing to get his breathing under control. Slowly. "Most people are just waiting inside, riding it out. Not all people are like that."

"So what happens now?" Chloe asked, her hand resting comfortingly on Phantom's arm as she drew their attention back to reality. "That was Zod, wasn't it? On the rooftop?"

"Clark must not have been able to get to Lex in time to stop him." Lionel confirmed.

"Would explain... why Brainiac was laughing at me when I beat him." Phantom mused brokenly, "He knew I'd be too late."

"Zod has taken over Lex." Lionel stated bluntly, and somehow it felt like the temperature in the room dropped ten degrees.

"Clark." Chloe murmured. "You don't think Zod actually..."

"He's alive." Phantom interjected. "I don't know where, but he's alive."

"How do you know?" Chloe demanded.

Phantom shook his head dazedly, the pain in his core mounting with every moment he was stuck here. But he didn't have the strength to go out and fight either, and he knew it. "I just... do." He said. "Probably the same way I was able to find you from half a city away."

"So where... what happened?" Chloe asked, her voice bordering desperation.

"It's the dagger." Lionel commented. "The dagger that Jor-El gave to Clark..." He paused significantly before pressing on. "It might still be there at the farm. We can use that to stop Zod."

"You mean kill him?" Chloe demanded turning her full attention to Lionel. "Kill Lex?" Phantom's core gave another agonising throb and he lost coherency once more. He let out a shaky breath, feeling strangely like he was evaporating away into nothing. But it only lasted a moment before desperate green eyes were staring at him. He wanted to let go, so badly. But he couldn't, not when those green eyes were staring at him filled with frantic pleading and helpless desperation.

"I'm okay." Phantom murmured, concerned at hearing how breathless his own voice sounded.

Chloe nodded, her right hand tightly gripping his left while she gently dabbed at his forehead with the damp cloth. He was struggling, and he knew it. But he had to be real, had to exist for just long enough to hand on the torch. Anything after that was irrelevant, but he needed to ensure that things would be okay. That one thought grew, solidifying him enough that he was able to pick up a second wind, or maybe he was onto his third by now.

Gingerly he stood up, managing to walk over to the window despite the battered condition of his leg. "We need to get the power back." He commented, touching a hand to the glass. He was fully aware of the twin concerned stares on his back, but he didn't know how long his energy would hold out. "That way the people will stop panicking and will be better prepared."

"I'll make my way to the Daily Planet and see if I can learn anything else about the Kryptonian virus that's shutting everything down." Chloe suggested, picking up speed as she spoke. "I mean maybe if I can match those symbols to the ones that you were scribbling..."

"That won't help us." Lionel interrupted from behind him. "We... we need Clark to decipher them."

"But you're Jor-El's Oracle." Chloe retorted, either forgetting Phantom was on the room or discounting him for the time being. "I mean, don't you have access to some sort of Kryptonian/English dictionary?"

"The connection that I felt with Jor-El and the Fortress... it's gone." Lionel replied, and Phantom turned around to face him. The man's face was serious, but lined with a sort of weariness that Phantom couldn't fathom. It was concerning because that could only be a symptom of a much bigger problem. "I can't feel his presence anymore." He emphasised, confirming Phantom's suspicion. "But if we can get to that dagger, we can stop Zod. We can stop all of this." Lionel added, seeming to ignore the question.

"I can't make it back to Smallville with my leg like this!" Chloe bemoaned, sounding almost defeated. And it was only then that Phantom saw the long gash cutting through the lower half of one of her jean legs. She must've been injured in the mob outside, before he'd been able to get to her and take her to safety. With how much the wound had bled, it was surprising she could stand, let alone make it however long the walk between the rooftop and this office was.

Lionel nodded in acknowledgement, his face grim as he looked between the two of them. The silver haired man frowned, moving forward and pressing a silver handgun into Chloe's hands. Usually Danny was adverse to human weaponry, but in this case that small level of _protection_ allowed his mind a brief sort of respite. "Here." The man said, meeting her in the eyes. "You take care, Miss Sullivan."

"You too, Mr Luthor." Chloe replied seriously.

Lionel nodded and turned to leave, but he paused just before the doorway. "_Phantom_..." the man called back, his voice sounding strained around his name. Phantom looked up, meeting Lionel in the eyes. "You too hold responsibility for what has happened here," Lionel warned with darkened eyes. "I entrust that now you understand the ramifications of not ending a problem before it begins." And with that he left, the door clicking closed behind him.

"I'm not even gonna ask." Chloe commented just as Phantom sagged heavily against the desk. "Is there any chance you'll come and help me try a decrypt?"

Phantom shook his head, "I don't think I can." He replied, already feeling his energy waning. He felt the twin rings appear and despite his protestations he was forced back into his human form, gasping at the additional pain that came from the switch. He looked up to meet Chloe in the eyes, reading the fear in them. "If I go down there... if I go down there I won't survive." He managed to say, in too much pain to try and pretty up the truth. Chloe's fear sparked and Danny sighed tiredly. "I'll do what I can, but I can't go down there. Can you hand me Lionel's laptop?"

Chloe nodded, sliding the computer across the desk. Despite having not seen it before, he was completely unsurprised to see the Kryptonian matrix that came onto the screen when it booted up. It looked vaguely reminiscent of what Technus did when he tried to take over the world the second time around, but there were about ten extra dimensions of complexity to it.

"Can you understand it?" Chloe murmured, and Danny nodded tiredly, sending her a weary glance.

"Yeah, but it's... insanely complex." Danny replied. But he was already typing, trying to bypass the system to see if he could replicate Tucker's old anti-virus/anti-ghost program. It took ten minutes and the complete cannibalisation of Lionel's desk phone, but he managed to create a chip with the right coding. It wouldn't stop the virus, but it might just give Chloe an edge. "That's the best I can give you. Take that to the _Planet_ and see if you can make any progress."

"What about you?" Chloe asked. Taking the chip reverently as Danny placed it in her hands.

"Me?" Danny asked, sending her the most roguish grin he could manage as he forced his pain to the side. "I'm gonna go find Clark."

He turned, moving to leave but was stopped as Chloe's soft hand caught around his wrist. There was a strange look in her eyes as he looked at her and then all he registered was shock. Chloe dove forwards and kissed him, her lips tasting of fear and desperation and a strange sort of sweetness that he couldn't fathom. A wash of bold happiness mixed with dazed nervousness came over him, pooling from Chloe's gently rippling aura and Danny found himself smiling pleasurably into the kiss. He blinked in surprise as she pulled away a moment later, slightly breathless and looking almost shy, a soft blush colouring her pale cheeks.

"Promise me you'll come back okay." She murmured, locking her green eyes with him. She took a step back, but kept his hands firmly clasped in hers.

"I promise I'll do my best." Danny replied, taking in her glistening eyes and blinking in confusion as he watched her nod and limp quickly out of the room. Absently he touched his fingers to his lip where a strange tingling sensation was buzzing, still completely confused about what had just happened. But he didn't have time to worry about that, about what Chloe had intended by kissing him. Instead he had to focus on finding Clark. That was the most important thing right now.

Danny sighed, releasing a tired breath as he walked out of Lionel's office. He knew he couldn't go down, his core couldn't handle it and he was already too unstable as it was. Instead he went up, limping the full way up and out the door to the rooftop. Tiredly he clamoured over towards the edge and took a heavy seat down. His head was swimming, and beneath him the city burned orange. But the sky overhead was already lightening with the first signs of morning.

He knew he needed to find Clark, he himself couldn't hold up anymore. Between the battle with Brainiac and what he'd faced with the tumult of the city, his core was stretched almost to breaking point. The only thing holding him to the Earth was the knowledge that Clark wasn't there and he was needed in order for the people to be safe, to _protect _them. So Danny closed his eyes to the city, drawing in on himself as much as he could before casting out his aura sensing powers further than he ever had before.

It was painful, and the further he spread himself out the more he felt the life force of people everywhere, not just in Metropolis, but spreading out to almost all of Kansas. It was agonising, and the more he extended himself out the more people he felt die within the tumultuous reaches of his core, but it was unavoidable. And the whole time he was desperately searching for a familiar sense of overpowering sunlight. If he could just find that then nothing else would matter. If he could just find that single aura, then everything else would be okay.

_Line Break_

Lana's heart beat with dread as she stared at the man in front of her. Physically he looked like Lex, but everything about him was wrong. The way he dressed, the way he held himself... of course the fact that he was now calling himself 'Zod' didn't exactly make things better. Lana was scared, and she didn't know whether it was really Lex in there, a Lex who'd cracked under the phenomenal powers he'd been giver, or if _Fine_ had done something to him in the hours between when she'd last seen him and now.

Lex – Zod – whatever – had grabbed her on the LuthorCorp Plaza rooftop and then picked her up and _flown_ away. Lana hadn't even known that one of the powers he now possessed was the ability to fly and she wasn't exactly comforted by the revelation. They'd landed in the warehouse district, apparently worse for wear after the virus and subsequent riot had gone through. It looked like a demolition ball had rolled through it, and there were strange scorch marks on the outside alley wall.

"Let go!" Lana snarled between clenched teeth as Lex's hand clasped tightly around her arm. Now they'd landed, he was practically pushing her forwards, forcibly guiding her towards one of the warehouses. His other hand crushed the doorknob, forcing the side door open before he led her inside. "Where are you taking me?" She demanded, struggling in his grip to try and free herself.

"Zod doesn't take orders, he gives them." Lex replied, his voice sounding so much colder than she'd ever heard it. And Lana still didn't know what she was dealing with in this new version of Lex.

"What is Zod?" She demanded, glaring at him as she tried to pull away. "What are you talking about?" But Lex didn't reply. His grip on her arm tightened to the point where it was almost painful, cutting off her circulation. Lana struggled not to give any sign of pain, not in front of him. But he still forced her onwards, through a narrow hallway until they rounded a corner into the main storage area of the warehouse.

Lana's eyes widened in shock and she found herself biting back a fearful gasp as she drunk in every detail with morbid fascination. By now the sun had risen, bathing the warehouse chamber in soft golden light. It pooled down through the high windows, casting the sole object in the room in unearthly shadows. It was the black ship. Floating deceptively calmly two feet off the floor of the warehouse. The black ship that had first appeared a year ago and released those two horrendous aliens. The same black ship that had taken Lex away and returned him completely corrupted.

"Oh, God." Lana heard herself murmur, pressing her fingers disbelievingly to her lips as she stared between Lex and the black ship. "You're one of those things from that ship!" She accused, pulling away from him.

"Aethyr and Nam-Ek?" The man replied, his voice devoid of any emotion. "Mere foot soldiers here at my command."

"Whatever is happening, it's not you." Lana urged, desperately wanting to be right. She couldn't lose Lex, not like this. Everyone she'd ever known had left her or died and she couldn't lose Lex too. "It's the ship." Lana insisted, desperately hoping that she could break whatever hold the ship had on him. "It's Fine controlling you. You have to fight it, Lex."

"I already told you, Lex is gone." The man replied, his voice a cruel imitation of Lex's.

"I don't believe that." Lana murmured, staring desperately into those cold blue eyes.

Lex – Zod – turned away nonchalantly "Do you really think Zod cares what a primitive like you believes?" He asked scathingly as he walked towards the ship.

Lana eyed him warily as carefully controlled fingers brushed against the smooth exterior of the black craft. "If Lex is really dead, then why waste your time with a primitive like me?" She demanded, torn between the urge to get away from him and the desire to stop the monster that seemed to have taken over Lex. And the easiest way to do that was to keep him talking.

"To bear witness to the end of the human era and the rebirth of Krypton." The man replied placidly, moving around the ship so that the entire black craft stood between them.

"Krypton?" She repeated dumbly, sending a confused glance towards him. It wasn't a word she was familiar with, and it jarred unfamiliarly in her throat to repeat it. It sounded almost made up, like a strange bastardisation of the word cryptic.

"A shining jewel in a vast, dark universe." Zod explained, blue eyes glimmering distantly as he stared at some far off point. The almost lustful look in his eyes sent a cold shiver racing down her spine that only intensified when the man turned that calculating gaze on her. "And you have the privilege of playing a part in its resurrection."

Lana took a step back, thumping into the warehouse wall as Zod touched the side of the ship more deliberately. There was a bright flash of white blue light, and Lana felt an almost tangible wave of energy wash over her as it arched out from the ship. The light was so intense that she had to shield her eyes, and when it was finally dim enough for her to look she found that the ship was completely gone.

Instead, Zod was smiling at her from the centre of the warehouse, a strange octagonal thing in his hands. It looked vaguely like a slimline external hard drive for a computer, but the shaping was altogether to _alien_ for that to be it. And even from this distance she could see strange shapes etched onto the surface, glyphs that played almost teasingly at the back of her mind as something she almost recognised.

Zod cocked his head, smirking in victory as he stared at her. A moment later he was at her side, holding her hands tightly against the wall so that she had no chance to escape. Hatefully unfamiliar blue eyes stared down at her, leering at her unabashedly. And Lana couldn't stop herself from shivering at the murmured threat the man whispered in her ear. "There's no escaping what's about to happen."

_Line Break_

Danny jolted abruptly, his eyes blinking open as he felt another presence suddenly intrude on his rooftop meditation. That was the closest description he had to it, although straining himself to try and find Clark's aura over the rest of the city could hardly be likened to true meditation. His senses abruptly snapped back into himself and he found himself toppling backwards as he lost balance. Eyes wild he stood to his feet, searching the rooftop for the intruder. He must have been 'meditating' for longer than he'd thought because already the pre-dawn grey was spreading across the eastern horizon.

"Calm yourself, young one." A strangely soft voice commanded. But it was gentle, almost comforting, and laced with the quiet sort of paternalistic tone that Danny had only really heard from his own dad and Uncle Jonathan.

His eyes locked on a strange figure. He was clad in a black leather jacket hanging open over a pale yellow shirt. He _looked_ like an African-American man in his late forties, but what Danny could feel of the man's aura was anything but human. It was shifting, eddying between insanely powerful and almost painfully weak, and was somehow touching on energy levels that Danny had only ever observed in ghosts. Not all the time though, but it was there. And wherever he was from, it wasn't one of the energy types that Clockwork had taught him to recognise.

"Who are you?" Danny asked, locking eyes with the man's dark ones.

"My name is J'onn J'onnz." The man replied, his voice soft and warm. "And I am a friend."

Danny frowned, taking a step back and almost tripping over an air vent. He didn't know what to make of this man, and with the way his core was, writhing in constant agony and damaged to the point where if he was human he'd be dying of a heart attack, he wouldn't be able to handle it if the man attacked. "Why are you here?" Danny asked cautiously as he regained his balance.

"You need assistance." The man replied evenly.

"There's millions of people out there need more help than me." Danny bit back, crossing his arms over his chest.

"That is true." J'onn replied. "However none of them are capable of eliminating the true cause of this chaos."

"And you think I am?" Danny replied defensively.

The man smiled. "I was a friend of Jor-El's on Krypton. In Krypton's final hours he requested that I watch over his son, Kal-El." Danny frowned in confusion as a half remembered lesson flitted through the back of his mind. "In this capacity I have observed him, and by association you, for this past year."

"Where are you from?" Danny asked, reserving his judgement despite the deep feeling of unsettlement that arose from the fact that this stranger seemed to know his secret.

"Mars." The man replied, his voice completely serious.

"You're the Martian Manhunter." Danny murmured, eyes creasing as the pieces suddenly clicked into place. Usually he'd be scared, concerned about a clearly powerful stranger appearing before him. But at the moment his core was in too much pain for him to worry about that. "You helped Jor-El track down lawbreakers after he created the Phantom Zone."

J'onn smiled, an almost proud glimmer coming into his eyes. "I will admit that I was concerned when you first appeared in Kal-El's life; by records you were nothing more than a juvenile delinquent, set to lead him astray. But you have more than proved yourself as a true virtue to his life, Danny Phantom."

"Some virtue." Danny replied, his own self derision flaring up. "Clark's gone and the world is practically destroying itself because of me."

"Young one, it is no fault to fall. It will only be your fault if you choose not to get up again." J'onn replied comfortingly, and Danny felt something soft and warm reach out from the man's aura towards him. It wasn't unfriendly, but it was unexpected in as much as... well, Danny was the only one he knew who could do something like that.

"How?" Danny asked, looking confusedly at the man.

"That is not important for the moment." J'onn replied, crossing his arms behind his back. "You are looking for Kal-El, correct?" He paused, and Danny nodded mutely in response. "Unfortunately the way you were searching would allow you to find him only if he were still on Earth even if you had refined that skill to perfection. When Zod was released he entrapped Kal-El in the Phantom Zone, punishing him to that prison as vengeance for Jor-El's imprisoning of Zod."

"Clark's in the Phantom Zone." Danny repeated, taken aback, and a shiver of dread raced down his spine.

"Correct." J'onn acknowledged. "I believe that if you were to go into the Phantom Zone you would be able to guide Kal-El back to this world safely."

Danny was dumbfounded. "You want me to go into the Phantom Zone?" He repeated needlessly, his own panic intensified at the idea. He'd known about the Phantom Zone even before he'd come to Smallville, and every time he thought of it a shiver of pure dread ran down his spine. It was the worst punishment that had ever been conceived in conscious memory, and J'onn was just proposing he went there of his own volition? "How do you expect me to do that?"

J'onn just smiled enigmatically, his eyes flashing a bright shade of cherry before he vanished. Danny watched as a long trail of red arced up into the sky, the man's strange smile seemingly burned into his mind. Danny's eyes fixed on the brightening horizon, musing over what he had learned. He knew of J'onn, like a character from a book, from one of Clockwork's lessons. He was a mystery, a bounty hunter come soldier come policeman, and Danny had no idea what his intentions towards him were. But...

This was the only way to save Clark. And once that was acknowledged Danny found he didn't really have a choice. Every step he took down the cement staircase to the ground floor was agony, his core screaming at new levels for him to go out and _protect_ all the people who were in danger. But his mind was fixated on one idea; if he got Clark back everyone would be safe. It was... strange, a sensation he couldn't describe rising in the pit of his stomach as he walked through the battered streets of Metropolis. In the light of day it looked far worse, and the mob still showed no signs of stopping.

His mind sort of blanked out, thrown into too much pain and conflict from the constant failure and simultaneous satisfaction of his obsession. Danny stumbled blindly through the Metropolis streets, picking over rubble and debris as he made his way back towards the highway that headed back to Smallville. He didn't know whether he touched onto his powers, but the next thing he was really aware of was staggering through the archway that led to the farm.

Danny stumbled, losing his footing as he made his way through the loft. Chloe was doing her part, trying to cut through and decipher the Kryptonian code, and with any luck Lana would have taken his hint with the chess piece. But J'onn had given Danny his own task. And this was the only to save Clark. Nothing else mattered other than bringing Clark back. This time, Danny knew he wasn't enough, that the world needed a Kryptonian and not a ghost. And for him, if he could just get Clark back, then he could let go, let go of his physical pain and the agony of his core.

He fumbled, tripping over his own feet as he made his way over to the bookcase. The world was screaming, and it was pulling on his core. His head was pounding with the demand to '_PROTECT!_' but he couldn't do any more. He'd practically exhausted himself, and he knew it. But he had to do this; he couldn't get to Clockwork, not with how his core had been depleted. He could barely summon an ecto-blast, let alone a portal to the Zone.

So he had one other choice, and as his hands found their way to the hollowed out book he only hoped this would help. Clasping a hand to his chest he struggled to summon the rings that would turn him to his ghost half, but they wouldn't come. He just didn't have the strength. Danny groaned, clasping a hand do his chest as he raced down the stairs. A moment's indecision overtook him before he took Clark's old motorcycle. For all the work Clark had put into Jon's old one, it still wasn't road ready yet. Danny swung a leg over the dirt bike and pulled out of the barn, throwing a cloud of dust up behind him as he sped across the dirt track that led towards the caves.

The bike skidded to a halt and Danny jumped off, racing through the entrance with the octagonal key firmly in his hand. He paused briefly, once more pressing his hand to his chest as he struggled to find his breath. The world outside was encroaching; people near and far were panicking, _dying_, and this time he wasn't good enough to save them. He shook his head as he rounded the corner, coming into the cavern where the octagonal table sat. Not daring to wait a minute more he plunged the key into the table, relishing the brief respite as the white light of the portal overtook him.

"Daniel Fenton." The voice of Jor-El echoed all around him as he walked through the crystalline archways, overpowering and resolute. But at the same time, Danny could tell that something was drastically wrong. Instead of the crystalline white that the Fortress had been when Danny first saw it, many of the crystal walls had become a violent shade of crimson. And even the air felt different, less vibrant than before, like a computer shutting down or watching the last dying breath of a man on life support. Something had gone terribly wrong and Danny got the distinct impression that it was a direct effect of Brainiac opening the portal for Zod.

"Jor-El." Danny replied evenly. No matter the state of the fortress, he had to do this. "You know why I'm here."

"I am aware." Jor-El replied. "But there is nothing I can do. The fate of this world now rests outside my hands, or even your own. Now it is the humans who must be charged beginning Zod's downfall."

"But you don't expect them to succeed." Danny accused.

"The tools necessary for Earth's only chance have been lain out." Jor-El replied after a brief pause. "It is unlikely that they will succeed."

Danny frowned, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Which is why we need your son back."

"I cannot retrieve him. It is beyond my power." Jor-El replied, his voice blunt.

Danny shook his head. "No." He denied. "It isn't. There has to be something you can do."

"There is nothing." The echoing voice replied. "Kal-El chose his fate when he opened the portal for Zod. I can no more bring him back than I can destroy the vessel."

"You created the Phantom Zone." Danny replied. "And I know that you would have made a backdoor. You were heralded as a hero in the Ghost Zone, but you were better known for planning for anything. Even with Clark's ship you planned everything down to the stitches on his baby blanket. "

"And yet here you are;" Jor-El replied "a child with powers that even I could never have planned for. Daniel Phantom, several months ago you came into contact with the crystal consol, and in so doing passed several of your own experiences into the crystal nexus."

Danny took an involuntary step back. He knew that when he'd passed through the consol he'd absorbed some of the memories that the Fortress had stockpiled, but hadn't been aware that Jor-El was learning from him at the same time. It was worrying, but he couldn't afford to let that stop him for now. "Then you know what I am and what I can do. Please, there has to be something you can tell me to help bring Clark back."

"You are aware of the danger of the Phantom Zone and the perils which it contains." Jor-El stated.

"Yes." Danny replied. "And I know that no matter what, Clark doesn't deserve to be there."

"What is deserved and what really happens rarely coincide. The question is; what are you willing to risk to bring Kal-El back to Earth."

"Anything." Danny replied immediately. And in that moment it wasn't his core speaking, tactically planning out the best way to protect people, but his human heart, crying desperately for his cousin. "To get Clark back I'd do anything."

The light in the console flared for a moment, emitting a bright white light. And from the bottom layer of crystals a tiny pentagonal shard floated out. It was small, a dark shade of cyan blue marking the edges and glyph on at the palm sized crystal. Danny gulped, noticing that the crystal before him bore the insignia of the house of El; an 'S' like shape nested firmly in the centre of a diamond shaped pentagon. It was beautiful, but looking at it there was something deeply unsettling about the crystalline stone that made him want to back away.

"This crystal" Jor-El explained "was forged on Krypton. It is the only thing that the phantoms of the Phantom Zone fear."

"One touch will send anything, ghost or phantom straight to the Phantom Zone." Danny continued, catching on with widened eyes as he realised exactly what he was looking at. Clockwork had spoken of it, but had never explained what had happened to it, and Danny had presumed that it had been destroyed when Krypton fell.

"You must understand, Daniel, that what you intend to do is not without risk." Jor-El cautioned, and Danny could have sworn he heard an edge of concern in Clark's birth father's voice. Well, so far as a synthetic replica of the man's consciousness went. "This crystal will take you to the Phantom Zone, due to your ghost nature. You must take the crystal and give it to my son; only he will be able to open the gateway that returns to this world."

There was a brief pause, and Danny got the feeling that Jor-El was considering something as the crystal continued floating bodingly in the air. "I cannot guarantee what will happen to you. Ghosts sent to the Phantom Zone lose their corporeal form, joining the ranks of the dispossessed souls of their phantom inmates. What will happen to you, being half ghost, is something that I cannot say. It is possible that going into the Phantom Zone will have lingering effects on you both as a human and as a ghost."

Danny nodded, understanding what Jor-El was saying. With his nature, nothing was certain. It would be impossible for anyone to predict what would happen to a halfa in the Phantom Zone since he was the first. And after so many months of warning, learning to fear the very concept of the Phantom Zone he could hardly believe that he was making this choice. But Danny wasn't going to be dissuaded. "I understand the possibility, Jor-El, but this world needs Clark more. If that's a risk of saving him, then it's one I'm willing to take." He paused, frowning in consideration for a moment. "Kinda ironic, isn't it; Danny Phantom is going to the Phantom Zone."

And before Jor-El could say anything Danny reached out, his fingers clasping hard around the crystal. Instantly his stomach writhed, twisting into fearful knots. He wanted to run away, to drop the thing that felt like it was scorching him from the inside out with a fire made of arctic ice. Inside him his blood boiled and froze, and his head pounded hard as he struggled for breath. It was hysteria physicalised, and it felt like the stone was simultaneously trying to reduce him to his ghost form and force him into his human one.

It felt like the day he'd first walked into the Fenton Ghost Portal, the energy attacking every molecule of him as his body tried to find some new equilibrium. He felt the white rings form and flicker out, felt blood morph to ectoplasm and back, felt his core screech at him and his heart freeze in between beats. But he couldn't hear anymore, all that he was aware of was the source of writhing pain emanating from his hand, but he was in too much pain to unclasp his fingers to let it go. White spots danced on the edge of his vision, flickering and flaring in his peripheral. And then he screamed as he felt the world explode around him.

_Line Break_

Lana grunted as Zod forced her into the room, making her lose her balance as she stumbled forwards. She was finally free of his iron grip, but there was nowhere for her to go. She whirled around, staring the man angrily in the eye as she realised she was standing in _Lex's_ office at the Mansion. "How did you know to come here?" She demanded, meeting his cold gaze with her own simmering fury. "This is Lex's home. If there wasn't some part of him still alive inside you, how did you remember this place?"

"You had feelings for this human." Zod stated, his eyes glimmering in something almost akin to amusement.

Lana gritted her teeth and replied "Yes". It was putting it lightly, but she knew that the unfeeling simulacra of a man in front of her wouldn't care about that.

"His feelings for you were also strong." The man replied with emotionless cruelty. "They left an unpleasant taste when I consumed his essence." Zod turned away, stalking across to the office desk where a laptop was sitting almost innocently amongst a pool of shattered glass. "This virus crippling your technology can only be stopped at the original point of infection. It's the only reason I'm here."

Lana could only watch as Zod pulled out the strange octagonal hard drive, sitting it vertically on top of the touchpad. There was a silent moment where Lana anxiously hoped nothing would happen, but then the glyphs started glowing an eerie shade of yellow and the octagon started spinning. A brief electronic beeping flitted through the air before the soft yellow glow of the overhead lights from the library came on.

"You got rid of the virus." Lana murmured, looking at the now normal screen on the laptop.

"I needed to acquire information." Zod dismissed with casual nonchalance.

"The power..." Lana mumbled, looking between the computer screen and the lights.

Zod smirked, briefly looking away from the screen. "It would take days for your people to restore it..." He replied with a casual smirk. "If they had that much time." Lana flinched away, unable to look him in the eyes any more. Instead her eyes strayed to the computer screen, where an image of the Pentagon quickly zoomed in.

"The Pentagon?" She questioned, looking askance at his profile.

"There's something there I need." He replied vaguely, his eyes fixed firmly on the screen as twin lines of that strange writing rolled across the top and bottom of the screen.

"What are you going to do?" Lana asked, looking at him warily.

"Finish what I've started." Zod replied, meeting her eyes briefly before turning his attention back to the screen. "The black ship would have sent the pulse around the world, reshaping its crust."

"Into what? Lana asked sceptically.

Zod turned to face her, his eyes filled with an unfathomable contradiction of nostalgic longing and stoic power. "My home." The man replied, his voice somehow betraying his pining for all its neutrality.

"The planet you were talking about..." Lana surmised, straining to remember the word. "Krypton."

"Only this time it will be perfect." Zod confirmed, slowly advancing her. And Lana found herself backing away from him, desperate to get away from his cruelly lustful eyes. "The start of an empire, ruled by the bloodline of Zod."

"I thought you needed the black ship." Lana retorted, glaring at him.

Zod sighed and turned away, giving her the opportunity to reach for a weapon. One of Lex's decorative swords came to her hands; something like a Japanese jutte. But it was long and heavy and felt like it would cause a lot of damage if she used it. "Its hard drive can still initiate the pulse, but I need access to your military satellites to broadcast it." Zod said, walking away, complacently unaware of the danger he was now in.

Lana swung the jutte over her shoulders, holding in just the right position so that she could swing it. "I'm not gonna let you do this." She warned, pulling his attention back on her.

"There's nothing to be afraid of." Zod replied, an almost playful smirk crossing his face as he looked at her. And Lana felt his gaze rake up and down her, cold eyes undressing her in his mind. "The fate of your race will not be yours if you give me what I want."

"What?" Lana asked, incapable of stopping herself in disbelief. With all he was doing, what could he possibly want from _her_?

"An heir." Lex replied simply, and Lana felt her eyes widen a bit. But fear quickly turned to rage, burning through her and giving her strength. She lunged forward, the jutte in her hands swinging forward in a perfect arc. But Zod caught it, and the next thing Lana knew she was being pressed hard against one of the wooden walls, staring at the dark eyes of the _monster _Lex had been turned into.

She wasn't even given a chance to breathe, suddenly she was screaming as icy pain drove through her right hand. She felt the shaft plunge in, the blunt ended weapon pushing painfully through flesh and past bone as Zod shoved the weapon in down to the hilt, entrapping her against the wall in throbbing pain. Blackness bit at the edges of her vision, taunting her with its appealing protection, but the pain tore through her in icy lances, keeping her just aware enough to watch him leave.

"We'll discuss this further when I return from your Pentagon." Zod smirked, turning around and leaving her pinned there, whimpering like a helpless dog chained on the floor. The pain was too much, and she could still feel the icy bite of iron inside her hand, screaming at her with the wrongness of the intrusion. She gasped, falling helplessly against the wall in defeat.

Lana gasped, panting in merciless pain as the fingers in her hand started curling limply against the jutte's hilt. But her eyes fixed on something small that was sitting innocently on the floor.

A white chess piece.

A harsh bark of laughter escaped her as she stared at the little piece. It was the knight; the same one Phantom had left out for her just the previous morning. He'd been talking about how she'd be needed to keep Lex himself, and Lana couldn't help the bitter irony at how wrong he'd been. She frowned, her left hand stretching out just far enough that she was able to catch the white figurine in her fingers. It must have fallen out of her pocket while she struggled against Zod.

In a strange way it helped her, that little white piece. She knew her 'white knight' wasn't coming, not today. But Phantom had been speaking about how it was his favourite piece; it was 'powerful in its unpredictability'. Lana bit her lip in understanding, suddenly knowing what he meant. The knight was powerful, not because it was limitless, but because it was the only piece that could take the queen without compromising itself.

Lana grunted, looking up at the jutte that held her in place. She wasn't going to wait around anymore; she wasn't some damsel in distress waiting for her prince to come save her. She'd grown up. She plunged the little chess piece into her pocket, setting her good hand around the metal hilt. Steeling herself against the pain she tugged, feeling every inch as the iron rod slowly, achingly, was pulled out of her hand. She threw the weapon aside, sagging heavily against the wall for just a moment in rest.

She was done waiting, done hoping for someone else to save her. It was time for her to step up, and this time, it was her turn to play the white knight.

_Line Break_

Clark gasped, rolling over in pain as twin gashes across his cheeks made themselves known. And that wasn't the worst of his injuries. The creatures seemed to have abandoned him, at least for now, but he was left forsaken in this sandy desert that he was starting to think was more of a death trap. He'd tried to fight them off, but the most startling revelation was the fact that he didn't have his powers. They were just gone, completely vanished. He should have suspected it, what with there being no sun here, but he hadn't realised until it was far too late.

Clark groaned, rolling over onto his side just enough to get back up onto his feet. He could taste blood on his lips, the metallic taste sharp against the dryness of his throat. He coughed, spitting out a lump of bloody bile onto the grey sand before he managed to pick himself up. He didn't know how long he'd been knocked out, but it had probably been a couple of hours, judging by the way the sand dunes had changed in the rugged wind.

He shook his head and started walking, limping slightly when he realised how much damage the creatures had done to his leg. He wasn't used to pain, not long lasting like this was. Usually the worst he experienced was from being exposed to kryptonite, but that went away almost as soon as the green rock was gone. And with how much he was hurting now he wondered how normal people handled it.

It was probably half an hour later when he stopped, frowning as he saw a bright flash of light coming from behind one of the smaller cliff faces. Clark proceeded cautiously; worried that he'd encounter another of those black robed creatures. He fumbled over a pile of sand that had gathered near the cliff face, tripping slightly as he climbed over the ridge. But he broke into a run when he saw the cause of the light.

He recognised the cloak first, spilling over the figure like a blanket of white snow. But the boy rolled over, revealing a familiar mess of dark black hair, tips absurdly whitened to snowy points. Clark raced over, not daring to wonder why _Danny_ was here. He ignored the pain from his own leg as he helped the boy up, pulling back slightly when his eyes opened to reveal two orbs the colour of tarnished silver. Danny groaned, pulling clumsily away from him and giving Clark the chance to fully look at his cousin.

While the air here seemed to bleach the colour out of everything, his cousin looked like he had been completely drained of colour. His usually pale skin now seemed to be an ashen shade of grey, and the bright green gem that decorated his cloak had turned a stony black. Most alarming was the fact that Danny seemed to be stuck somewhere between his two forms, wearing the knightly costume of his ghost form while his hair was mostly the raven of his human one.

"Danny?" Clark asked, surprised by how dry his own voice sounded. "How did you get here? Did Zod send you?"

Danny frowned and held up a hand; effectively silencing him as the boy dazedly shook his head. "Just give me a second to get my bearings." The boy murmured, his voice sounding slightly strained. Eventually dark silver eyes fixed on him, betraying a sort of pained weariness that made Clark want to wince. "Sorry." The boy said, his voice sounding slightly bemused as he pressed one hand into his chest. "We didn't know what would happen when I was sent here, I'm just glad that I seem to have a body."

"Sent here?" Clark pressed, confused by the younger boy's complacent tone.

Danny nodded, a strange look appearing on his face. "Welcome, Clark, to the Phantom Zone." Danny said ominously.

"This is the Phantom Zone?" Clark questioned after a long minute.

Danny nodded sadly. "It's... better and worse than I imagined." He commented, seemingly surveying the surroundings. "How long have you been in one spot?"

"Don't know." Clark replied. "I was attacked by a couple of dark... things."

"Phantoms." Danny surmised quickly, looking briefly at him before he ripped a long strip off his shirt. "We need to bandage that." He said, gesturing towards Clark's still bleeding leg. "But then we need to get moving. It's not safe here." The boy didn't give Clark a chance to protest, instead leading him over to a blackened rock so that he could stem the bleeding.

"Jor-El created this place, years ago, to hold prisoners from the twenty eight known inhabited galaxies." Danny explained as he worked; his movements quick and precise and his voice devoid of emotion. "Before the Fall, Krypton used to have close ties to the Ghost Zone, and the associated troubles that come from it. When your father realised that the prisons on Krypton couldn't contain all the inmates he created this, a dead end wasteland of a pocket dimension in the Ghost Zone."

Danny sighed, tying the last knot and dragging Clark up to his feet, the break allowing him a chance to press him for more information. "What's happening out there?"

Danny frowned. "It's bad." He summarised. "When you stabbed Brainiac you gave him the connection he needed to bring Zod back. The city itself, I don't know how it was when you last saw it but the riots were still going when I... left. Chloe's working on shutting down the virus but I don't know how much luck she'll have. And Lionel's trying to find a way to stop Zod."

"Mom and Lois?" Clark pressed, but Danny was shaking his head.

"I don't know, Clark. Nobody's heard from them." The boy replied sadly.

"And you?" Clark asked.

"Just peachy." The boy replied, an edge of venom in his voice.

Clark frowned, "What's wrong?" He urged, slightly concerned.

"Just tired, Clark." Danny wearied, rubbing a hand over his eyes. "Fighting in Metropolis did me absolutely no good, and that was before I was sent through a portal that is supposed to rip people like me out of our corporeal form. And now we're stuck here in the single worst prison the Zone has ever known."

"So now we're inmates?" Clark jested lightly, trying to draw the tension away.

Danny shook his head defensively. "No." He replied hotly. "You were thrown in as revenge and I'm the rescue party."

"What's the problem then?" Clark pressed gently, absently following Danny as he picked a path across the dunes.

Danny just crossed his arms, seeming to ignore the question. Instead he led on, escorting Clark through a small valley between two blackened cliffs. It was a welcome break from the wind, giving Clark a chance to think. Danny had always been very quiet about the Phantom Zone, but now that he was here he could sort of understand the reason for Danny's silence. But Danny seemed to have a genuine fear of the place, one deeper rooted than just dread of being ripped out of his corporeal body. It was almost like he thought there was a valid reason to be sent here as _punishment_.

They proceeded silently for a long while, silence stretching uncomfortably between them. But eventually Danny paused, unclasping his right hand and passing a small object over to Clark. It was a small pentagonal crest, and Clark immediately recognised the symbol for the house of El etched in blue onto the crystal surface. "What's this?" He asked.

"Your father gave it to me." Danny replied. "It's the only thing the phantoms here fear, it'll keep you safe."

"That's how you got here?" Clark guessed, turning the crystal over in his hand. He wasn't sure what to make of Danny's mood. The younger boy seemed to be mulling something over, but Clark couldn't tell what it was.

"Yeah." The boy replied, turning away and leading them on again. "That crest, it's legendary. For a ghost, just touching it is enough to send them here, even if they're overshadowing someone else. For the rest, Jor-El was able to use it to open a direct portal in here, but you'd have to ask him how that function worked. There's a number of living inmates here, but the most vicious offenders were condemned for eternity. He would destroy their corporeal body and leave their essence to haunt the wasteland."

Clark felt a cold shiver run down his spine, that sort of thing made his birth father sound ruthless and cruel. "I can't believe anyone would do that." Clark commented, but was stopped when Danny abruptly blocked his path.

"Jor-El was a great man." Danny retorted vehemently. "What he did in creating this place is what has ensured the safety of both the Real World and the Ghost Zone. It's a place where the lawless can be sent to be with their own, and ensures the safety of all those outside. Time has no meaning here, the living keep on living. This meant that people who would have left powerful and vengeful ghosts _can't_, and the worst of the ghosts are permanently locked away."

Clark blinked, slightly curious with what Danny had just let slip. He remembered, months ago, Danny saying he was grateful for the 'services of his family' but he couldn't believe that this was it. It wasn't often that Danny talked about the Ghost Zone like this, not the politics going on behind the scenes. And it looked like they had a while to go before they got to the exit; whatever that was. So Clark decided to use the opportunity to ask Danny a little about the ghost world.

Danny sighed, looking reflectively back at him. "The Ghost Zone... is a complex place." Danny replied eventually. "There's a lot of stuff that living people aren't meant to know, and I won't betray the trust of my mentor by saying it. But on the other hand, there are some things I guess wouldn't hurt for you to know."

The boy paused for a minute, looking out from behind a cliff face, apparently checking for danger before he led the two of them out into the grey dunes. "The Zone has a convoluted society, and what we see in the Real World is a poor reflection of most of the denizens. That said... there are some similarities to what we know. It's actually kinda comparable to our justice system now I think about it, just a little bit more abstract about the regulations.

"In America we have the government, and they make the rules. In the Zone there's the Council of the Thirteen, I mean, ages ago there was the King and he made the rules, but that sorta stopped when Pariah was deposed. There're exceptions to the rules and each of the Realms tend to have their own specific laws, but the Council decides the major ones.

"Then, where America has the court system, the Zone has the Observant's High Council. Strictly speaking their job is to make judgements and interpret the Council's laws. But they can be a bit over-zealous, especially since well..." Danny trailed off, a fleeting haunted look crossing his face. Clark was tempted to press the issue, but Danny appeared not to be willing to expand on it.

"Anyway, after that there's the policing bodies; Walker and Lacerator. Each of them has their own prisons and their official job is to catch lawbreakers and detain them after sentencing. Walker is admittedly the more outgoing of them, he actively seeks lawbreakers and sort of... well, he's one of the Realm leaders at the moment so _technically_ he does have the power to make up local laws; he's actually the one that led the first Ghost invasion a couple of years back. He's got a grudge against me since strictly speaking I broke one of his local laws.

"Lacerator is a lot more private, I think he used to go out like Walker did, but now he just waits for prisoners to come in. See, when a ghost goes up in front of the Observant's there's pretty much three ways it can go. You can be sent to Walker, who'll imprison you for somewhere between five hundred and a couple of thousand human years. By human standards the prison would probably be considered Maximum security, but for us it's more like a prison farm.

"Then there's Lacerator's prison, which is essentially a life sentence. No escape once you go in and he's fairly medieval in his punishments. When I was taught about him I was told that he refined most of the torture devices to an art. He's partially responsible for some of the more unusual torture methods we see on Earth."

"That sounds cruel." Clark interrupted, unable to stop himself.

Danny shrugged. "It is by human standards, but ghosts don't feel things the same way. For living people, mortality is actually a great motivator to enforce good behaviour; no one wants to die in prison. But ghosts are basically immortal, while it's feasible to destroy a ghost it's almost impossible, so the threat of torture like that is the closest we can taste to true mortality." Danny paused, eyebrows creased in something akin to concern before shaking his head dismissively.

"The worst punishment is being sent here. The convict's physical form is destroyed, reducing them to the phantoms that savage this place. For most ghosts the mere fact that a place like this exists is enough to ensure that they behave. Just knowing that you can be reduced to one of those creatures, stripped of your essence and confined to less than the meanest ghost powers is terrifying. Those things can fly, and do have the power to attack physically, but they can't do anything much else. And to a ghost that's terrifying. We're a society that respects power, and to be reduced to that is the single worst fate you could anticipate."

Danny seemed to sigh, shaking his head slightly before continuing on about the similarities and differences between human and ghost legal systems. Clark could tell there were bits that Danny skated over, either too private or because Clark wasn't meant to know. It was worrisome the way he slipped between identifying himself as a human and identifying himself as a ghost. A year ago Clark wouldn't have noticed the pronouns but months of living with the boy had made him listen to that sort of thing.

"And that's why most of the Zone has great respect for your father." Danny commented eventually, drawing to the close of his long explanation. "Before him, the third sentence was essentially the death sentence, destroying the ghost completely if it was possible. But all that does is make murderers. The ghost who destroyed another may have been officiated in doing it, but it was still murder, to use the human maxim it's blood that doesn't wash off. The Phantom Zone saves that, removing the threat while simultaneously protecting the moral virtue of the ghosts involved in detaining them."

Clark nodded slowly in acknowledgement, beginning to understand Danny's point. But what really got to Clark was knowing that one Danny would actually be a part of this. This wasn't history laid out in some textbook; it was the way the world really was for him. It was one thing to know that Danny would one day be a king, but it was another thing entirely to hear that future king talk about the way his world worked. As he'd spoken, Clark had heard some small part of the great man his cousin could one day become. Danny may have come here to save Clark, but even now he could hear the echoes of the future King of the Ghost Zone in his young voice.

Clark just needed to make sure that Danny got there, and that meant escaping this prison and defeating Zod first.

_Line Break_

Martha let out a shaky breath, there was a gash on her forehead that was making her feel lightheaded, but she couldn't afford to think about that now. She'd woken up to find that their plane had crashed, Lois barely breathing amongst the wreckage, but still alive. She'd sent out a mayday call, but hadn't got any answer. She hadn't been able to tell if that was because no one was there to answer, or because the radio itself was broken. She remembered dazedly walking out of the plane, a gaping hole rent into the side had allowed her to get out easily, and finding little but snow for miles around.

She'd been about to give up and try searching the wreckage for anything like a survival kit when she'd seen a strange glittering structure on the far side of the plane. Hoping that it was a sign of civilisation she'd bandaged Lois up as best she could before making a sled out of the broken plane door. It was just light enough that she could pull Lois on over the snow, and, after wrapping the young woman up in a blanket she'd set off, desperately hoping that Lois would make it just long enough for her to get them both to safety.

Half an hour later Martha was pulling the makeshift sled into the entrance of the strange crystalline structure, but the further in she went, the less it looked like anything made by humans. The floor was covered in a thin layer of snow and ice, and tall crystalline columns formed the walls and ceiling. But the further in she went, the less settled she felt. White lit columns gave way to flickering red, like the walls themselves were on fire, burning from the inside. But it was shelter, and despite the darkness and the flickering red, it was safe enough for Martha to stop and tend to Lois as best she could.

"Martha Kent." A deep masculine voice spoke, and Martha jumped at the sudden noise. She whirled around, looking for the speaker, but paused when she realised that the voice had come from inside the structure itself.

"Jor-El." She answered dryly. "This is the Fortress Clark told me about. Why did you bring us here? Why did you crash our plane?"

"You were taken as pawns by the Brain Interactive Construct. The being you know as Milton Fine." Jor-El replied in explanation. And Martha crossed her arms over her chest uncomfortably, ill at ease with speaking with her son's birth father.

"Clark?" She interrupted, feeling suddenly wary.

"I gave him a dagger to kill the vessel of Zod." Jor-El replied, apparently choosing to ignore her question and lay blame on her son. "Instead, he chose to use it against Fine."

"Where is he?" Martha demanded, wishing that there was a face she could look at. "Where is Clark?"

"The dagger is part of this Fortress." Jor-El replied callously. "Plunging it into Fine destroyed all copies of him but also damaged this structure and released Zod."

Martha bit her teeth, losing patience with the man as he danced around the truth. "What happened to my son, Jor-El?"

"Banished forever by Zod." Jor-El replied, and Martha felt the world crashing around her. She couldn't lose Clark, not now. Not when she'd just lost Jonathan.

"Bring him back." She demanded, glaring into the air above her. "You have to bring him home."

Jor-El's reply was cold in its immediacy. "Not within my power. His destiny is now in the hands of the young ghost child."

Martha pressed a hand to her lips, not daring to ask what he meant. It was clear that wherever Clark was, somehow Danny was there too. And that thought broke her heart. "I've lost my husband and now my son and nephew because of your games!" She yelled, hearing her voice break as her misery turned accusatory.

"We have both lost much, Martha Kent." Jor-El replied. "But you must put aside your anguish if you wish to save your world. Kal-El's mission must be completed. Retrieve the dagger and kill Zod's vessel... Lex Luthor."

"You want me to _murder_ Lex?" Martha demanded, torn between anger and dread.

"Zod has taken over his body and given him all the powers of a true Kryptonian." Jor-El explained, and Martha felt a cold shiver run down her spine. She understood, now, why the man would make such a demand, but it went against everything she had ever stood for. And even if she could get close, nothing short of a kryptonite bullet could ever kill a Kryptonian and those weren't exactly in huge supply.

Martha gaped, struggling for words against such a gigantean task. "How am I supposed to do that?"

"You must find a way or all is lost." Jor-El replied, and Martha could have sworn she heard a hint of concern in that omnipresent voice.

"All right." She nodded, thinking things over. She would find a way, she had to. Even if she never saw her two boys again, at least she would know that she'd done what they would have wanted her to. "Send me back."

"Everything you've done for Kal-El" Jor-El said, and this time there was a marked difference in his voice. She could almost feel the heavy tone of gratitude as the man spoke. "You have my deepest gratitude. I couldn't have wished for a brighter light to guide my son. Farewell, Martha Kent"

Then there was a flash of bright light, and suddenly she wasn't in Clark's Fortress, but at her farmhouse in the back yard. Lois was lain out beside her, unconscious and bleeding, and Martha did the best she could to pick the poor girl up and take her to the shelter of the house. She called the ambulance service and waited sullenly as two very harried looking men came to take Lois away. All the time she was thinking, pondering over how a human could possibly defeat a Kryptonian. The two men offered for her to accompany Lois to the hospital, but Martha knew she had to stay, that she had to find some way to ensure that Lex – Zod – didn't destroy anything more than he already had.

Dazedly she made her way out to the barn, picking through the rubble of what had obviously been Clark's last stand. Tears prickled at her eyes at the thought, but she couldn't afford to think of that now. Her eyes caught on a strange glimmer, a glint of steel half buried under scattered hay. She bent down to pick it up, brushing the unusual shaped dagger with her fingers. It was clearly Kryptonian, and Martha only hoped that it would take a Kryptonian down.

She heard panting behind her, and suddenly Lionel Luthor was there, breathlessly tired with dried blood caked across his face. He looked exhausted, but the first thing he did was make sure that she was okay.

"I'm fine.." She replied, realising now how close her voice was to hysterical. "Your son... Lex..." She said, needing him to understand.

"I know," Lionel replied, steadying her. And something in his deep voice calmed her fraying nerves. "I know. I know what I have to do. I..."

"Where's Clark?" Another voice cut in, and Martha distantly recognised it as Lana's. She looked ragged; her right hand was wrapped in a clumsy white bandage, but even from here Martha could see the blood soaking through.

"Lana." She replied, her eyes briefly flickering between Lionel and the Kryptonian dagger before returning to Lana. "I don't know where Clark is." And it was honestly true; Jor-El had never told her where Clark and Danny were, only that they were gone.

"I heard him talking to Chloe about killing Lex." Lana replied, meeting her in the eyes with dark conviction. "I didn't understand what was happening."

"Lana, where's Lex?" Lionel asked, taking a step forward and making Martha feel momentarily bereft in the absence of his steadying warmth. "We have to find him."

Lana scoffed, shrugging dismissively. "It's too late." They young woman wearied. "The things he can do now... I don't think there's anyone on Earth who can stop him."

"There might be." Martha heard herself say, holding the dagger out between the three of them like a symbol. "I have to kill him with this."

"You would never get close enough to even use that." Lana dismissed, her face turning to a considering frown. Martha noted idly that her left hand touched something in her pocket before the dark haired young woman looked back up at them. "But I can." The brunette stepped forward, holding her left hand out so she could take the blade. Martha momentarily drew back, reluctant to let go of the one tie she had left to her son. "A lot of people are going to die if you don't let me do this. It's the only way."

A silent look passed between them, and Martha met her determined brown eyes. A moment passed while Martha just looked at Lana, seeing not the little girl who had lost her parents in a meteor shower, but a fully grown woman, prepared to do whatever it took to save the people she loved. Martha nodded, pressing the blade firmly into Lana's hands. And with that gesture she put her trust in Lana; the one person who truly stood a chance at getting close to Zod.

_Line Break_

Lana let out a tense breath, setting her shoulders squarely as she walked into Lex's office. She knew Zod was back, she'd watched him walk in from an alcove, but it still wasn't easy confronting him knowing what she had to do. The chess piece weighed in her pocket, a talisman of sorts that helped remind her why she was doing this. She strode forward, concealing all her doubts in a mask of courage and stepped through the door. Zod was bent over a singed briefcase, and Lana instantly knew that she didn't want to know what any of his further plans are.

"That's all it takes to end the world?" She commented, drawing the man's attention to herself.

"And begin a new one." Zod confirmed, turning around and looking at her with an evaluative look in his arctic blue eyes. "You freed yourself but didn't run. Why?"

Lana shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "I realized there was nothing to run to." She answered, stepping forward so that she stood just beyond easy reaching distance. "Sometimes... to survive, you have to give up the things that you care about... and just give into your fate."

"You would give me an heir, willingly?" Zod asked, closing the gap between them as a vaguely hopeful look crossed his dangerous eyes.

"The first of many." Lana replied seductively, offering him a smile that bordered a smirk. He was falling for it; she could see it in his eyes as he smiled smugly down at her. A moment later she stepped forward, initiating a kiss that led them over towards the sofa. Zod tasted of pride and tainted victory, and an overwhelming sense of dominating power that almost made her want to pull away. But she couldn't afford to, so she kissed harder, deeper, possessing him in the only way she could.

Lana briefly pulled away, layering soft kisses against his neck as she took a relieving breath, knowing that this was the closest she would ever come to kissing _her_ Lex ever again. "Perhaps I've underestimated the females of your species." Zod commented, and a grim smile pulled at her lips as her fingers found the blade of the crystal hilted dagger.

"Maybe you just underestimated me." Lana replied, tears in her eyes as she pulled the dagger back. She couldn't think of him as Lex, Lex was gone, and all that was left was a monster. That thought surged through her, vengeance pumping through her veins at the thought of eradicating the demon that had destroyed Lex. The blade plunged forward, singing through the air with the promise of icy death.

But suddenly her hand was stopped, Zod's hand catching her wrist and yanking the blade out of her hands. "You shouldn't play with things you don't understand." He commented, and suddenly she was flying as he backhanded her across the room. Her head hit the wall hard, and Lana could feel a trickle of blood run down her cheeks as dark spots danced on the edge of her vision.

"Did you really think you could make a difference?" Zod asked maliciously through her foggy haze. There was a sharp sound of metal breaking, and the two destroyed halves of the dagger fell mercilessly in front of her face. Blackness was coming, Lana could feel it. The sympathetic cold hands of unconsciousness were reaching out to welcome her into their comforting grasp. His voice came out as a harsh murmur, his malice the last thing on her mind before the darkness overcame her. "Nothing can change the fate of your world."

_Line Break_

Chloe yawned, rubbing her eyes intense frustration as she tried uselessly to translate some of the Kryptonian symbols. She was desperately hoping to crack through the code, to find a way to restart most of the infrastructure failure. Absently her fingers touched to her lips, where the lingering cool taste of _Danny_ stayed with her. She hadn't entirely meant to kiss him, but she didn't regret it either. For all the confusion it brought, she could easily say that it was the one good thing that had happened in all of this, a small light in the darkness.

Outside there was the indistinct sound of people shouting, and the steady clamour of shattering glass. It wasn't as bad as it had been a couple of hours ago, the light of day seemed to have taken the edge off the riot, but it was still pretty bad. She hoped that Danny had been able to get out of it, away from the violence that was clearly destroying him. The image of him _fading_ seemed to have burned itself onto her retinas, holding his hand as he'd turned almost mist like, just about flickering out of existence like a dimming candle. She thought she knew his obsession now, what tethered him to Earth. He took protecting people to a whole new level, and for him, last night must have felt like murder.

Chloe shook her head, looking dazedly between her pen and paper work and her laptop screen. The program Danny had given her wasn't much; it seemed to be able to isolate the virus enough that she could read bits of it, but without being able to read Kryptonian herself, it was still beyond her to work on shutting it down. So she'd resorted to trying to find any repeating patterns in the notes Lionel had made. She did know what six of the symbols meant; three from the crystals that had united to make the Fortress, and three from Jor-El's warning. But just knowing the words for 'fire', 'air', 'water', 'Zod', 'is' and 'coming' wouldn't exactly help her translate a whole language. Especially considering that the symbol for 'air' looked a lot like the symbol for Clark's Kryptonian family.

Anxiously scribbling away, she almost missed the slight sound of scuffing feet on the floor and the heavy thump of an object falling onto the linoleum. Eyes wide she whirled around, the gun Lionel had given her releasing a warning shot before she even knew what was happening. One of the glass panels near the ceiling shattered from the bullet shot, and a dark jacketed figure with blonde hair and blue eyes stepped out from behind a potted fern.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Don't shoot!" The man said, arms raised appeasingly in front of him. "Okay? I work here. You don't have..." The figure paused, seemingly at the same moment that Chloe did because she _recognised_ him. She hadn't seen him in years, not since they'd both had a summer internship here in her sophomore year at Smallville High. "Chloe?" He asked, blue eyes glittering in recognition as he chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck in an awkward gesture, reminding her confusingly of Danny when he was acting cluelessly embarrassed. "This isn't 'cause I didn't call you back, is it?"

Chloe half smiled, setting the gun aside on the table as she shook her head in bemusement. "Jimmy Olsen." She commented, staring at the man who she hadn't seen since he was a boy. He'd grown up a lot, probably standing just under six feet tall. But his blonde hair still had that messily tidy look and his blue eyes still had that strange offbeat air of innocent sophistication to them. "What are you... why are you here?" She heard herself ask, although she hadn't intended to come off so confused.

"A guy can't come back to the one place he fit in now?" Jimmy shot back, but his voice was light and he was smiling. "Seriously though, after a couple of years drifting I figured that Metropolis was as good a place as any to settle down."

Chloe shook her head half amusedly, hearing the young boy with big dreams in his voice. It seemed almost surreal to see him, perfectly preserved. It was almost as though the years hadn't changed him, hadn't worn on him like the time in Smallville had for her. But then, maybe that was a good thing. He had a sort of innocence to his eyes, completely unreserved and trusting. It wasn't like Clark's or even Danny's. And Chloe couldn't help but compare Jimmy's innocent eyes to the battle worn eyes of the two cousins.

"... so I was down in the basement," Jimmy said, and it took Chloe a minute to realise that she's missed the first part of his explanation in her contemplative observation. "Scanning archive photos into the database, when everything went screwy. First official day at the _Daily Planet_ and the world decides to end."

Chloe shook her head dazedly as she looked at him, pacing in front of the decimated car that still poked through the basement window. And it was almost amusing to see the way his emotions played openly across his face. He was an open book, and that hadn't changed at all in the time it had been since she'd last seen him. "I can't believe you actually work here." She commented, looking at the young man bemusedly.

His face split into a wry smile, his blue eyes glimmering merrily and he opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by a sudden lurch. Chloe felt her eyes widen as the ground beneath them trembled, picking up ferocity until the shaking seemed to rattle her all the way to her bones. A horrendous noise tore through the air, the sound of metal grating against metal combined with the clash of pressing earth. She sent a worried glance at Jimmy, his face a mirror of her own confused fear.

"What is that?!" Jimmy asked, leaning heavily against a desk for balance. But it was useless. The ground gave another lurch, sending her careening into him as she lost her own balance. She might have screamed his name, but the next thing she really knew was that she was on the floor as a bookcase collapsed over them, books tumbling out over them as the heavy frame was caught by a desk.

Jimmy's arms were wrapped instinctively around her, pulling her close to his lightly muscled chest. Chloe shook her head and pulled away, crawling cautiously out from under the bookcase and offering a hand to him so he could stand up. The ground was still shaking, but it seemed less turbulent than the initial shockwave. Jimmy stared unblinkingly at her, his fear obvious in his blue eyes.

"Since when are there earthquakes in Metropolis?" Jimmy asked helplessly, and Chloe bit her lip in hesitation. She turned, looking at the trembling sunlight as it pooled through the gaps in the window. The answer was that there weren't. There had never been an earthquake in Metropolis that wasn't caused by artificial interference. And as much as she wished it wasn't the case, in her heart she knew that the explanation laid in whatever plans Zod had begun.

She found herself desperately praying that Danny would come back with Clark soon. It was their only chance at finally ending this and stopping Zod.

_Line Break_

Clark let out a drawn out breath, trying to keep his breathing even. They'd been walking for the better part of an hour and the pain in his leg was getting to him. The bandage Danny had used to staunch the wound had soaked through, and Danny had quickly replaced it with another strip from his own shirt. The boy was now walking around bare-chested beneath the white cloak, but apparently the thick material prevented the biting sandstorm from getting at Danny the way it did Clark.

"How did you know about the gateway?" Clark asked between breaths as Danny raced up to the top of a grey sand dune.

Danny half shrugged, a surprisingly casual gesture despite the danger of their current position. In the hours they'd been there one more Phantom had attacked them, Danny had just managed to hold it off long enough before Clark had pulled out the crystal. A bright beam of light had flashed at the phantom and the creature had raced away screeching. But Danny had also been affected by it, and it had taken a good ten minutes before the almost feral fear had drained enough from his eyes for the younger boy to explain that it affected _all_ ghosts and that he'd prefer if he didn't have to come into contact with it again.

"Your father was a great man," The raven haired boy explained, half sliding back down the dune, the white tips of his hair fluttering lightly in the waning wind. "And like all great men there were many who wished him harm. Your father kept it a secret, a backdoor in case anyone ever tried to imprison his family here. I knew about the gateway because I knew enough about him to deduce that he would have put something in place."

"You know, you never really explained how you know so much about Krypton." Clark pointed out, following the boy as he led the way around the back of the dune.

"I've got a teacher who's pretty keen on not repeating the mistakes of the past." Danny replied vaguely. "Sometimes I think he just takes sadistic pleasure in watching me struggle with what happened in the third century on Earth and how the onset of crystal technology on Krypton interfered with energy resonances that disturbed the balance between the two worlds." Danny paused, shifting subjects quickly with none of his usual finesse. "What do you plan to do when you get out?"

The change in subjects took Clark off guard, but Danny had turned around to face him with a heavy look in his eyes. "I have to stop him." He replied simply.

"Zod is a soldier." Danny replied darkly, arms crossed over his chest. "He will kill you."

"If it's the only way to save everyone we love, isn't it worth the risk dying?" Clark replied, looking confusedly at his cousin. There was an unfathomable look in those dark silver eyes, one that worried him down to his core.

"You would make both your fathers proud." Danny replied eventually. "You need to keep that conviction, Clark, no matter what."

Clark frowned, uncertain about what to say to that. Danny's mood in here seemed to be a rollercoaster, shifting from cool confidence to concerning levels of fear in an instant. It was worrying, especially since Clark had no idea about the cause. "You make it sound like you're not coming back." He said eventually, pausing to study his cousin's worn face.

Danny released a sharp breath of air. "The most important thing is getting you out of here, Clark." The boy replied after a minute. "Nothing else matters."

Clark stopped, grabbing the younger boy's arm tight enough to stop him from moving forwards. "You're coming with me." He asserted, looking into those silver eyes and missing the usual confidence that they held when they were blue or green. It was almost like he was dealing with a shade of his cousin, like the Phantom Zone had bleached out more than just the colour of his skin. "We'll stop him together."

"I can't!" Danny replied, pulling away and stumbling backwards into a dune. "Clark, when I came in here my core was stretched beyond its limits. The riots... I felt it all. Every fear, every injury, every death. I failed to _protect_ them, I couldn't save them." He paused, angry tears glittering in his eyes as Clark began to understand what the boy, the _halfa_ was saying. "But you I _can_ save, you I can _protect_. And if I can get you back there then you can end all of this. You're the only thing that matters, Clark. You're the only one that can."

Danny turned away, walking forwards. The boy refused to say a word more, leading them on in silence. Clark allowed it, staring at his cousin's white cloak as the younger boy guided them over a dune. He hadn't really thought about how the riots would affect Danny, but he should have known. He remembered seeing the boy months ago, almost fading out of existence in the hospital waiting room because they'd found his dad hanging upside down in the barn. His obsession was clearly his greatest weakness as much as it was his strength, and Clark hadn't even accounted for it.

The silence stretched between them as Clark followed Danny in silence. More than once he opened his mouth, planning to offer some comfort, but he couldn't find the words, they were all too small. He himself understood some of it, he knew he had what Chloe dubbed his 'hero complex', adding weights around his neck, but he also knew he could never comprehend the depths to which Danny felt it. He couldn't imagine what it would feel like to have his entire life literally _revolve_ around saving lives. And for a moment, more than anything, he was just grateful that he wasn't a ghost.

Clark jumped when a robed figure leapt out from behind a dune, grabbing Danny and pulling him down into the sand. The attack was so swift that he barely knew what was happening, and before he could do anything two arms grabbed him and forced him down onto his knees in the sand. He struggled, trying to get away from his dark robed assailant, but it was useless.

The taller of the two, the one holding Danny, pulled a cloth away from his face revealing a pair of startlingly familiar green eyes. "Kal-El." His dark voice spoke, filled with vengeance filled desire as he pulled out a crude dagger. Clark recognised him immediately as one of the Kryptonians that had escaped the ship all those months before. He took a step forwards, loosening his hold on Danny as the blade glinted menacingly between them.

"Nam-Ek!" Danny shouted, managing to surprise everyone present. "Wait! Don't kill him."

"Why should I spare his life? The one who sent me here?" Nam-Ek demanded, turning the dagger so that it was pressed at Danny's throat. The boy met him unflinchingly, a cold look pooling into his silver eyes.

"He can open the gateway." Danny replied darkly. "He can free us all."

The boy shifted and stood up, moving just enough so that his cloak completely enshrouded his face, leaving all dark but the glow of two corrupted silver eyes. Clark's eyes widened in fear at that dark gaze; in that instant Danny looked purely malevolent, almost more threatening than Zod had in the barn. Among the group there was a subtle sense of power shifting, as though his cousin had somehow taken control of the group and not in a good way. Clark thrashed against his captor, struggling desperately to escape. But a moment later _Danny_ was on him, delivering a swift backhand to his face.

"You will be silent." Danny hissed, his voice just loud enough that everyone could hear. But then it dropped to a whisper, barely audible to Clark over the desert wind. "Just play along, we won't get rid of them. But I'll get you to the gateway safe enough." Then Danny rose, delivering a sharp backhand against his cheek before stepping away from him, and Clark saw a smug smirk on the boy's pale face.

"Who are you?" Clark's female captor asked, tightening her grip on his arms.

"My name is Phantom." Danny replied coldly, a cruel look in his eyes as he gazed towards Clark's captor. "The ghost destined to raze both worlds to the ground." He paused, choosing that moment to casually examine his fingernails. Clark had to admit, Danny was a phenomenal actor to be able to pull the 'evil' facade off so easily. "I suppose the Observant's Council took aggrievance to that."

Nam-Ek visibly sputtered. "You have a corporeal form!" The dark skinned man replied, green eyes wide as he took a wary step away.

Danny smirked; his blackened silver eyes somehow making him look even more sinister against the desert wasteland. "I do." He replied smugly. "Now I'm sure you and the lovely Miss Aethyr here could talk all day, but I would much rather return to the Real World. I hear rumour that your little leader has been returned and I'm sure he would _relish_ the opportunity for a true challenge. There's nothing worse than an uncontested victory."

"Why shouldn't we just leave you here?" Nam-Ek retorted hotly, clearly unsettled by Danny's dark looks.

"I suppose you could," Danny trailed with a shrug. "But as I'm currently the only one that knows how to use the gateway, I would advise against it."

Danny turned away with a smirk, taking two steps before he paused. "Bring that for me." He commented, not even bothering to look back at him. "He will be needed." And Danny walked onwards, leaving Clark slightly concerned about his cousin's current motivations.

He was grabbed harshly, each of the Kryptonians grabbing one arm tightly as Danny led the way. There was something truly menacing in the way Danny had manipulated them, somehow sounding like _Lex _in the callous way he acted towards the people around him. It was as though all three Kryptonians had been reduced to mere objects that the younger boy could play with, and Clark didn't like it.

Danny marched onwards, shoulders square and looking chillingly regal as he led their group on through the grey desert. His cloak billowed around him, making him look somehow more powerful than any of them, despite the fact that at the moment none of them had any powers. It was a different side of Danny, a much darker one. And even if it was only an act it made Clark feel concerned with how _easily_ he'd built up the illusion. Danny was a phenomenal actor, he knew that first hand. But Danny never lied. He'd tell half truths and let people make their own conclusions, but he could never tell a convincing lie. And that meant that there was at least some truth in the tale that had earned Nam-Ek and Aethyr's tenuous trust.

The younger boy paused at the top of a rise, gesturing towards a blackened archway at the bottom. Clark stumbled in his captors' grasp, but he was able to make out the structure. It was simple, looking like a simplified version of the crystalline structure of the Fortress, but there was one key difference. It was made of cobalt black, making it look sinister for all its familiarity in the wasteland landscape. Danny allowed them a brief moments rest before striding forward, lips pursed in silence. All too soon they were standing just outside the structure, allowing Clark his first glance inside where a small consol with the 'El' emblem silhouetted on the top lay.

"The others will be here soon. Open the gateway." Nam-Ek demanded, throwing Clark bodily forwards and against the consol.

"He doesn't know how." Danny growled, his voice filled with dark impatience as he glared at the green eyed Kryptonian. "But I do. Give me the knife." Clark could only watch as Danny grabbed the knife from Nam-Ek's hands, the blade glinting wickedly for a moment in the boy's considering hands. A malicious smirk appeared on the boy's face and Clark gasped at the sudden pain as the blade slid quickly across the palm of his hand.

"His blood," Danny commented, holding the darkened blade up to face the two other Kryptonians. "The blood of the House of El. It's the key to open the gateway."

"I trusted you." Clark snarled, glaring angrily at his cousin. This facade had thrown him off, thrown an insidious seed of doubt into his mind. And he wondered just how much this place had affected his cousin, how much of it came from the boy himself. Because the Danny he was seeing now was nothing like the boy that had spent the better part of a year with him, at least superficially. But the doubt was there, and Clark found that no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't read the emotion in his cousin's dark silver eyes.

"Trust is for the weak." Nam-Ek spat, his green eyes smirking greedily at Clark's prone and bleeding form.

"You're right." Danny replied, darting forward with the blade and stabbing Nam-Ek in the leg. The dark skinned man fell, eliciting a panicked cry from Aethyr who was instantly by his side.

"The gateway!" Danny commanded, gesturing quickly behind Clark. "Go Clark!" And that look held no room for debate. He saw the way the cold facade melted away into a face of determination as the two Kryptonians advanced on him. Clark's faith was restored, the seed of doubt dismissed as the Phantom Zone playing with his head as he looked into Danny's harried eyes. He wanted to hold back, wait just the minute it took for Danny to break free and come with him, but the boy briefly met his eyes and shook his head.

He had to go alone.

Clark planted his hand onto the consol, smearing the blood across the plate. He looked up briefly, too quick and yet far too long as he watched Nam-Ek's dagger sink into his cousin's chest. He was screaming, Danny's pained yell blending into his own as the world flashed bright white around him. His last image of that perdition was Danny sinking heavily to his knees, the smirking form of Nam-Ek standing over him. And then there was nothing as white light consumed him, taking him away from his cousin and the cruel reality of the Phantom Zone.

Clark gasped, eyes opening to a sunburnt field. He was sitting in the middle of a sunken crater, probably twenty feet in diameter. The first thing he felt was the comforting warmth of the sun's rays, filling him from the inside and renewing his strength as he felt his powers return. He stood up quickly, idly noting that his jacket had somehow been restored when he was released. Clark growled angrily as images of the decimated city, of Zod's cruel smirk and of Danny's sacrifice crossed his mind. And he knew what he had to do.

Danny was a ghost; he'd survived worse wounds than a stab wound to the heart. Heck, he'd survived being _vivisected_. Clark raced out of the field, desperately hoping that by some miracle his cousin would be okay, all the while knowing that without his powers he didn't stand a chance. Clark growled, angrily forcing dark thoughts out of his mind as he raced onwards. He couldn't afford to think about that now. Instead he had to focus on the task at hand. He had to make sure the world was safe.

Had to make sure that Danny's sacrifice meant something.

And to do that he had to stop Zod. Once and for all.

* * *

><p>AN; I know all the Smallville loyalists are gonna shoot me for not having Raya, but as much as I loved her, her not being there meant that Danny <em>had<em> to go into the Zone. Plus... I was heartbroken when Clark met her, then lost her, then met her again only so she could die in his arms. *Sniffles*

Does this count as an evil cliff hanger of doom? Leaving you with an ending such as this?

Danny's in the Phantom Zone, dying from a stab wound... or is he?  
>And what about Chole's kiss, will Danny be able to fulfil his promise to return safely?<br>Will Clark be able to defeat Zod without his cousin, knowing that he may never see him again?

Lots of questions, and lots of love to all my faithful reviewers, seriously, you guys are the ones that keep me going.

And I think this is officially the longest chapter of JAMF to date, ringing in at roughly 18600 words and 32 pages in Word. So... well done for getting this far.

By the by, if it's not clear from the short temper and mood swings... Danny is still pretty roughed up from what happened on Earth; essentially the only thing keeping him going is the need to get Clark back to stop Zod. So he knows he physically can't fight Nam-Ek and Aethyr off when they stop him and Clark.

As always, adieu, bon soir, and stay well,

Bluerose


	38. Martyr

Chapter 37

Martyr 

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Martha let out a fearful scream as Lionel guided her through the barn. She had been dazed after Lana's departure, taken aback at the thought that she'd just handed the dagger over. And she blamed herself, Clark and Danny were both gone, likely never to come back, and she'd just given over the one thing that would bring her closure. But it was what needed to be done, and it just took time to reconcile herself with the fact that she had entrusted the legacies of her nephew and her son to Lana's hands.

In her distraction she didn't notice the first trembling, but gradually the earth shook more and more to the point where the rafters above her were groaning under the pressure. She felt Lionel's arms grab her around the shoulder, guiding her through the horrendously vacillating barn as the earthquake shook everything loose off its hinges. It was impossible; there had never been an earthquake before in Smallville, not of this magnitude. But with how quickly everything seemed to be spinning out of control it shouldn't have been surprising.

Lionel pulled her back to safety just as the fishing boat fell down from its usual position, crashing to the ground just in front of them with a horrifying thud. Everything around them was shaking, debris falling everywhere and making it hard to move even an inch forward without another dangerous projectile falling haphazardly down towards them. Lionel's arm was wrapped around her, the man acting almost like a shield for her as they tried fruitlessly to escape the crumbling barn.

Suddenly there was an almighty creak, and Martha's eyes widened as the support beams that held the loft landing in place cracked. Above her the timber groaned, the earth's movement apparently having made the landing slip loose from the rest of the loft. Almost in slow motion the heavy wooden platform dropped, tilting threateningly towards them with deadly precision.

Martha was frozen, but suddenly found herself down on the floor, Lionel wrapped protectively over her as though he could save her with his own body. Her heart caught in her chest as she let out a tense breath that she was sure was going to be her last. And she waited for the platform to crush them.

A second lasted an eternity, stretching out longer and longer until Martha dared to open her eyes. The heavy wooden platform seemed frozen, and it took a moment to realise why it hadn't crushed them. She saw a pair of boots, so unbelievably familiar that a tear pricked to her eyes. Clark was there. By some miracle Clark had come back. And she shakily stood up as her son lifted the heavy wood up and away from them, freeing both her and Lionel from their certain demise.

"Clark." She gasped, unable to say anything more as a surge of disbelieving gratitude washed through her heart.

"Where is he?" Clark demanded, his eyes filled with sheer determination as he looked at them.

Martha couldn't find an answer in her, all she could feel was the overwhelming gratitude that her boy was back safe, that he was alive. It promised the world, that everything would be okay because Clark was here. Wherever Zod had banished him to, wherever he and Danny had been exiled away, her son was here again looking unharmed. And for her, just seeing him _back_ was more than enough.

_Line Break _

A deep growl fought its way to escape his chest as Clark made his way through the Luthor Mansion. Righteous fury and roiling rage surged within him, his own anger driving him forwards while his sense of justice demanded payment. The ground beneath him was trembling, noisily rattling and groaning as the earth itself seemed to shrill. Clark took no more notice than the fact that it accentuated the destruction, giving just another reason why Zod had to be defeated.

There was so much wrong with this situation. He should have been facing this with Danny at his side, but the reckless boy had all but forced him to leave him behind. The crystal Danny had given him was an iron weight in his pocket, reminding him of everything that the Zod and the Phantom Zone had taken from him. He didn't know if his cousin was even alive, if the people he loved were still safe. But it was necessary that the threat was stopped, and by threatening Earth, Zod had only sealed his own death warrant.

"You could've been by my side as Krypton is reborn." Zod's voice echoed down the hallway, a cruel knife through the sound of the rumbling earthquake. "Now you'll die with all the rest."

Clark's nostrils flared as he rounded the corner, slamming open the wooden office doors with enough force to leave them splintering off the hinges. Zod was standing there, wearing a long dark trench coat. Lana's unconscious form hung limply from his hands as he pressed the brunette woman hard against the wall. She looked pale and battered, and something in Clark broke at the thought that this _monster _had wounded her like that.

"Let her go!" Clark snarled, rage flaring in his eyes as he watched Zod drop Lana's unconscious form to the ground.

"Kal-El." Zod commented, an expression of almost concern in his eyes as the man turned around to face him.

Clark didn't pause; his gaze went to a strange looking octagonal disk that seemed to be spinning on top of Lex's laptop. A half-turn revealed Kryptonian glyphs, and Clark was prepared to bet that the octagonal thing was the cause of the earthquake. Fire flared behind his eyes and without conscious thought he sent a flaming bolt of heat vision straight towards the device, shattering the thing with the boiling intensity of the sun itself.

"NO!" Zod snarled, surging towards him at the velocity of a speeding bullet and the anger of a charging elephant. Beneath them the earth stilled, the earthquake ended. And Clark had a bare instant of smug satisfaction before Zod was upon him, flesh made of Kryptonian steel slamming into him with the force of a locomotive.

Clark felt glass shattering against his back as the two of them were sent through the window. Then there was the sound of wind rushing around them as the two of them grappled, moving through the air so fast as to be flying. Clark glared into ice blue eyes, wrestling for domination as they began to descend.

Trees shattered beneath them, a shower of wood dust and leaves puffing out around the two as they thudded heavily into the ground. The force kept them moving, leaving them half buried in the dirt before inertia relinquished its hold on them. Clark grunted, refusing to let go of Zod as he dragged the man up to a standing position.

Zod smirked at him, pulling his hand back in an instant before snapping it forward and delivering a jaw shattering punch to his right cheek. Clark growled in response, baring his teeth before pressing forward himself, pounding the man's chest with a blast of heat, generating enough force to drive Zod backwards and into the dirt. Clark followed up with a secondary blast, directing his gaze to the trees and dropping a heavy branch on top of Zod's head.

The tree limb exploded, splintering as soon as it came into contact with Zod's Kryptonian flesh. But Clark wasn't dissuaded. A third blast of heat lit the dust on fire, rendering a blinding ball of yellow flame around Zod's head. Taking the opportunity Clark sped forwards once more, the sound of flesh meeting flesh crackling through the air as Clark's fist made contact with Zod's shoulder.

Zod was once more sent flying, but landed with casual grace before turning back to face Clark. A dark look crossed the man's eyes, and Clark got the distinct impression that he'd just antagonised a raging bull. He wasn't even given time to think before Zod was on him, carefully controlled arms punching and prodding at him, giving Clark the impression that this wasn't a fight so much as him being herded.

Zod's hands dug deep into the flesh of his arms, pressing with the strength of a vice as he struggled for domination. But Clark wasn't about to give up; too much was at risk if he let Zod go free. Instead he twisted, borrowing a move he'd seen Danny use as he borrowed just enough momentum to deliver a quick jab into Zod's stomach.

Zod gasped, the breathless sound moving quickly into a snarl as he levered Clark up and around him. Suddenly Clark was flying through the air, barrelling into an ancient tree and pulling the heavy trunk down with his weight. The crackle of collapsing wood sounded through the forest, breaking through the silence. In the distance Clark heard the cawing of fleeing birds, his mind momentarily dazed by the sheer force of Zod's heavy blow.

Clark rolled onto his side, picking himself up quickly in anticipation of Zod's next attack. But before he could do anything, Zod was there, eyes blazing with sparks of fiery red as the man grabbed Clark's jacket around the cuffs. "I don't know how you escaped the Zone," Zod growled between slitted teeth, "but you were safer where you were."

Clark growled with fire burning in his eyes as he lashed forward. Zod's callous remark scorched deep into him, lashing against his soul at the thought of what had been forsaken to get him out. His cousin had stood there, taking an injury that no human could live through just to make sure that Clark got out safely. Teeth bared Clark attacked, delivering a bone shattering punch to Zod's ribcage.

The man was thrown backwards, flying out over the forests edge and landing heavily in the bottom of a quarry. An almighty crack shot through the air as Zod collided with the quarry wall, leaving deep fissures sliced into the rocky walls. Clark followed close behind, pausing at the quarry's lip as he looked down on the fallen man. But Zod was unaffected. With easy grace the man stood up, smirking at Clark as blue eyes sparked red.

Suddenly the earth beneath him was scorching hot; a laser beam of concentrated heat burning the rock till it was a bright shade of cherry red. Clark's eyes widened an instant before the rock exploded, sending him tumbling forwards deep into the bottom of the quarry. A shower of rock tumbled around him, and Clark was left staring dazedly up at the sun for a moment as he struggled to figure out what had happened.

Coughing weakly he stood up, whirling around as he failed to find his opponent. Around him rocks crumbled, cascading avalanches of stone tumbling down the quarry walls. Each new sound attracted Clark's attention, but Zod was nowhere to be seen. Clark frowned, straining his hearing to its limits to try and detect any sign of the man, the loud explosions of shattering rock making it difficult to locate the one sound that he needed to hear.

His eyes widened as he heard it, a strong fast heartbeat, pounding towards him faster than a jet plane. He couldn't evade, he couldn't move. All he saw was the fire burning in the eyes of his opponent before two fists of relentless steel impacted brutally with his ribcage.

Clark grunted as he was thrown backwards, his back colliding heavily with a boulder. Zod's insane face bore down at him, glaring at him with the furious intensity of a rearing snake. Zod lashed out, his fist pounding into Clark's cheek faster than the lightning strike of a scorpion. Clark felt the boulder beneath him crumble beneath the force, each succeeding blow from Zod's hand forcing him further into the crumbling stone.

Clark coughed, tasting blood in his mouth as he tried to make his eyes focus. He'd never felt this easily outmatched. It was Lex's body, but the iron will of Krypton's greatest nemesis coupled with the cold calculation of a militaristic general left Clark with little opportunity to gain an upper hand. All his fights before, every training match he'd faced against his cousin were nothing to the ruthless aggression in Zod's maniacal eyes.

"Did you really think you could win, Kal-El?" Zod demanded, teeth bared as he lifted Clark close enough that he could smell the acrid scent of stale breath. "You're an idealistic fool, just like your father."

Clark's stomach lurched as he was once more thrown away. His shoulder screamed at him as it was dislocated, jolting painfully out of its socket as Clark collided with the compact dirt of a grassy field. He felt himself skidding across the earth, barely able to control his movement as he finally came to a halt in the middle of a sea of dry grass. He rolled over in pain, pushing himself to his knees as he wiped the blood off his cheek.

From behind him he heard a whooshing sound and Clark quickly spun around to watch Zod fly up to him. He landed with easy grace, his black trench coat flaring gracefully around him with the unnatural grace of a dark angel. Clark's agonised mind noted that the movement was a sick parody of the way Danny Phantom moved in flight. His cousin's white cloak would billow around him, a paragon of good in contrast to the cruel malevolence of the figure now before him.

"So easily beaten." Zod commented, looking down on him with disinterested disgust. "Disappointing."

Clark fumbled to his feet, desperation lending him strength as he walked up to the malicious dictator. "I won't let you destroy Earth," Clark declared, feeling steely resolution settle around him. "Like you did Krypton."

"Jor-El couldn't stop me, and neither will his son." Zod retorted, his white teeth bared in a sign of steely domination.

"Then I'll die trying." Clark affirmed, leaving no room for negotiation.

"But you won't be the only one." Zod replied, walking towards him with his chin raised. "These humans you care so much about" Zod paused for the slightest moment, a sadistic look washing through his blue eyes. "Swear your allegiance to me, and I'll allow the ones you love the most to live."

Clark took a step back involuntarily, startled by the cold delivery of Zod's order. But Zod wasn't finished talking. "Kneel before Zod." The man commanded, his nostrils widening as Zod asserted his dominance. "Kneel."

Clark looked at the man, seeing the possessed body of a man he had once considered a friend, and the corrupt soul of a maniacal dictator. Zod was a soldier, and Clark knew that he wasn't even close to being able to out strategise a man who had brought an entire planet to its knees. In a one on one fight against Zod he didn't stand a chance. Even now each of his limbs groaned in protest as he fought to stay standing.

It was ironic, in a way; all his life he'd been the strongest man he knew, capable of fighting anything and everything with brute force. Even after Danny came it was still enough. Sure, he'd done some training with his cousin, learned to employ new techniques and think more than one step ahead. But against an opposition like Zod it all became meaningless. His powers came to nothing when he fought someone else with the power of a Kryptonian, and he realised there was no way he could win this. All he had were half baked ideas that were as good as defeated before he could even try. He just couldn't defeat Zod.

For a moment Clark wished that Danny had been the one sent out of the Phantom Zone. Of the two of them, it was Danny who stood a better chance at defeating the General. Danny knew how to plan things out, heck, in the Zone he'd managed to seize control over two of Zod's followers just by talking. But Danny had sacrificed himself to give Clark the time to escape, even though it should have been the other way around. Clark sunk to his knees, realising that this time he was defeated.

It was over.

No second chances or miraculous recoveries. No Danny appearing out of nowhere to turn everything and magically fix everything. There was only him and his resounding defeat, and all he could hope to do was salvage what little he could of what remained. Everything felt heavy as he sunk to the ground, bowing his head in a sign of piteous submission. His eyes were fixed to the ground, the crushed grass that marked the path of his own destruction as he'd landed.

He frowned, creasing his brow in confusion as they landed on something small and shiny, glittering innocently in the sun. His eyes widened in recognition and he quickly shifted his right hand, catching the small pentagonal crystal in his hand. And Clark hid a smile as the rest of a plan came to mind. He wasn't going to give up yet.

Keeping his head carefully bowed, he felt more than saw Zod extend a hand out towards him. It was little more than the condescending assertion of a king over a peasant, but Clark took the hand in his, feeling the slight pressure as the crystal made contact with Zod's skin between their clasped hands.

Clark looked up in time to see Zod freeze, the smirk on his face paling as it dropped into a concerned frown. Clark stood up, meeting Zod dangerously in the eyes as he kept their hands firmly clasped. A shrill noise pierced through the air, and Clark saw flashes of bright blue light escaping between the cracks in their hands. He let go, withdrawing his grip and smirking as Zod's hand clasped instinctively around the crystal.

"My father sends his regards." Clark commented, looking the gasping figure firmly in the eyes. Zod's eyes paled, the veins on the top of his head bulging briefly before receding. From his hand the light brightened, the shrill noise escalating while the light became so bright as to be white.

"Jor-El." Zod breathed fearfully, his eyes fixing on the crystal as the man stretched his hand as far away as possible from him. But the damage was done, and Clark could see fear wash into his once confident eyes as the crystal flared even brighter.

Back in the Phantom Zone Danny had explained what the crystal did to the Phantoms of the 'Zone, but it was one thing to know and another to see it in person. Clark watched as the phantom of Zod writhed inside his host, Lex Luthor's flesh seeming to bubble and squirm as a horrendous screeching tore into the air.

Lex was screaming, eyes wide with the pain as the wraith was torn from his body. It fought violently, limbs of blackened cloth floundering to find purchase back inside its host as the two were violently separated. But Zod's phantom stood no chance, tearing away from Lex ensnared in a fine net of crackling blue. The phantom screeched, its high pitched shriek squealing out from dark robed vocal chords. But the freed phantom wasn't given a chance before being pulled back inside the bright blue light of the crystal. Banished back to the wasteland.

For a moment there was silence, Lex's eyes unseeing and blank as the two of them stood facing each other. Around them a quiet breeze blew and the grass rustled softly in the sunlight. Eddying zephyrs pulled at long golden strands. Clark breathed, staring blankly at the man who was now entirely free of Zod's cruel possession. Zod was gone. And Lex was safe. Just like Danny had promised him what felt like a lifetime ago.

The moment stretched for an eternity, Lex's blue eyes unseeing as he stared at Clark. But it didn't last, and Lex collapsed limply into the ground, landing on his side with a soft thump. The crystal bounced out of his hand, leaving an angry red burn where the symbol of the House of El had been scorched into Lex's flesh. But that faded after a moment, the flesh repairing itself before Clark's eyes leaving Lex completely free of any sign of Zod's vicious inhabitation.

Clark stood still for a moment, standing in silent vigil over the bald haired man feeling strangely empty. Part of him wanted to hate Lex, for letting himself be tricked into this, but... he couldn't really blame him. In fact, looking at him now, Clark couldn't feel anything but pity. Lex could have been a great man; Clark had always hoped to show him that. But time and again Lex had fallen, too driven by his own ambition and greed.

But in this, Lex was a victim; flotsam to the plans of a maniac and his loyal follower. All the pain and suffering that had been wrought, all the sacrifices that had been made, it was for this. Clark crouched down, picking the crystal up off the ground and taking it in his palm. This was what had allowed Danny to go to the Phantom Zone to save him. This was what had freed the world from Zod. Clark sighed, looking between the crystal and the unconscious Lex, wondering if it was really worth it.

Clark's fingers traced the 'S' like symbol on the crystal as he looked at the glittering blue outline. Jor-El had sacrificed his life to put Zod in the Phantom Zone, and Danny had given up everything to ensure Zod would be put back there. Clark knew that had to mean something; that these two truly great people would devote so much to saving the world. And as his eyes fixed on the sky above he promised he would make sure it did.

_Line Break_

Lex's heart fluttered wildly as his eyes slowly opened. It took far too long for him to realise where he was, but the half familiar whitewash of the ceiling at Smallville General Hospital was an image that he couldn't forget. Beside him there was the steady beeping of a cardiac monitor, thrilling its steady beat in time with his heart. The minutes passed as he took stock of himself. He was in pain, like he'd just gone through a deep muscle workout, but it hardly warranted being left in a hospital bed.

He stood up, shrugging on his shirt as he pulled away from the bed. Cautiously he stepped out of the room, noting that the hallways seemed much busier than he'd ever seen them. A harassed looking nurse came up to him, and before he even knew what was happening he'd been shuffled towards the front desk and checked out. Apparently with how busy things were, beds were at a premium. And he had no inclination to stay in hospital any longer than he needed to.

Dazedly Lex made his way through the crowded hallways, bumping into injured patients and weary looking doctors as he struggled to make it to the exit. He was approaching the front waiting room when he paused, spotting a familiar figure through the bustle. As he watched a doctor nodded, flipping closed a clipboard and turning away as the brunette picked up a bag and made to leave.

Not giving a second thought Lex chased after, needing to know what was wrong. "Lana!" He called, catching her on the shoulder. "Are you all right?"

Lana turned around slowly, but the look in her eyes wasn't one of warmth and recognition; it was one of outright fear. Lex frowned, stomping down his own concern as he looked in horrified brown eyes. "What happened?" He asked, his gut clenching when Lana pulled away from him.

"You don't remember?" She demanded, a strange cross of disbelief and disgust swirling into her eyes.

"I was in the field with you..." Lex replied, straining his memory for anything more and finding nothing. "And everything went white. Next thing I know, I woke up here." He gulped, his concern mounting as he looked between Lana's distrustful face and the pandemonium in the waiting room. He couldn't remember anything after the field, and the more he thought about it the more unsettling that thought became. His stomach sunk with an insidious lurch as he looked back at Lana. Lana who was nursing her hand close to her chest, and Lex's heart throbbed as he noted a bloodstained bandage wrapped tightly around her hand. The woman pulled it closer towards her as she took a hesitant step back, away from him.

"Is that why you're afraid of me?" He murmured, taking her wounded hand gently into his before turning back to look at fearful brown eyes. "Is all this because of me?"

"Lex, you weren't yourself." Lana said, her eyes glistening dimly as she met his gaze. "The things you did... it wasn't your fault. I tried to stop it." She paused, looking away briefly with her lip trembling. Her eyes were filled with guilt when she looked at him again. "Lex, I almost killed you."

Lex's heart stilled, looking Lana in the eyes. But he could understand what she had done. Why she had tried to do it. Even if he didn't fully know what was going on, what he could see was enough to tell him why it would have been necessary. That mode of thinking was a fact of his life, and he couldn't begrudge her for acting the same way. They really were alike.

"Lana." He said, catching her around the shoulders so he could meet her firmly in the eyes. "Hey. I would have done the same thing." He frowned, looking between the exhausted pain of the patients and the brown eyes of the woman he loved. "Look, I can never make up for what happened. All I can do is move forward and try to rebuild everything I've damaged."

"That might not be easy." Lana replied quickly, a shadow of the warmth he'd come to adore flittering into her eyes.

Lex looked at her, a thousand declarations passing across his mind. He could see all the pain here, and he knew that in some way he was responsible. He also knew that the road to recovery would be a long one; that trust was easier to break than it was to build. But he had never been one to shrink away from a challenge, and as he looked into Lana's beautiful brown eyes he knew that he wasn't going to be conquered. The challenge wasn't in rebuilding lives; that was relatively easy.

But he was willing to fight through the fires of hell to earn one more blissfully contented look in Lana Lang's eyes. Even if it took everything he had to do it. He wasn't about to lie down and give up, no, this time he was going to fight.

"Well, nothing worth it ever is." Lex declared, watching with pride as a small hesitant smile worked its way onto Lana's trembling lips.

_Line Break_

Clark ran a tired hand through his hair, long strands of dark brown flicking back messily onto his forehead. He was standing outside Smallville General Hospital, just watching the crowds as people were brought in and taken out. As he'd been standing there three ambulances had arrived and four more had been deployed back out. Even now people were still being found, cut off by rubble and covered in wounds of varying severity. Clark could barely stand to walk the streets, seeing people he knew injured or _dead_ because of his choice.

Here at the hospital things were better. It was busy, even more so than it had been after the tornadoes five years before. But here everyone was _alive_. And Clark needed to see that.

He let out a deep breath, feeling some of the tension melt away from his shoulders as he walked towards the door. The waiting room was crowded, claustrophobic with pained moans and the cries of injured children. Harried nurses bustled through the din as doctors were forced to treat patients out in the corridors. Clark was gently pushed out of the way as two more nurses rolled a filled hospital bed past him, the man looking pale with white bone sticking out of his leg.

He eventually made his way to the desk, being given just enough direction to help him find the room before the receptionist was occupied by the next person in line. Clark pushed through the crowd, finding it was just as thick in the long hospital corridors. He didn't know what to think, and didn't know how to meet any of the people in the eyes.

Guilt was something he'd always known, but never fully appreciated. In all his years he'd striven to do the right thing, to put justice and integrity before even his own wants. But in a moment of weakness he'd fallen. He could see that now. In the first instance he'd wanted to save everyone, even Lex. But seeing the effect of that choice now made him feel inadequate.

In life everyone had choices to make. Some were easy and some were hard, but all of them were choices that had to be made. Months before he'd watched as his cousin chose to strip the powers of the only man who could have ever truly understood him, and he'd seen how much that decision had destroyed the dark haired boy. Some choices made for the greater good were hard, crushing for the person who had to make them. Clark had chosen to try and save Lex and now he was witnessing the consequences of that decision.

But as he moved through the long hospital wards he couldn't help but think about everything that had preceded that choice. His mind strayed to the debate he'd witnessed between Lionel and Danny, and remembering how uncertain he'd been at the time. But now he knew. An evil act that served the greater good was still an evil act, and he would never hold himself to that standard. Danny had been right in saying that they needed to find a better solution.

Because killing Lex, even in the name of the greater good, would have made him nothing more than a murderer.

The consequences he could live with, he would have to. But there was a difference between the pain and suffering here and a cold act of murder. All these people, they'd been hurt by Brainiac and Zod, not him. That was their choice, not his. And while the guilt still partially lay in his hands, it was still better than taking the power into his own hands and killing a man himself. That was something he would never do, and that certainty gave him the strength to bear the burden of all the consequences.

Clark nodded to himself, realising that he was standing in front of the right door. He rapped twice before gently pushing the door open and making his way in. The room's solitary occupant was gazing out the window, looking drowsy and battered in her blue hospital garb. But she was safe, and after all that had happened Clark decided to count his blessings.

"Hey, Smallville." Lois said tiredly, looking in his direction as he ambled over towards her bed.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" He asked, absently pulling his jacket off and taking a seat beside her bed.

Lois smiled and emitted a tired laugh. "Bad enough to know I'm still alive." She retorted wryly. "Guess I have your mom to thank for that."

Clark smiled fondly, glad for Lois's stubborn brand of bravery. She was a remarkable young woman, really, and Clark was sure that even if his mom hadn't been there Lois would somehow have found a way to make it through.

"You know, honestly..." Lois continued, looking at him with weary eyes. The distant look in her eyes suggested that she was currently under a lot of pain medication and Clark was only impressed at how her determination kept her conscious. "I don't even remember the plane going down. The cabin lost pressure and I was gasping for breath and then I was in this palace of ice."

Clark's eyes widened in concern, realising that Lois remembered being in the Fortress. He gulped, wondering how he was going to explain it away. But Lois didn't seem to have noticed his mental derail, ploughing on with her recount of what little she remembered. "It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I was bathed in this warm light, and I knew everything was gonna be okay."

"Lois, you were, uh, hurt pretty badly." Clark dismissed, not sure whether he was trying to ally his own fears or truly convince her she was wrong. "Maybe you were hallucinating."

"No." Lois denied with a tired shake of her head. "It was real. I think I died and went to heaven."

Clark felt his stomach drop, a slightly uncomfortable feeling settling in the pit of his stomach as he realised she believed the Fortress didn't exist in this world. He was... glad she didn't know. But at the same time there was a small part of him that secretly wanted to share that part of himself with her.

Maybe he was still reeling from what had happened. Danny was gone and he still had no idea if it was even possible for his cousin to come back. Zod had been defeated and people were gradually recovering from his brutal machinations. The whole world felt slightly different, like something had shifted. He knew he was still struggling to find a new equilibrium, he knew things couldn't stay the same as they had been.

But he wouldn't let himself think on that just now. Instead he smiled and clasped his hand firmly around Lois's placid one. Fond thoughts went through his mind as he looked at the beautiful strong woman before him; a woman who could see something impossible and could look at it with benevolent eyes; a woman who would believe that she'd seen heaven rather than an alien storehouse of knowledge. A woman who Clark didn't know how he could ever live without.

"Then I'm glad you're back." He replied, still smiling affectionately at her.

Lois smiled back at him, simple happiness lighting her hazel eyes. And he knew in his heart that somehow everything was going to be okay. Because it was moments like this, a soft smile in a crowded hospital, which made everything worthwhile.

_Line Break_

Martha frowned as she made her way through the barn. It was a mess, the broken remnants of the loft landing were scattered among the debris on the floor. She bent over, moving to shuffle some of the splinters out of the way. She was wearing Jon's old jacket, something about the worn material made her feel like he was still with her, still keeping her safe even after his death. Tears pricked to her eyes as she realised what was beneath her fingers, half buried under the rubble. It was Danny's sketchbook.

Martha hadn't seen him since just after his graduation, before all of this had started. And now...

Clark had told her, very briefly, about what had happened in the Phantom Zone, how Danny had appeared and done everything he could to get Clark out safely. And Martha had been so grateful to Danny for doing that. Out of pure selfishness she had been desperate to have her son returned to her. But now Danny was gone, and Martha wasn't sure if she'd ever get to see her nephew again.

Gentle fingers unburied the book, almost reverently picking through the pages as she looked through Danny's last few works. The book was by now almost full, only a couple of pages remained blank. And Martha paused as she caught sight of the last few images. They all seemed to have a common theme, although it took Martha a moment to pick up on it.

The first image was, surprisingly, of her. Half the page was taken up with a picture of her in the orchard, picking apples off the trees, and the other half depicted her standing over a podium making a speech before the senate. They were both beautiful, and her eyes stung with the care that Danny seemed to have invested into each delicate pencil stroke.

The second was of Chloe, and Martha saw so much in the way Danny had drawn her green eyes. Like hers, this image was in two parts. Divided at an angle, the top of the page had Chloe as a reporter, her eyes glimmering with intelligence. The other half of the page had Chloe wielding a recognisable ecto-gun, calm and confident and ready to take on the world. They were two sides to Chloe that Martha herself had witnessed, and once again she found herself surprised at how well Danny managed to capture that moment.

But the last image made her breath catch. It was her son; half the page was coloured, showing him smiling as he worked on the farm with Jon's bike. He looked so at ease and happy, bathed in a pool of sunlight that Martha almost cried at the thought of it. But the other half of the image wasn't finished; only the beginning shades of colour had been introduced. It was Clark, but a Clark that she'd never seen before. On the page her son stood tall and proud, looking over the city of Metropolis like a guardian. A cape billowed loosely around his shoulders, and he was wearing a skin tight costume that somehow added to his confidence.

Martha touched her fingers to the page, feeling her heart skip in her chest as she studied every detail. There was an emblem on the caped Clark's chest; an 'S' inside a pentagon that seemed strangely fitting. It was similar to his Kryptonian family's symbol, but different. A balance of the planet he was born on and the one he was raised on. This was the hero Clark could be; a symbol of hope for the whole world to look up to. And while it wasn't fully coloured, Martha could see it clearly in her mind; red and blue and yellow all together, and all shining as brightly as the sun in the sky.

Tears sprang to her eyes as she looked at the picture. An unfathomable wash of emotion as pride and fear whirled together. It seemed so personal, so private, that Martha almost felt like she was intruding on her nephew for looking at it. But at the same time she'd needed it, some way to feel that he was still there. She didn't regret looking at it even though it was almost painful to see.

There was a slight rustling sound from the back corner of the barn, and Martha looked up, closing the book and setting it aside on a small unbroken stool. "Clark!" She called, slightly surprised at seeing her son back so soon. "How was Lois?"

"Fine." Clark replied, his voice sounding somehow small. "She's gonna be fine."

Martha nodded. "Good. Lionel told me his connection to Jor-El is gone."

"Along with any influence he had over him." Clark confirmed.

"Maybe we're all better off without Jor-El in our lives." Martha remarked, walking through the debris so she could look her son in the eyes.

"I went up to the Fortress," Clark explained, and suddenly the reason for his dejectedness made sense. Her heart sunk, Clark had been hopeful that he could bring Danny back, save him from being trapped in the Phantom Zone. He'd said that he'd seen Danny stabbed, but neither of them knew how fatal flesh wounds in the Phantom Zone were. They'd both been hopeful that Danny had survived, but the defeated look in her son's eye said that that hope was crushed.

"To see if Jor-El could help get Danny back." Her son continued, his voice was halting and broken and it broke Martha's heart almost as much as what he was saying. "I tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't..." Clark paused, meeting her in the eyes before looking guiltily away. "He wouldn't answer. The Fortress is dead. Everything's changing. Dad's gone. I can't talk to Lex. Lana's... I don't know where to go from here."

"I didn't either when I was your age." Martha comforted, resting a hand on her son's shoulders. Her own grief would have to wait; right now her son needed her more. It wasn't okay, nothing was, but he needed her to help remind him that it would be, eventually. "Just follow your heart... and you'll always do the right thing."

"Maybe it's not just humans who believed the same thing." Clark commented almost ruefully. "Jor-El sacrificed himself trying to save Krypton, risked everything to keep the whole universe safe."

"Every world needs its heroes, Clark." She replied. "They inspire us to be better than we are. And they protect us from the darkness that's just around the corner."

Clark let out a self derisive breath, closing his eyes before meeting hers sadly with twin orbs of faded blue. "When we were in the Phantom Zone," Clark said, sounding like he was forcing out every word. "Danny said something, made me think about what I was doing. And I asked him, if it was the only way to save everyone, if it was worth the risk dying. I think he knew then... I just... mom, what if Danny doesn't come home? What if he died, just to save me?"

Martha pulled Clark into a tight hug, momentarily rendered mute. Danny was so _brave_ and while the selfish part of her was desperate to have her nephew back, she knew in her heart that the self-sacrificing boy couldn't have lived with himself if he hadn't done what he had. In that moment she knew, Danny wasn't returning. Without the Fortress there was no way into the Phantom Zone, and Clark had already told her that the only exit was the blood of the House of El. Even if Danny was still alive in there, if he'd been stabbed like Clark had seen, there was no way for Danny to come back.

Martha held back her own grief, looking Clark firmly in the eyes. "Danny would have done anything to keep all of us safe," She stated, allowing conviction to colour her tone. "It has nothing to do with you or me; it's just who he was. All we can hope to do is make sure his sacrifice wasn't meaningless. As Phantom he was a light in the darkness, and he wouldn't want that light to go out."

Clark stared back at her, but she could see the moment when a glimmer of acceptance shone into his blue eyes. They may never get Danny back, but the two of them would honour his memory. Danny had made such a difference in their lives, and sometimes she wondered how they'd have been able to survive everything that had happened this past year without him. She would do everything she could to make sure his sacrifice meant something, that his martyring himself to save Earth was worthwhile.

But that wasn't now. Now she just hugged her son, clinging to him as they both shared their private grief. Danny Phantom was a hero, and he'd be heralded as such; already people in Metropolis were celebrating just how much good he'd done over the last few days. But Danny Fenton was their family, her nephew and the closest thing to a brother that Clark had ever known. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she buried her head in Clark's shoulder, and if the young man shed tears of his own, well, that was personal. Eventually they'd have to report Danny as missing, presumed dead, if only for that small bit of closure.

But for now there was only the two of them, standing in the debris of the barn floor as the daylight faded around them.

_Line Break_

Clark sighed, rubbing the back of his neck tiredly as he stood outside the door of the _Daily Planet._ This was... probably the last place he wanted to be right now, but Chloe deserved to know. He gulped, staring at the door with trepidation. It seemed like the closer he got, the harder it was to move. Some small part of him, the part that had spent hours in the fields laughing with Danny's strange sense of humour, found the irony in his hesitation to deliver the news at the _Daily Planet_. But that part of him was numb from the fact that _Danny wasn't coming back_.

He stood there, untouched by the crowd as people walked in and out. The Planet itself had suffered little structural damage, and what little there was had been fixed quickly to get the paper back up and running again. Clark knew he'd find Chloe there; it was her safe haven and retreat whenever things got tough. And he knew that he needed to tell her. But at the same time he didn't want to because telling Chloe would make it real. Permanent.

Eventually he moved forward, not with conscious motivation but with the mounting feeling of discomfort as he stayed standing outside the building. He pushed through the door, making his way down the steps to the basement. The staircase had never seemed so long and the lights of the subterranean level had never seemed so painfully bright. Clark clenched his jaw, finding it hard to take the final steps that would lead him to his friend of so many years.

"Clark." The blonde's soft voice poked out, saving him from trying to find her. Chloe rounded a corner and pulled him into a tight hug. "Oh my God. I thought were dead."

Clark gulped, unable to prevent the physical pain in his heart at the word. "Um...so did I... for a while there." He replied, not able to quite meet her in the eyes.

Chloe ducked into his line of sight, tugging him into the main bullpen and over to her desk. "What happened? Where did you go?" She asked, her voice laced with curiosity. Clark was grateful for it, it was easier to focus on something small like this than the proverbial canyon that seemed to lance between them.

"A place I never want to go again." He replied before looking up at her. Aesthetically she seemed okay, although she did have a slight limp and a red graze on her forehead. "Are you okay?"

Chloe smiled at him, and in that instant Clark would have given anything to be that carefree. "Yeah. Everything's great now that you're here." She answered and Clark didn't know how he was going to tell her. He knew he needed to, but the words kept catching somewhere in the back of his throat.

"Hey, bright eyes." An new voice spoke, preventing Clark from saying anything as the new man came up to stand beside Chloe. He was fairly average in height, rumpled blonde hair and blue eyes and a sparkling sort of jocularity that reminded him painfully of Danny.

"Hey." Chloe replied with an almost embarrassed look on her face as she glanced between the two of them.

The new man paused, looking eschew at Clark before creasing his eyebrows in defensive awkwardness. "Oh, bad time?" He asked, his eyes staying on Clark for just a few seconds before returning to Chloe.

"No, uh..." Chloe replied, biting her lip. "I was just talking to a friend."

"Whoa." The man said, looking at Clark appraisingly. The blue eyed man released a clumsy chuckle before giving an askew smile. "Grow 'em big in Kansas, don't they?"

"I'm sorry." Chloe said, looking between the two of them and shaking her head lightly. "Jimmy Olsen, this is Clark Kent."

"Actually, it's, uh... James Olsen." The man – Jimmy – said, sounding almost defensive in his tone. But at the moment, Clark couldn't find it in him to be bothered by it. Maybe before he would have been worried about a new guy on the scene, so soon after such a horrendous disaster. But Clark couldn't find it in him to be bothered by Jimmy's brash variety of bravado.

"Really?" Chloe pressed, raising a sceptical eyebrow. "Since when?"

Jimmy offered a half embarrassed smile, rubbing the back of his neck in an agonising echo of Danny's movement. "Since... now-ish." Jimmy answered embarrassedly.

Chloe smiled indulgently and let out a soft laugh, her green eyes sparkling with mirth as she looked at the guy. A moment later she looked up at him, her eyes curious. "So how far away is Danny?" She asked. "Now you're here I thought the four of us could head out for dinner."

Something must have shown in his eyes because an instant later Chloe's face paled. All signs of mirth vanished leaving her eyes hollow and scared. "No." She whispered, looking desperately up at him. She shook her head franticly as she pressed fearful fingers to her lips. "Please, no."

Clark bowed his head helplessly. For all his powers and 'heroics', for every life he'd saved by defeating Zod, in that moment he would have traded them all to have Danny back. But all he could do was watch as Chloe sat bonelessly into her chair, Jimmy wrapping his arms comfortingly around her. Danny had become such a huge part of their lives, a shoulder to lean on when everything was wrong and a generous smile when everything was right. It seemed, now, like he'd been there forever, a steady constant in Smallville's chaos.

Chloe's beseeching eyes looked up at him, shining wetly with a thin teary lining. And Clark couldn't help but see his own helplessness in her eyes. Because Danny had become vital to them, and there didn't seem to be a way to go on without him there. Clark felt his own heart shattering, a different sort of ache than Lana's lost love or Lex's betrayal. This was raw in the loss of a kindred spirit and deep in the loss of a brother. And Clark couldn't cope with the fact that it was his failing that Danny was gone.

Because Danny wasn't coming back.

And it was Clark's fault that he couldn't.

_Line Break_

Lionel Luthor frowned, his heart pounding in his chest. The connection to the Fortress was gone, and Lionel relished in the thought that once more his mind was entirely his own. Jor-El's presence in his mind had been omnipresent. The closest he would have been able to describe it as was a silent business partner, a known presence but not interfering significantly. Now that Jor-El was gone, however, Lionel was glad for the autonomy that that freedom offered.

The only detraction was the necessary estrangement from Clark Kent's life. While that connection had existed he had been a necessary aspect of the young man's life. Now that it was gone Lionel knew that Clark's suspicions would form a natural divide between the two of them, regardless of whether or not he wanted to act in the younger's interests. That was a significant downside, but Lionel was not about to let that deter him.

Lionel's eyes strayed to the page of symbols he could barely recall writing. Despite the fact that the connection to the Fortress was now gone, he was still finding himself writing the symbols. Already four new pages were filled with hundreds of Kryptonian glyphs. The images seemed to spill out of his subconscious in an almighty deluge as the images seared before his eyes and occupied his entire vision.

They were still as meaningless as they had ever been; the images burned onto the back of his retinas and overtook all conscious action until he had little choice but to write them down. But looking at them was still foreign; he couldn't make any sense of the symbols or what they could represent. Unfortunately there was no Rosetta stone to help translate the words and while he suspected either Clark or Daniel held the answers, it was unlikely that he would be given them freely.

Lionel groaned, tired eyes turning towards his computer. Daniel was a variable he would have never anticipated. It shouldn't have been possible, but the boy was _Phantom_. Paradoxically existing as both living and ghost simultaneously. He wasn't sure when the realisation had struck him, he had no visual confirmation. But there was something in the boy's words and mannerisms that betrayed him. Between what he'd seen of Daniel and the way the young miss Sullivan acted around the two of them it had become blindingly clear.

Or perhaps it was simply hearing Danny Fenton's words echoed by a half delirious Phantom that had verified his suspicions.

His eyes scanned his computer screen, looking for one key detail. Clark's timely return from the so called 'Phantom Zone' had been marked by the appearance of a large crater on the outskirts of Evan's field. Daniel had apparently not returned, and Clark was reticent to say any more than the fact that the young boy-ghost had accompanied him through the Phantom Zone and ensured Clark's escape.

Lionel, however was suspicious of the circumstances around Clark's release. It seemed highly probable that in fact more than one inmate had escaped the Phantom Zone concurrently with the Kryptonian due to their proximity to the opening portal out. As such, as soon as the systems were back online Lionel had directed his resources towards identifying the location of any additional impact sites. Surprisingly there was one strange report from a small hospital in Australia.

Apparently a teenager had been brought in after falling over, presumed drunk, into a crater. Lionel would have passed it over if it weren't for the fact that the boy had dark hair and was apparently wearing a large white cloak. He was about to follow up and trace the physicians involved when his breath hitched in his throat.

Suddenly an image seared onto the front of his mind. Frantic hands scratched at the desk for a pen as the vision consumed. Quick angular strokes, seemingly of their own volition shaped a symbol. Lionel's eyes rolled, the symbol seeming to dig further into his mind, touching on mental pathways and concepts and he soon found himself unable to resist writing down an English word underneath the Kryptonian glyph.

The pain cleared and Lionel looked at what he'd written. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew that somehow this was an accurate translation of the word. Lionel's fingers traced the Kryptonian glyph, somehow finding it fitting. Of all the words that he could have understood, of all the cognitive connections that were suddenly slotting into place in his mind; the first word that he'd been able to fully understand was 'Power'.

_Line Break_

Danny's mind shifted through rolling white mists, dancing around something that he couldn't quite understand. He wasn't sure where he was, he couldn't feel any of his senses aside from fleeting brushes, there and gone again before he could really comprehend them. But that didn't seem important just at the moment. He was happy, for once, in the feeling of not knowing. It was safe, and he didn't need anything more than that. Nothing else mattered.

Gradually recollection came to him, and he began remembering what had led him here. The fight in Metropolis and the trip through the Phantom Zone to make sure Clark got back safe, the betrayal in Clark's eyes when he'd worn a traitor's mask to ensure Clark's safety and the look of grim acceptance when he'd signalled Clark to leave without him. He remembered being stabbed, remembered the feeling of the dagger sinking into his heart and the feeling of pain as the blade came out. But... it hadn't been unpleasant.

And that somehow didn't disturb him. In fact, Danny couldn't remember a more _welcome_ pain than that. The whole time he'd been in the Phantom Zone he'd felt lost, completely bereft of something he'd relied on to the point it ascended his own name. But even still he'd been able to push his concern aside out of the desperation to make sure Clark was returned to Earth, to make sure that Clark could stop Zod. After that, Danny had known it didn't matter. He'd gone into the Phantom Zone expecting that he'd never come back, and as the blade was removed he'd been able to smile knowing that, after everything, he'd been ended doing what he was always meant to do. Protecting people.

Danny groaned, moving to rub his hand against a throbbing temple before collapsing back in a pained heap. Every limb ached as though his whole body had been sent through the underside of a steamroller. It felt like he'd been unmade and then made again, thrown back together only just tightly enough that he was self aware.

Foggy thoughts danced through his mind as he idly wondered if this is what true death was like. Disconnected nothingness. Or whether even in ending, he was to be an anomaly. He didn't know, but then, he wasn't really worried. It didn't seem to matter amongst the endless whiteness. And if he moved his thoughts on, he found that even the pain disappeared as though it had never been.

It was a relief in a lot of ways. A pressure that he'd been aware of for nearly three years was finally, _finally_ gone. He couldn't feel his core, his obsession, tying him down and making him act. In the endless expanse of white nothingness he felt liberated. He was free of the ties that had bound him to the Earth for so _long_. He couldn't remember what it was like to feel this free, this complete. He felt like he'd done all he needed to do and now he could finally rest.

Eventually he noticed something, a distant high pitched noise, sounding far off and echoing strangely, but it was steady and regular and ubiquitous. Eventually it was all he could focus on, indistinct noise becoming a recognisably electronic beeping that seemed to override all his thoughts. He tried to let go, to return to his rest, but the noise became even more blaringly obtrusive.

_Beep, beep, beep._

Danny's lips twitched in a frown as he tried to shove the noise away, to make it disappear like the pain had. But the noise was too persistent.

_Beep, Beep, Beep._

The whiteness was dimming, rolling mists of white were gradually being replaced by a strange shade of red and Danny squinted his eyes closed in a feeble attempt to return to his rest.

_BEEP, BEEP, BEEP._

His eyes fluttered open, fixing on an absurdly white ceiling. It took a moment to figure out where he was, what the beeping was. But eventually he recognised it as the steady sounding of a cardiac monitor. He was in a hospital room; a very worn and outdated hospital room. The wallpaper was peeling in the corners, faded in the sunlight and the paint on the ceiling was yellowed and cracked. The room smelled like disinfectant and starch and the slightly stale scent of cloying bodily fluid.

Danny coughed, struggling to pull himself into a sitting position before collapsing heavily back against crackling pillows. Every cell screamed in pain, it felt like all his bones had been put through a blender and then put back together in a flimsy papier mâché replication and each of his muscles had been flayed with electrical lances before being glued back together. White spots danced on the edge of his vision, only serving to emphasise the fact that he was apparently very much not ended.

"Welcome back, young one." A half familiar voice spoke, but it took Danny a minute to place the face that swam into his vision.

"J'onn." Danny emitted, creasing his eyebrows at the sight of the Martian. "What...?"

"You have done well, young one." J'onn replied. "Kal-El has returned and Zod has been defeated. The danger is past and this is in no small part due to your intervention."

"I..." Danny said, struggling to find the right words. He didn't need praise at the moment, he was just glad that everything was okay. "I didn't expect to come back." He confessed.

J'onn frowned, his eyes briefly creasing into a picture of grim understanding. "You took a great risk in venturing to the Phantom Zone."

"And yet I wouldn't have chosen otherwise." Danny stated bluntly before widening his eyes in confused realisation. "You knew that."

"I did," The dark skinned man replied, nodding his head in acknowledgement. "I only stepped in because you would not have arrived at the solution in time."

Danny frowned, but nodded realising the truth to that statement. Now he could think back he realised that he'd been clutching at straws, and in his desperation he hadn't been thinking clearly. By the time he'd realised Clark wasn't on Earth... it could easily have been too late. "Thanks." He replied eventually.

A silence developed between the two of them. It wasn't uncomfortable, but contemplative. It held for several minutes, long enough for Danny to wonder whether a nurse would come in soon and then dismiss the thought when he realised he didn't care. "Why doesn't Clark know about you?" Danny asked eventually, finding it easier to ask about that than some of the other things plaguing his mind.

"Jor-El asked me to watch over his son." J'onn replied evenly, taking a seat in the small green chair opposite the bed. "But he also asked that I not interfere in Kal-El's lessons. There are many things that he has to learn alone; some that he still has yet to learn."

Danny groaned, sinking back into the pillows at the realisation that J'onn was like Clark's Clockwork; unseen but always watching. He must've said something to that effect because a small smile played on the Martian's lips. "That sounds like an amusing story, young one." The man commented. "Although I do not yet want Kal-El to know of my presence."

"Yeah, yeah." Danny replied, managing to wave a hand dismissively. "Mysterious guardian figures prefer to stay in the shadows until they can make a grand entrance. At least you're not waiting until the last possible minute before pretending to try and kill him just so he learns a lesson." Danny paused frowning in contemplation as he looked at the dark skinned man. "You're not planning on pretending to kill him just so he learns a lesson, are you?"

"No, I'm not about to go to that extreme." J'onn replied with a wry smile on his face. "In fact, now that we've met I'm more inclined to allow the two of you to learn from each other. Kal-El is not yet ready for the destiny set out for him, and I suspect you too have much still to learn."

Danny sighed, staring musingly up at the ceiling. There was probably a lot of truth to that, and he'd always suspected that Clockwork had an ulterior motive in his lessons. But he didn't know anything for certain. He was just glad that none of Clockwork's subsequent lessons had been quite as horrifyingly life changing as the first one. For good or ill he was grateful for that; that the Ghost Master of Time had offered him a second chance, and that was enough for Danny to know not to ask why.

"Maybe you're right." Danny replied, absently rubbing his hand on his chest over his heart. Now he thought about it, something felt different. He hadn't acknowledged it in the Phantom Zone; he'd been surviving on a cocktail of adrenalin and desperation and hadn't been really thinking much more than how to get Clark back to Earth. But now he thought of it, the sensation had started then. It was like something in his chest was missing... no, more like numb. He felt like something had gone to sleep and he couldn't figure out what it was for its absence.

He gulped, briefly looking up at his visitor before prodding his chest a bit more forcefully. "It's gone." Danny murmured fearfully a minute later, realising what was missing. He couldn't feel his core, his obsession; anything connected to his ghost half. It was like he'd been zapped by a Plasmius Maximus only worse because this time he couldn't feel his powers at all. He took a startled breath, bulling himself further up against the pillows. "They're gone!"

Some distant part of him realised that he probably looked hysterical, but he didn't care. His powers were gone; the only thing that had kept him grounded for the past three years and they were _gone_. He couldn't remember the last time he felt like this, to not have that subtle whisper in his ear telling him what to do. He didn't remember what it felt like to not have that power shimmering just beneath the surface. And as he listened to the cardiac monitor it was too fast, beating more frequently than his heart ever had since the accident. He felt panicked tears sting to his eyes as he ground his hand into his chest, trying desperately to find his ghost core once more.

"Calm yourself, Danny." J'onn said, suddenly by his side and holding his shoulders steady. Danny let out a shaky breath as he looked up into warm brown eyes. J'onn was looking down at him, two chocolate orbs filled with almost paternalistic concern as the Martian helped his panic subside to something manageable. He was still breathing heavily, deep breaths that somehow didn't seem to supply enough oxygen because _he couldn't feel his ghost core_.

J'onn shushed him, and for a moment Danny thought the man was going to hug him, but the moment passed and J'onn simply stood back, meeting him in the eyes. His eyes weren't sympathetic, but filled with acceptance and understanding, and somehow that lessened the pain. Sympathy would have hurt. Sympathy would have made it harder. Sympathy would have made it all too real that at the moment he may as well be _human_. And that would have killed him the rest of the way because somehow, despite it all, he knew he was still half dead.

"Thanks." Danny murmured, not sure what he was thanking the man for. But it felt right to say it all the same. "Jor-El suggested something might happen." Danny said eventually, long after J'onn had taken a seat again. Danny didn't know why the Martian was still there with him, he didn't even know where he was other than a rural hospital. But he didn't really care. He was just glad that the man was there, a small comfort that he wasn't about to refuse.

"I feel I must apologise." J'onn commented eventually. "I did not know what sending someone like you into the Phantom Zone would do..."

Danny shook his head, cutting the man off. "It's... it's alright. It was my choice to go there, I knew what could happen and I still chose to go through with it. I... I guess I'll just have to learn how to be human again."

"You are very brave, young one." J'onn answered. "And strong. Now more than ever I am glad that you were the one who came into Kal-El's life. Your integrity alone marks you as a great man; I know this will not hold you back for long."

Danny blinked, looking at the man. J'onn may have said something more, but a wave of warmth rushed over him, feeling like a soft wind on his troubled mind. He yawned contentedly, something about the man's smile made him feel safe and relaxed and he found himself drifting towards the comforting embrace of restful sleep. He hadn't even been able to ask the man where he was or how he'd got there, but it didn't seem relevant. Instead he let the warmth overtake him, settling down into a deep, peaceful slumber.

Time passed, and Danny found himself gradually waking. There was a young woman standing by his side, brunette and with her hair tied back into a neat ponytail; a nurse judging by her uniform. Danny didn't get much of a look at her before she stepped back, pulling a clipboard out from the foot of the hospital bed. She made a note, the pen scratching noisily against paper before the clipboard was noisily put back in place.

"He hasn't woken up since he got here. But you're welcome to go in." The nurse commented as she made her way out of the room, and Danny heard light shuffling as the door opened and closed. Danny frowned, wondering who the nurse was speaking to before the sound of the nurse vanished down the hallway. Danny's eyes flickered open, trying to adjust to the bright sunlight that pooled in through the hospital room window.

"Good afternoon, Daniel." A cultured baritone voice spoke. But of all the people Danny had expected to visit him while he was in hospital, this was the last man he would have imagined. After all, what reason would Lionel Luthor have to visit Danny Fenton in hospital?

"Mr Luthor." Danny replied cautiously, his throat dry from hours asleep. Absently he reached towards the small side table, having noted earlier a plastic cup filled with water there. But his fingers met something strange, and it took a minute for Danny to place the small figurine in his hand.

"It seems, Mr Fenton, that rumours of your death have been greatly exaggerated." Lionel observed, meeting Danny's confused gaze evenly. "Imagine my surprise when rumours of a boy, rescued from a crater in rural Australia reached my ears, although your heartbeat and low body temperature does have the staff rather perturbed."

Danny groaned, looking away from the man to the small ornament in his palm. He froze, eyes widening as he looked between the man and the white statuette, recognising it instantly. It was a knight chess piece. No, it was _the _knight chess piece. The message-in-a-bottle, last shot message he'd given Lana in the desperate hope that if all else failed she'd be able to keep Lex in line. But... he'd given that to her as _Phantom_, and now Lionel was here, handing him the exact same chess piece that he'd given Lana when all this started.

Danny gulped, looking back at the man as his stomach filled with dread. There was a reason that Danny had left Lionel to make his own assumptions; that was the only thing that had ever kept him safe. Lionel wouldn't hurt Clark by virtue of his connection to Jor-El, but Danny didn't have that same protection. Danny closed his eyes slowly, mentally bracing himself for what would no doubt be a hard conversation. "It would seem that your secrets are quite different to those of your cousin, Danny Phantom." Lionel finished, his voice weighted with heavy implication.

Danny let out a long breath, leaning back into the pillows so he could see Lionel properly. The silver haired billionaire was standing, arms behind his back as he stared at him, and Danny couldn't help the small shiver that ran down his spine at that gaze. Lionel knew everything; the whole truth and not just whatever he'd inferred about his powers. Normally Danny would be talking, or fighting his way out. But he was in too much pain, and there was the fact that he didn't have access to his powers right now, if he ever would again.

He was in no position to fight with Lionel, and the billionaire knew it.

"Your secret is safe with me." Lionel commented, and Danny bit back the urge to scoff. 'Safe' was a relative term, and at least with Vlad he'd had collateral. But... Lionel had managed to keep Clark's secret, and that was worth something. Small hope though it was, it wasn't like Danny could do anything about it just now.

"Lex?" Danny asked, avoiding responding directly to the subject.

"Doesn't know." Lionel replied. "He claims total amnesia of the last few days. He doesn't recall anything after the ship took him, so whatever lessons you sought at first to impart have been lost."

Danny nodded. "Not entirely unexpected." He replied. "When a ghost overshadows someone they rarely remember anything, and Zod was... more than an overshadowing. What do the people here think?"

Lionel closed his eyes briefly. "I informed the physicians here that you have a form of bradyarrhythmias explainable by low resting bradycardia." Lionel explained, taking a seat in the visitor's chair. "They seemed less concerned after that, although they are still puzzled by how a seventeen year old boy apparently manages to survive being thrown into a crater with no significant damage."

"Let me guess," Danny groaned. "They thought I was out drinking and passed out when I fell down."

"That is no doubt better than the truth." Lionel commented. "It would also explain why you were out wearing a cloak. Apparently you're not the only one hospitalised for an 'End of the World' party gone too far."

Danny scoffed shaking his head. "It feels a bit that way." He confessed.

"I suppose being thrown back from an alternate dimension would do that to you." Lionel replied wryly, a dangerous flicker in his teasing eyes. "Your cousin told me a most interesting story of your incarceration in that place. He believes he watched you die."

"In all honesty, Mr Luthor, I didn't expect to be coming back." Danny replied, too tired to try and talk circles around the elder billionaire. His body had taken a battering, it had felt like he was being ripped apart when he went into the Phantom Zone, and the return trip hadn't been any different. He was bone weary, and struggling with the fact that he couldn't feel his core anymore.

"Yes, you were quite the paladin; convincing Clark that he needed to go to any lengths to stop Zod by sacrificing yourself in front of him." Lionel replied, his eyebrows rising in a strange mixture of prideful accusation. "It was an expert manipulation, especially considering the _riveting_ performance you put on before doing so. In contrast to your cousin you play a very dangerous game Daniel, by appearances sake alone your motivations seem questionable at best."

"Haven't you heard? I'm a ghost." Danny replied dismissively, sending the billionaire a disarming smile. "My morality and mode of thinking is questionable at the best of times. Besides, I wouldn't have thought you'd care; I did what needed to be done to get Clark back on Earth."

"Very utilitarian of you." Lionel replied dryly, raising an eyebrow in a half smirk.

Danny groaned, falling heavily back against the pillows. "I didn't do it for that." He paused, shaking his head wearily as he looked at the elder billionaire. "Look, I chose to go in there because I knew what would happen if I didn't. It was the only way to make sure that everyone survived, and I don't regret anything I did going about it."

"I never said you should." Lionel replied, taking the chess piece back and thumbing it between his fingers. "What you did was admirable, martyring yourself to the cause like that. More so, you seem to realise that naïvely pursuing 'good' and 'evil' leads nowhere. I do, however, caution you to be more careful; you know as well as I how your cousin views the world. The mask you took on in the Phantom Zone could as easily have backfired, destroying what confidence Clark had in himself to end Zod's threat."

Danny scowled, his eyes creased as he sent an icy glare towards the silver haired man. "Don't pretend to know my mind in there, Lionel. You have never been to that place, nor will you ever have to. In contrast I've known exactly what going to the Phantom Zone means since even before Clark did. Despite everything, I knew what was at stake and I knew the risks of wearing that mask."

Lionel was silent for a minute, and Danny could feel the intensity in his gaze as Lionel stared at him, re-evaluating him. "You're much more than you seem, aren't you, Daniel."

"I'm impossible." Danny replied, letting his anger slip away. "And while I'm the first to acknowledge that I'm flawed, I'll always do whatever it takes to keep people safe."

"So you chose to take the lesser of two evils in pursuit of the greater good." Lionel commented.

"'The Way of War is a Way of Deception; Lure with bait, Strike with chaos.' I did nothing more than what was needed to return Clark safely." Danny replied.

"'_The Art of War'_ Daniel?" Lionel asked.

Danny shook his head, settling back into the pillows once more. He hadn't even realised he'd sat up. "Your son gave it to me for my seventeenth." Danny replied with a shrug. "In a lot of ways I've seen more of this world than Clark has, I know it's not black and white and that sometimes you have to do things that hurt you personally to keep those you love safe." He paused, sending the billionaire an inquiring glance. "Do you know how it started, in the riots, where everything went wrong?"

Lionel shook his head, seemingly confused by the apparent non-sequitur.

"She was a little girl." Danny murmured, his eyes looking out the window to the unfamiliar shape of an eucalyptus tree outside. He felt more than saw Lionel's questioning glance and elaborated for him. "In all of this, all the death and destruction, the first person to die was a little girl. She was probably only about six, gunshot wound to the chest. She didn't stand a chance."

"You saw it happen?" Lionel asked, although Danny couldn't tell whether it was out of morbid curiosity or genuine empathy.

"No." Danny replied, shaking his head. "I never met her, never saw any of them. But I felt them, every single one. That's what I hate the most, being what I am; I can always feel things like that." Danny paused, pressing a hand to his chest and feeling disturbed at the hollow feeling where his core usually resided. "It's gone now."

"What does that mean?" Lionel asked, temporarily losing his calculated composure, which was partially what Danny had intended.

"I can't feel my... my ghost powers anymore." Danny replied, not keen have to explain ghost cores with Lionel. "I know I don't fit the profile of normal human, but for all intents and purposes I may as well be."

"I find that difficult to believe." Lionel replied, his eyes once more masked. Danny sighed, tiredly shaking his head. He didn't entirely know why he'd told Lionel, all it could do was put him in a weaker position. But after the accusations and the lies, the truth had seemed necessary.

"The Phantom Zone is the single worst prison in the known universe." Danny elaborated. "It is supposed to completely desecrate a ghost, eradicating anything that could be considered part of their identity. But I'm lucky in as much as I am only half-ghost. I have a physical form to return to; that's what saved me from the meteor and it's the only thing I can think that saved me when I went into the Phantom Zone. But there's always a price; the 'Zone strips people of their powers and ghosts aren't supposed to get them back."

Lionel looked like he was about to say something in reply, but another nurse came in, bustling around him and offering to get him another blanket since his temperature was still far too low. By the time she'd finished Lionel had left, saying an abrupt farewell and that he'd be staying near the hospital until Danny was recovered enough to return home. Danny nodded in acceptance, realising that he had little choice at the moment but to trust the billionaire.

Sighing tiredly he settled back down under the sheets. There was little he could do at the moment, and until he found some safe way into the Ghost Zone without his powers, he was stuck. More than that he felt physically exhausted, the talk with Lionel had taken a lot out of him, and even his conversation with J'onn had been tiring in its own way. Danny knew more than anything that he needed to recover, and that was going to take time. So Danny took the opportunity to settle back and rest, taking the time for some much needed recuperation.

Despite everything, a peaceful smile settled onto his lips as his eyes fluttered closed and he drifted back to sleep.

_Line Break_

Lex Luthor was a powerful man; this was something he had always known. In his childhood it had been a bane, few of his peers had held any interest in befriending him, especially after the '89 meteor shower which had rendered him bald. But he had long since transcended that, becoming a significant figure in the business world in his own right. His whole life he'd held the lives of others in his hands, able to manipulate their entire lives remotely if he so desired.

He was aware, of course, that there were other sorts of power in the world. The meteor infected individuals and the Aliens that had invaded a year ago proved such. But he had never imagined possessing that sort of power for himself, but he had woken up to find out that not only had he temporarily possessed the powers of one of those Aliens, but he was in no small part responsible for the destruction that had been wrought all over the world. He loathed that he couldn't recall it, however a small part of him preened at the notion that it was _his_ power that had brought the world to its knees.

He acknowledged, of course, that that was in no way a good thing, but his friendship with the young Danny Fenton had taught him ingenuity if nothing else. Danny was sometimes an enigma, but it had been clear from their first formal meeting that the boy was well aware that it was the wielder who directed the power and not the other way around. Lex knew that there was more than one way for power to be used, and if he was given his time again, Lex couldn't imagine the very beneficial uses those same powers could be put towards.

A man could become a god with powers like that, and while he would never admit it in polite society, there was part of Lex that reached for that goal. However, he couldn't remember any of it, it was though those days had been completely wiped from his memory, or his brain had been shut down. Lana had inferred that he'd been possessed by an alien spirit, and Lex was not about to discount that theory. Ghosts had been proven to exist, so logic dictated that alien ghosts were at least plausible too.

Lex sighed tiredly, resting his chin on interlaced fingers. Most of the video footage of the past few days was sketchy at best, and he'd spent the whole night going over it to try and figure out exactly what he'd done in the hours he couldn't remember. But nothing he'd found had been even vaguely helpful. He was loosely able to track some of his movements, enough to infer that apparently Phantom had been with him at the beginning, but the ghost was apparently able to move through the blind spots of every video feed because he just wasn't there. And after that everything had crashed, so that avenue proved fruitless.

His eyes strayed to the broken octagonal device he'd rescued from his office. It was completely alien in design, lightweight black metal of an alloy Lex had never seen before. Dark etchings were carved into the sides, glyphs of a language which Lex couldn't begin to understand. But it was broken; a good third of the device looked like it had been melted away leaving the thing incomplete. Many would have considered it useless and cast the thing aside.

Lex, however, was nothing if not persistent. He recognised that this device could hold answers to questions that he desperately craved the answer for. Instinct told him that it was this device that was responsible to the worldwide destruction that had ensued mere days previous. Lex looked at it and saw _power_; secrets and knowledge that were beyond anything ever seen on Earth before. And if he could replicate it, the technology had vast implications for the developments in defence and in countless other fields. This was the key, Lex was certain, to finally asserting his power and breaking away from the chains of his past once and for all.

_Line Break_

Danny sighed, staring at the dashboard of Mr Luthor's car. The elder billionaire had helped sign him out of the hospital, even paying the hospital fees so that he could get home sooner. The flight back to Smallville had been long and arduous and it seemed that three quarters of the globe was still badly affected by the aftermath of the Kryptonian virus. But for how long the various flights had been, they couldn't compare to the final distance between Metropolis airport and the Kent farm.

Danny glanced in the rear-view mirror, catching a fleeting glimpse of his face. He looked _mostly_ human. And he knew that anyone who didn't know what they were looking for would pass it over as nothing. His hair was black, but edged with stark white tips, and his skin was slightly too pale, too luminescent, to be normal. His eyes, luckily, were still blue, but Danny could see tiny slivers of green and silver dotting through his iris. It was as though his ghost half wanted some physical sign it existed, even if he was currently cut off from his powers.

"So, Daniel." Lionel said, breaking the silence that had built between them and shaking Danny from his musings. "When we arrive I think it would be best for you to stay in the car until I call you." Danny just nodded numbly, staring out the window as the black car pulled into the farmstead. A slight shiver ran down his spine as he passed under the archway, the ever present sign reading 'KENT FARM' was swinging lightly in the wind.

It had been nearly a year since Mr Samson first drove him through that same archway, since he'd first arrived in Smallville and since he'd lost everyone he'd ever cared for. He watched as the now familiar fence was replaced by the stable, the shadow of the barn hanging just behind it. And surreally, the yellow house looked pristine. For all that had happened it looked completely untouched. The white picket fence innocently surrounded the garden, and Danny could see the soft purple flower heads poking through the gaps in the white timber palings.

It looked almost the same as the day he'd arrived here. But he knew that in that time so much had changed. He'd come to love his aunt and his uncle and had been devastated when his uncle, in turn, passed on. They could never take the place of his parents, but he loved them just as dearly. He'd met Chloe, the wonderful and kind woman that she was, and had spent time enjoying verbal tête-à-tête's with Lex Luthor.

He'd fought ghosts that were considered gods and been called one himself, something that was still completely incongruent. He'd made new enemies in the Zone that he'd never believed existed, and made allies with old ones. He could still hardly believe that the Fright Knight had sworn allegiance to him, or that he was now able to count on Ember as a loyal friend. He'd finally defeated Plasmius and offered Vlad the second chance he really deserved. But perhaps, for him, the most unbelievable thing that had changed was Clark.

Nearly a year ago he'd been brought to this home, desperately lost and struggling to find hope when faced with the fact that his family and closest friends were all gone. He'd arrived expecting nothing, to have to live still hiding what he was from what little family he had left. Instead he'd met a being from an extinct planet and come to rely on him as more than a friend or a cousin, but as a brother in almost every sense of the word. Clark was someone who he could trust with anything, who could understand almost everything because it had happened to him too; something he'd believed had died along with his family when the meteor had killed them.

The car pulled up in the driveway and Danny heard as Lionel stepped out. The windows were dark tinted, allowing him to look out, but he knew that no one could look in. His eyes cautiously strayed up to the porch, looking nervously up at the people who had become his family. Clark was standing on the porch, one arm wrapped consolingly around Aunt Martha's shoulders. Chloe was sitting in the chair; she had a cushion pressed tightly against her chest and long tear tracks running down her cheeks. Surprisingly Ember and Wulf were there, standing in the corner. Danny figured the pop diva must have sought the wolf ghost out and convinced him to open a portal. But Ember wasn't looking at the car, instead she seemed to have buried herself in the large wolf's fur, and Wulf was returning it with a clumsy hug.

Danny gulped, watching as Lionel walked past the gate and up to the porch. He murmured something, and not for the first time Danny wished he still had his powers. Instead all he could do was watch as five pairs of eyes turned towards the elder billionaire, seemingly freezing as he walked up the stairs. His aunt seemed to choke back a sob, and Ember turned around concernedly in Wulf's furry arms, glistening green eyes staring at the silver-haired man.

They spoke, not for long, but Danny couldn't help but feel paralysed at seeing the sheer despair written on each of their faces. It took him a minute to realise when Lionel signalled him to step out, and a minute more for him to steel himself enough to make himself move. Sweaty palms met the door handle, pushing it open just enough for him to slide out of the car.

Six pairs of eyes immediately swung around to face him, and Danny felt frozen as five of them widened in disbelief. Danny didn't know what to do, what to say. They'd thought he was dead, completely erased from existence. He gulped as he saw Chloe's eyes fill with tears and a look of stunned shock spread across Wulf's canine face. He blinked as a flaming mist appeared in front of him, and then Ember's raging green eyes filled his vision.

The blue haired ghost growled, her hand slapping across his face like a lightning strike. Her righteous fury made physical as her palm struck loudly against the side of his cheek.

Danny barely had a second to feel the sting before two fiery lips pressed hard against his. It was clumsy and furious, little more than hard pressure pushing against his lips, but had a desperate undertone that Danny couldn't understand. Then they were gone, the pop diva stepping back with green eyes still blazing.

"Don't you _ever_ do that to me again, babypop." Ember hissed, glaring at him with impotent fury burning in her eyes. Danny could understand her anger, but was confused by the kiss. Ember was a tough skinned ghost, and she rarely let her true emotions show. She always preferred to physicalise her emotions, which was why fighting with her had always left him with bruises. But he didn't know what to make of that kiss, it was heated, but impersonal, and he just didn't understand why.

"_My friend, we thought you were_ ended." Wulf said in husky Esperanto, not allowing Danny the opportunity to think as he ran up to him and caught both Ember and Danny in a tight hug. Danny let out a long breath, feeling somehow protected in Wulf's furry arms. He could see nothing but grey and green, but there was something instinctively welcoming about being wrapped in the safety of Wulf's tight embrace. "_Please, don't do anything like this again. You had me terrified._"

"I'm sorry, Wulf." Danny replied, mumbling indistinct words into thick grey fur. "I... I'm so sorry." Tears were starting to prickle in his eyes and he fiercely blinked them away, burying his head deeper into Wulf's warm chest. He hadn't expected the ghosts to be there, but now they were he couldn't be more grateful. It seemed that these two were as much a part of him as anyone living, and he needed them desperately. He just hadn't realised that until both ghosts were there.

Wulf squeezed one more time before letting Danny go, allowing his aunt to step forward and give him a tight hug. She might have said something, but it was choked up on tears as she squeezed as tightly as possible. Danny leaned forward, pressing his forehead against his aunt's shoulder as he hugged back. It wasn't much in the way of comfort, but it was all that he could offer. His aunt was so brave and so strong, and Danny hated the thought that he'd caused her pain.

She stepped back, looking him in the eyes briefly before letting out a small relieved sob. Then Lionel was there, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder and leading his aunt back inside the house. Any other time, Danny would have been worried, but as things were he couldn't help but feel grateful for the billionaire. For all his questionable motives, it was Lionel who had brought him back to his family, and Danny owed him for that.

Chloe came forward, the cushion still clutched between her arms like a protective barrier. "You came back." Chloe said listlessly, her voice sounding strange.

"I promised I'd do my best." Danny replied. A tense sort of silence built around them, and while Danny knew that the others were around, all he could see was the heartbreak in Chloe's eyes.

"I thought you were dead." Chloe emphasised, squeezing the cushion tightly against her. And the sight broke something inside him.

"I'm sorry." Danny emitted, for the first time feeling guilty for his choice in the Phantom Zone. He honestly hadn't expected to come back, he'd tried, but he had _known _that it wouldn't be enough. And this was the consequence of that belief. He'd gotten Clark back safe, and by extension saved everyone from Zod's wrath. But that came at the expense of hurting Chloe, and he hated that he was the one that had put that horribly small look on the blonde's face.

Chloe's lip twinged and she shook her head, emerald eyes watering as she looked up at him. "God, Danny I just..." And then she was crying, and Danny instinctively wrapped his arms around her as the cushion fell listlessly to the ground. They stood there, for how long, Danny didn't know. He just let Chloe cry, knowing that she needed this. Eventually she quietened, thick sobs fading to disjointed gulping hiccups.

"I'm sorry." He repeated, his voice gentle as he patted her on the back. He didn't know what to say because... what words could make up for essentially coming back from the dead? Even for someone who'd been literally half dead for nearly three years, this was far closer to the recovery of Lazarus than even he liked to imagine. And she'd been there for him, brought him back to reality when he'd almost faded out of existence way back in Metropolis. And Danny hated himself for putting her through all that, albeit unintentionally.

Chloe let out a shaky sigh, stepping back and releasing him from her death grip. She kept her hand firmly wrapped around his wrist, as though she was scared he might disappear, but Danny couldn't bring himself to pull away. She deserved better than that. They all did. Danny bowed his head briefly, feeling a strange sort of catharsis from the emotion in the air. He couldn't feel them physically anymore, not without his ghost powers, but he was aware of it all the same.

Danny let out a long breath before looking up at Clark. His cousin was standing there, arms lose by his shoulders and wearing that same red plaid shirt he had worn the first day they met. His face was understanding, a simple acknowledgement and a brief exchange of gratitude. Danny had been returned safely and the world had been saved. No words were passed between them as the two raven haired young men looked at each other. There didn't need to be.

Because deep down they were both the same.

Clark was Kryptonian, but for all his many powers he was brought up on Earth and had a human's heart. And even though Danny was a ghost, he still retained a human's heart. They thought much the same and believed in the same things. Clark had said it, in the Phantom Zone. _'If it's the only way to save everyone we love, isn't it worth the risk dying?'_

And it was as simple as that.

So they looked at each other in mutual understanding, because both of them knew that, if it happened again, both of them would be prepared to make that same sacrifice in order to keep all this – Smallville and Metropolis and all the people and lives in the world – safe.

Clark stepped forward and shook his other hand, clasping his hand firmly around Danny's wrist in a greeting of respect. The handshake was strong and the smile on his face was almost the same as the one Clark had had when they were first introduced. Danny could half imagine the way his cousin's aura would swell and wash over them, powerfully strong and bright like the sun. And a small smile crept onto his face at that thought.

Ember was the one who broke the silence, clapping a hand around his shoulders and practically dragging him into the house as if she owned it. The rest of them followed, all of them winding up crowded around the kitchen table as Aunt Martha presented a pot of tea between them. Wulf curled up around Danny's chair, seeming content to play the role of loyal 'pet' as the rest of the group asked about where he'd been and how he'd even ended up in the Phantom Zone.

Danny leaned contentedly back into his chair, a soft smile playing on his lips as he looked at his family. The house was warm and comforting and everyone seemed to grow more enthused as the afternoon wore on. Chloe smiled at him across the table, her earlier tears dried up and colour returning to her cheeks. Nearly a year had passed since he first arrived in Smallville, and so much had changed in that time. He'd grown into trusting new friends and family, and somehow despite the absurdity of everything he felt like he was really _home_.

His thoughts drifted away to the white cloak that currently sat on the back seat of Lionel's car. He'd been found wearing it when he was rescued from the crater, and it was one of the few physical symbols he had left of his life as Phantom. He hadn't told his family yet that his powers were gone, happier to just enjoy the reunion for now. He would eventually, but not yet. There was more to being a hero than just superpowers, and each of the people at this table had been a true hero in their own way.

Ember had saved him months ago and kept him from giving up hope. Wulf was an ever loyal protector, and the one who brought Ember back here. Martha had rescued Lois from a plane wreck and stood up to Jor-El. Lionel had pushed through the riot; done everything he could to try and stop Zod. Chloe had stood through it all, stoically working towards breaking the virus and giving the people an opportunity to recover. And Clark; Clark had faced down Zod, despite everything he'd been put through and sent the wraith-like phantom back to his wasteland prison. Clark had proven himself a true hero, and Danny felt truly lucky to have found such a kindred spirit as his cousin.

Danny looked at the dark haired man, feeling a surge of prideful warmth swell up in his chest. Both of them were alone in the world, in their own way. Clark was the only Kryptonian on Earth, and Danny was the only Halfa. But they were exactly the same for wanting to make the world a better place for the people around them, trying to find a place in a world they didn't really belong to. Things had been different since he first arrived in Smallville, not that he'd expected them to stay the same. But that didn't matter in the slightest.

Because he'd found a place where he really fit in. Despite new ghosts and strange meteor infected people, he'd found a place that he could call home. And to him that meant the world. He didn't know what was ahead; he didn't know how he'd adjust to being almost human again or if he'd ever get his powers back. And he knew that no doubt there were more trials ahead for all of them. But as Chloe laughed at one of Ember's jokes he couldn't help but feel completely content.

The sun streamed through the window, drenching them all in the warm glow of early Kansan summer. Time would go on, as it always did and only Clockwork could know how everything would turn out. But the moment seemed to stretch out for an eternity, a quiet reprieve of peacefulness as they spent the afternoon together.

"Hard to believe, isn't it?" Chloe commented after a while, a soft smile playing on her lips. "That all those months ago we thought you were meteor infected and gonna go mental on us?"

Danny laughed, smiling at all of them as everyone joined in. And the absurdity of it was that it was an easy mistake to make. Both he and Clark, unique in their own rights, could easily be seen as meteor infected, after all this was Smallville; the meteor capital of the world. But at this small table the truth was so much greater, and what connected them was so much bigger than just small lumps of radioactive green rock.

After all, both he and Clark were far more than _just another_ meteor freak.

And Danny couldn't have been happier for it.

_~ FIN ~ _

* * *

><p>AN; That's it. The end of JAMF. I hope there were a couple of tear-jerker moments in there for you and that you've all enjoyed the ride.<p>

But do not worry, there will be an epilogue coming which will lead into the sequel. This story was originally planned to go for 40 odd chapters, covering season 5 and 6, I've sorta decided to split it because, well, it's getting way too long.

Now I need to say thanks for 5C2's, 245 Followers and 285 Favourites. I'm amazed that something like this has grown so large for such an uncommon crossover.

And I feel particular need to thank every single one of my reviewers;  
>1dgrayman; Alalaya2; alixanderbolster; Asaki the wolf; Athina Dark-Angel of Death; auPHE; Aurora Borealis 97; BerryEbilBunny; Black Footed Ghost; BriefShiningMoment ; brown1423; BRYGUYB16; Catflower Queen; ChopSuzi; Chrizzie1; Clear As Myst; Clockwork's Apperentice; Clockwork's Apprentice; ComeHellOrHighWaterBringItOn ; crazy-ghost-girl; Culaio; DannyPhantomluver2; DarkAssassinB34; dark-kitsune-chan; Dcharger; deathnoteno1fan-codegeasslover; DemonCry; DizzlyPuzzled; draconisFlightling; Dragon-Wolf-Mustang Rider; DusksDarkness; dwelian; Enchanting Elf; ethiopian1987; Ex10; Excess; Exess; Fabian Hunter; Fantasy-Mania31; Fantasy-Mania31; forever Luna; ForeverHalfa; foxglove66; G. ; GJMEGA; Gloden feathers Edward; GreenDrkness; Hexal; I-AM-THE-LOVE-MONKEY; Jade Riddle 19; jeanette9a; JoWashington; Karyn Phantom; Kendra Kent; Kickaka; Kit Ninja; Kree Minory; Kung-fu Blaziken; Lady Avarice; Leonard L. Church; Lexo-Mancer; Liza Cobbler; Lost dreams can be found; LoverGirl101; LuNa; magical fan18; Mango Supreme; MarianasPhantom; MidnightOwl260; Moon Goddess; Moon Goddesss; mpl3; Mystic; NedFynTanon; NekoAmi1216; nickorin fusionspark; nonapal13; Perseus Pax; Peter-Pevensie-da-Best; Poppy; quietest; Ray Rider; RedHerring1412; Riquis Inna Sunja; SeanHicks4; seantriana; Selias; shadowxdragon; SherryPin; shugokage; Sparxthehedgehog; Squirrel holding a bazooka; stormingnight; SunShark; supaherolena02; Tabet; Taboo22; ThwartAbyss54; TiFu; Unknownmusic; Vrow; werestillflying; WildWulfchild; 4392; WolfsTrinity-TSO; WordSmyth; xMidnightHunter1553x; Zii Raevyn; zoeshade<p>

And a special thanks to  
>Fluehatraya, you're always available for a chat, be it on topic or not and I really appreciated every moment of it<br>Lord Jace for always engaging with what I've written, you made it feel so rewarding  
>Topaz Skye for finding intricacies that I hadn't realised were there and such steady and detailed feedback<br>TheTragicHero, for continued support, corrections and inspiration (and always a laugh)  
>WCSII for your regular detailed and thoroughly enjoyable commentaries and somehow making me smile at every one, although I'm still not sure about Danny being Smallville's Xavier...<p>

I have been positively thrilled with all the positive feedback I've gotten. I've always loved writing, but getting such engaging commentaries from all of you really adds a new dimension to it and I'll ever be grateful for the inspiration and encouragement you've all given me.

With that said, thanks dearly.

'Till next we meet again,

Bluerose


	39. Epilogue

_Epilogue _

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Ghost Writer smiled, cracking his fingers cheerfully over his silver keyboard. He identified himself as a bibliophile; he had for as long as he had existed. He loved stories and the written word, the way that the words shaped themselves together, spinning together into something that was so much more than the words it was made from. He loved the way a single word could change the essence of a story, the intricacies of language and the way the words played together. But most of all he loved the stories. A wise man once said that there is only one story, that it's only parts of it that often seem like stories in themselves, and Ghost Writer loved every bit of it.

It was rare for him to leave his Library, but then this was a rare opportunity, one where the story was literally writing itself around him and he was excited to have a chance to document it. Around him _legends_ took their seats; the Leaders of the Thirteen realms all converging together in these ancient chambers for this one occasion, a meeting that would decide the future for the entire Ghost Zone. The thirteen Observant representatives came in; taking their place in the second row behind the Leaders of the thirteen, and a flood of anticipative energy filled the room.

'Writer beamed, typing quietly as he documented the scene. He was here in an official capacity as scribe, but in such a historic place as this, he couldn't help but let his own romantic tendencies run away with him a bit. At a glance the entire room seemed to be made of marble with Grecian columns encircling the centre council. But a deeper look betrayed the architecture as far older, older than anything on Earth, dating back to the very first ghosts that inhabited the Zone.

It was beautiful, and the bibliophile felt something in his core flutter happily at the opportunity to even get to see such a place. 'Writer grinned, taking an opportunity to take a look around the chamber at the assembled dignitaries. All looked regal in their own right, wearing power and authority in a way that was almost fathomless. He knew himself to be a fairly powerful ghost; his ability to warp reality with words was no mean feat. But in the presence of such potently dominating ghosts, even he felt dwarfed by their power.

The history of the Ghost Zone was a long and turbulent one, despite being an ageless society there were many prominent revolutions that marked each age. But through it all there was the Council of the Thirteen. In the beginning, representatives of the thirteen Realms had been appointed by the then Emperor Tzodar before he became corrupted by his power and was subsequently overthrown. Since then the council had always existed, either as the primary governing body or as a council to the Ghost Zone's reigning king.

The Thirteen represented each of the Ghost Zone's cores, and while the representative themselves often changed depending on politics, the positions always remained in the same balance. As a Magus core himself, he found himself more naturally drawn towards the representatives of those realms. The ghost Pandora was beautiful, garbed as a Grecian warrior princess, her purple hair rolled elegantly down her back; her skin was a soft shade of blue and her ceremonial spear rested gently in one of her four arms. The other representative was Nocturne, an ancient ghost whose entire countenance was a representation of the night sky of the Real World; his face was a cool shade of alabaster and his hair was concealed by a horned headdress that curled down into almost draconic purple points.

Of the Electora ghosts there were two representatives. The first was Raiden, who most closely resembled a wolf with bolts of electricity rippling through soft blue-grey fur; intelligent red eyes stared out at the room, indicating slight boredom as he sat back on his haunches. The second representative was Valda, a humanoid female ghost with green skin; she had long red hair and looked like a Viking with her brown leather skirt and metallic breastplate, and a quiver of arrows was slung over her back. The two of them murmured slightly to each other, seemingly arguing over something.

There had always been three Fire core representatives; the phoenix, the dragon and the salamander, each representing the three tribes that had first formed in the Zone. The phoenix present was Incendio, plumed with golden feathers that burned in a bright cascade down to his long plumed tail. Of the salamander there was Svarog, red scaled skin contrasted with long black tribal tattooing that all seemed to highlight his deeply burning green eyes as the lizard sat anthropomorphically up in his chair. The final representative was Dorathea, mercifully in her human form; the dragon ghost's blonde hair fell elegantly over her blue dress and her cherry eyes bespoke calmness despite the fact that 'Writer knew this was her first Council.

The bibliophile then turned his eyes to the two Earth cored ghosts. The first was Xylia, a Nymph with a close fitting green dress and bright emerald eyes, each framed by an ethereal deep green spiral. Her skin was a shade of green, so soft as to be almost white, which contrasted with the rich reddish brown of her flower woven hair. The dwarf, Terran, was the other representative, angry red eyes staring out of a heavily creased brow. He had bushy green hair that could almost be ablaze, which was only emphasised by his dark beard, barely concealing the way he was scowling as he absently fidgeted with the heavyset hammer in his calloused palms. Ghostwriter had always found it somewhat poetic that the two representatives each embraced the polar opposite aspects of Earth; the growing plants and the soil in which they grew.

The representatives of Air were two ghosts that Ghostwriter knew personally. Bowen, a male sylph was actually a surprising intellect and would stop by the Library from time to time. His hair was a surprising shade of white that fell in a thin curtain down to his waist; his skin was an enviable shade of porcelain that stretched all the way to his two pointed ears. Achlys on the other hand he wasn't so companionable with. The ebony haired fury had a particularly vengeful streak despite her flighty attitude, and had gotten on his bad side two decades before when she'd stormed his Library for what he saw as a minor offense. But there was no doubt she was beautiful, soft green eyes, her skin a vibrant shade of azure and wings of ethereal cloud that floated into wispy tips behind her back, framing her perfectly.

'Writer shook his head and turned his attention to the twelfth member of the council. Frostbite was well known, but rarely left the Ice Realms. The Far Frozen had always been the more private of people. But the yeti-like ghost sat tall and proud, a wide smile on his face as he picked a conversation with Valda. His white fur seemed bright in the room, but the soft smile in his blue eyes made him seem open and welcoming in a beguiling dissonance to what his outwardly ferocious appearance would portray. His booming laugh momentarily cut through the room, eliciting an infectious smile on 'Writer's face as he looked at the representative for the Ice cores.

A small shiver trembled down 'Writer's spine as his eyes fell on the final member of the council. Due to the nature of the Norma cored ghosts, there were few candidates who could fill the role as a representative; hardly any had the power to match the other representatives. However, the current representative was one 'Writer would prefer never to have seen again. Walker sat there, a slight smirk on his bleached face as he leaned backwards in his seat. His black rimmed Stetson was sitting over his eyes, hiding malicious green from view and somehow making the Warden ghost seem all the more malignant. His arms were currently crossed across his chest, bearing the illusion of casual disinterest, but the way the cane in his right hand twirled between lazy fingers suggested that the Warden was just _observing_.

Shaking his head clear, 'Writer set his fingers on his keyboard as the words practically wove themselves, a satiated smile pulling to his lips as he set the scene. Each of the representatives was power incarnate; the room was saturated with the pure majesty of its occupants, somehow eddying together with the physical presence of the ancient chamber to create an almost tangible vibration of sagacious ascendancy. And 'Writer could almost taste the silence when a red robed ghost entered the chamber.

A tense hush filled the room, each of the representatives' attention falling onto the new occupant. He was an ancient ghost, the chief custodian of the council chambers and had been an essential part of the council for as long as it had been. He was Speaker, he went by no other name and he saw no duty as more important. He was the one charged with keeping order, of initiating debates and ending frivolous ones. He was impartial, technically a Norma core, but tied to all Realms by his oath of neutrality and by his position.

'Writer watched as Speaker floated towards the centre of the room towards a marbleised dais, his green spectral tail fluttering purposefully beneath him. Red eyes looked out across the room, calling them all to order as his bronze staff rapped twice on the floor. "This session of the Council of the Thirteen is called to order." Speaker proclaimed, his deep baritone voice was rich and smooth, resonating through the council chamber with its steady presence. 'Writer's fingers cascaded across his keyboard, trying to capture every detail of the proceedings.

"The assembly is welcomed and the members are gathered." Speaker stated, his voice calm and steady as a deep river. "Each member will please introduce themself."

"Sheriff Walker." The skeletal ghost began, his low voice breaking the silence. "Representative of the Norma ghosts."

'Writer beamed, his fingers tapping across the keyboard as each identified themself, one by one, going around the room like a surging wave of vibrating vocalisation. Each voice bespoke power, ringing with an almost overpowering resonance that struck him to the core. He was almost sad as Frostbite introduced himself, his voice an arctic wind through the chamber.

"At this time" Speaker proclaimed, his staff thudding once more against the floor. "The council will discuss the subject of this meeting; the Halfa Daniel 'Danny' Phantom's ascension to the throne. Let it now be recorded that the Halfa's appointed guardian, the Lord Clockwork, is present on Phantom's behalf."

'Writer gulped, briefly looking up as his glasses slipped down his nose. He was nervous enough about his job today, but hearing who Phantom's guardian was made 'Writer tremble. He had known the young boy for over a year now, and would go so far as to call the boy a friend despite his infrequent visits. But he hadn't known Phantom was _that_ well connected; yet he couldn't help but watch in stunned silence as the blue skinned Master of Time slipped into the room, looking somehow like he'd been there all along as he took a seat facing the Council. A short silence filled the room as everyone took a moment to acknowledge the most elusive and deified ghost in the whole Ghost Zone.

"Phantom is a menace!" Walker growled, breaking the silence and sending a hateful glare in Clockwork's direction. Like the trembling of a tuning fork the silence was broking and a tumultuous wave of conflict trembled through the chamber. "He's a no good punk with no respect for the rules. He should be locked in the Phantom Zone permanently, not made King."

"Walker," Frostbite admonished. "The Great One is a good soul, you cannot blame him for transgressing upon a rule he did not know existed."

"The Rules are the Rules for a reason." Raiden interjected hotly. "Do not forget the trauma we endured through the Magus Wars before they were enforced."

"Without the Rules there is chaos." Walker affirmed, tilting his hat upwards. "The punk doesn't know a thing about being a ghost, expecting him to be anything other than our enemy is laughable."

"And yet he's the only one of us who had the power to defeat Pariah Dark." Valda replied, her rich voice cutting through Walker's accented tone. "He has proved his worth as a warrior and a leader. He shows tremendous strength for one so young to our world."

"We have the power." Terran growled, swinging his hammer so it landed firmly in his hand. "So what if the Halfling got there first; the thirteen of us would have sealed Pariah again just like the Ancients did."

"The Crown of Fire fades." Bowen pointed out, his soft voice somehow silencing the developing argument. His white hair seemed to drift on an ethereal wind as he spoke."Even had we succeeded Pariah would still have been liege apparent. For too long we have been divided in chaos, as Pariah's crown now fades it is time now to choose a new ruler." Ghostwriter paused, looking up at the white haired ghost. All through the Zone people had felt that change, the twilit period of changing autumnal leaves. But hearing it spoken in Bowen's soft voice brought the change into sharper focus.

"And you're implying we should give the crown to Phantom?" Svarog retorted, his fiery tail flaring with a crimson glow. "That's a brilliant idea; just hand the throne over to the half breed who offed Pariah. No, I can't see _any _problems with that."

"Sarcasm doesn't become you, Svarog." Dorathea chastised, sending him a distasteful glare. "Sir Phantom is a noble sort; he fights with justice, not blind retribution."

"Ah, yes; '_Sir_' Phantom." Walker drawled distastefully. "You play a cunning game, Princess. One would almost suspect you're vying for additional power in this council. After all, records state that Phantom; possessing an Ice core, is entirely outside of your jurisdiction."

"How dare you!" Dora screeched, sounding appalled. 'Writer pulled back as he saw the green pendant around her neck flare, her eyes becoming almost serpentine before Speaker's voice cut through the room.

"Order!" The red robed Speaker cried, his staff thudding against the floor with a sense of overpowering finality. "Members will move back to the topic at hand, any further quarrels are to be resolved outside of council time."

A brief silence echoed through the chamber, whispering through as Dora settled down in her seat and Walker resumed his casual position at the edge of the circle. "The issue we have to deal with is Phantom's candidacy as heir apparent." Achlys stated, her wings unsettled behind her back. "Regardless of his breeding, he is the one who defeated Pariah alone; he has earned the right to the title."

"Why is there need to let him claim it?" Nocturne asked, surprising all with his pensive voice. "The council has served in the millennia since Pariah's entrapment. Perhaps now there is no longer a need for such a monarch."

"It is not the way of our world." Bowen replied. "The council's function has only ever been to advise the monarch. We need the stability that a king provides; having the council as the head only polarises our peoples against each other. Having a single king again would provide unity that has been absent since before Pariah's reign.

"We could never be united under the half breed." Raiden growled, a cascade of sparks rippling through his coat. "A thing like him should never have existed in the first place. Already each of us have seen the movements to have the boy destroyed and I say let them. He's a disgusting perversion of all it means to be a ghost; giving him the throne will only lead to ruin."

"I move that the Halfling be rejected." Terran replied, quickly latching onto the Raijū's argument. "Find someone else for the job; I won't have a half _human_ as my king."

"Come now, Terran." Xylia reproved, her voice sounding like a soft wind through leafy trees. "Phantom has proved to have our best interests in his core more than once. Don't let your own prejudices stand in the way of a just leader."

"What Phantom are you talking about?" Svarog retorted. "He's brought nothing but trouble with him; chaos follows the boy like a shadow. Let him be king and all we'll have left is rubble."

"The Great One has more than learned responsibility." Frostbite interjected. "Princess Dorathea has educated him in the ways of court and the duties entailed by his knighthood. In doing so she has taught him what is necessary in running a kingdom. The Great one is ready for this responsibility."

"Frostbite speaks well." Valda added. "Phantom came to us when his electrical powers first manifested. He has long since proved himself a worthy warrior, but he held himself to a high standard. He proved a dedicated pupil and pushed himself to ensure that none could be harmed unintentionally by his power."

"Such was true when the Great One first learned of his Ice Core." Frostbite added, the yeti's voice sounding fondly proud. "He also showed great distress for any who were harmed by his actions, even for people he has never met. He has proven who he is in his core; he left to face Pariah knowing the risks and yet never shied away from keeping all of us safe."

"True though that may be, that was two years ago." Incendio pointed out, ruffling his wings as he spoke for the first time. "Time for us is nearly meaningless, but to a human it can change everything. I am curious as to how much the past two years have changed him. Clockwork?"

Ghostwriter looked up as Clockwork drifted forwards, wearing majesty as easily as the cloak that billowed around him. A quiet hush washed over the room, each of the occupants stilling to observe the ancient ghost. Wise red eyes gazed back at them, and 'Writer caught a hint of a smile playing on his lips. It wasn't that Clockwork was smug or prideful, but he held an overpowering sense of self assurance that thrummed almost tangibly through the air.

"Phantom, indeed, has grown in character significantly since he vanquished Pariah Dark." Clockwork answered, bowing his head slightly in an acknowledging nod. "As is the case for all living beings, he has endured changes and faced trials that have further shaped him into the person he is today."

"He defeated Plasmius." Dorathea added with a soft smile on her face. "Instead of murdering Vladimir he removed his powers. He has learned that it takes more than just stopping an adversary to save people and has shown that it is not destruction that drives him."

"Indeed." Clockwork nodded, his ancient red eyes glimmering with pride. "Phantom has learned many hard lessons, including the value of offering a second chance. Since taking Phantom on as my charge I have imparted on him the histories and knowledge essential to our world; however it is his actions that speak most loudly for his character."

"The Great One shows great maturity and integrity in all he does." Frostbite agreed. "In the limited time I have known him personally he has surpassed all expectations. Given the great power he holds it would be easy for him to become corrupted, yet he holds true to all that he stands for."

"Given that he's a Protector by nature that hardly says anything." Terran groused, arms crossing across his chest. "It's like arguing rocks are hard because they're rocks."

"It is different though." Pandora replied. "And being reductionist gets us nowhere. Phantom, like all of us, has the choice of where to direct his obsession; simply being a Protector does not immediately ascertain that he will act in the defence of all. The fact that he has is demonstrative of his own morality if anything."

"Sir Phantom lived by the knight's code before he knew of it." Dorathea emphasised. "He has always leapt to the defence of those weaker than him, even at his own expense."

"Knights code?" Nocturne dismissed. "My dear lady your observations in that regard are based on happenstance, nothing more. Phantom operates under the delusion that the human world needs him as a 'hero'; it has nothing to do with honour or chivalry, but the foolish clinging to a childish ideal. Why should we crown a king who is nothing but a child himself?"

"Because he is no longer a child." Bowen replied. "One cannot experience all that he has without growing up. Even by our long standards he has endured far more than many of us and overcome everything. The argument of inexperience has no bearing on this decision, indeed to claim it is to ignore the very reason we are here."

'Writer blinked, his fingers hovering over the keyboard as the air filled with an expectant pause. He took a quick mental stock, thinking over all the arguments he'd heard. Walker's position was expected really, the Warden ghost had a grudge with Phantom a mile wide. And Terran's xenophobic objection to Phantom was unfortunate but unavoidable. 'Writer couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for the young ghost child at Raiden's violent revulsion, the halfa's humanity was what made him so unique, and as unavoidable as the fall of a tragic hero.

But he was heartened to hear the defences made of Phantom, after the whole Christmas Poem Incident, Phantom had come to him and apologised. More than that, he'd been shown a different side to the boy, and, adding that to the fact that many of his escapades made brilliant tales in themselves, they'd struck up enough of a friendship that 'Writer could see real value in having the boy as their king.

The way the council hung now though was completely undecided. Walker, Raiden, Terran, Svarog and Nocturne all seemed determinedly against Phantom. Equally, Frostbite, Xylia, Dorathea and Pandora were all encouraging Phantom's ascension. It was somewhat poetic that it was such an even divide, and as usual the Air cored ghosts were decidedly neutral, and Incendio had said nothing to suggest an opinion either way. It was like a set of scales delicately balanced, ready to topple at the slightest disturbance.

"Phantom's most recent trial has left him scarred." Xylia pointed out, her voice capturing the strange sadness of a yellowed leaf as it fell from its branch.

"Ah, yes. The punk's pet wolf." Walker smirked. "That rule breaker shouldn't be leaving your forests you know Xylia. You should be keeping him on a tighter leash."

"That is not the point, Walker, and you know it." Achlys interjected quickly. "Xylia, what news do the turning leaves bring?"

"Wulf recently returned from the Real World, bringing an almost... unbelievable tale." Xylia paused, her green eyes creased in a saddened frown, sinking in on herself like leaves in heavy rain. "Real World politics rarely have any sway on our world but in this instance..." She trailed off uselessly.

"In this instance the balance of both worlds was in the balance." Clockwork finished, his ancient voice startling for its steady depth. "This past year Phantom has taken residence with his surviving mortal family, including his adoptive cousin, Kal of the House of El."

'Writer felt his core flutter in disbelief. History said that Krypton had been destroyed, he'd felt the planet's end twenty years before, as had every other ghost existing at the time. Apparently the boy was better at keeping secrets than even 'Writer had imagined if he was living with a _Kryptonian_ without letting it on. But then, it was also unsurprising, Warrior Angel was nothing without the mask of his alter ego Steven Swift, secrets were a natural consequence of maintaining a secret identity. And while distinctively not the same, Phantom was cut from a similar cloth to the comic book hero. Secrets and masked words were a necessary part of the boy's life.

The momentary din quietened down as Clockwork spoke again. "The wraith of Zod escaped the Phantom Zone, taking refuge in a human host as facilitated by the Brain Interactive Construct. In so doing Zod caused the collapse of the majority of the infrastructure of the Western World, culminating in Kal-El's incarceration in the Phantom Zone."

'Writer felt his glasses slip down in his startled disbelief, the Phantom Zone sent a tremor of dread to his core. Around the chamber a tense thrum of disbelief rolled, each of the Thirteen seemingly frozen in shock. The horrors of the Phantom Zone were known to all, it was almost inconceivable the endless punishment of the eternal prison. Worse was the notion of an innocent being sent there; damned evermore to the bleak cruelty of malicious desert sands.

"That explains why." Xylia murmured sadly, her hand pressed to her chest. "When Wulf last returned to the Woods he was almost exhausted with relief. He said that he had visited the Real World at the request of the young ghost Ember's request. The story he told was that Phantom had been sent to the Phantom Zone, martyring himself so that his cousin could escape and vanquish the foe in Zod."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me." Walker griped. "The punk has never had any respect for the sanctity of the prison system. I'm astounded he didn't stage a mass riot and let them all escape."

"I think it says more for Phantom's moral character." Pandora replied. "For him to go into that place intending nothing more than the escape of his cousin, that shows great dedication. He could not have known that he would escape."

"I suspect he would do it again." Dorathea added. "He is brave to a fault, all that I have seen of him suggests that he would sacrifice everything to make sure that everyone he cares for are safe. This is not the first time he has done so; if presented the opportunity he has always pursued the greater good, despite knowing that he could likely meet his end."

"That sort of ideology is good in a knight, but not in a king." Nocturne pointed out. "A king whose obsession drives him to his own destruction would leave the Ghost Zone in greater turmoil than it already is. It will take far more than ill conceived heroics to make Phantom remotely suitable as our liege."

"Danny Phantom's journey to and from the Phantom Zone was not without consequence." Clockwork added, his voice a swinging metronome that emphasised the pulsing beat of the council's argument.

"How so, Clockwork?" Incendio asked.

Clockwork bowed his head ever so slightly, the vague impression of compassion breaking through his stoic mask. To 'Writer it was clear that Clockwork had grown to care for the young ghost boy, almost as a grandfather would. "Phantom's corporeal body was, in essence, destroyed upon transition into the Phantom Zone, whereupon he escaped my sight. This is an inexorable truth for any ghost. Phantom's saving grace is, and always has been in his human half. It allowed him to survive the transition but only just so."

"I have yet to see the Great One since his return;" Frostbite commented, his voice whispering like a snowflake, melting on a breeze. "He has not visited the Ice Realms for many months."

"You said it was his human half that saved him." Bowen noted, his voice sharp as a blustering autumnal wind. "What of his ghost half?"

Clockwork frowned, a grave look crossing his eyes. 'Writer was momentarily concerned that the ancient ghost was about to lie before the council, but his answer was so deeply unbelievable that it rang with condemning truth. "Phantom is as a human; currently existing without the touch of his ghost half or the call of his obsession."

"A ghost without an obsession is nothing; a pitiful disgrace!" Walker shouted, his eyes glittering menacingly from under his bleak black hat.

"And a human with an obsession is lost." Dorathea countered.

"Lady Dorathea is right." Frostbite affirmed. "The Great One's dual nature is a blessing to all of us. It is his human heart that allows him to see outside of himself to grow and change within himself; something even the most powerful of us find impossible."

"The Halfling is not one of us." Raiden growled, baring long sharp canines. "The very fact that he relies on a human half only proves that he can't hope to understand what it is to be a ghost. How can you expect him to lead us when he is driven by basal human instinct?"

"Exactly my point, my dear Raiden." Walker commented, leaning casually back in his seat. "The halfa known as Danny Phantom is nothing to us. The inheritance laws don't apply to humans and they certainly shouldn't apply to a half breed."

"And yet he is the one for whom the crown fades." Bowen pointed out. "Pariah's power is waning; his reign has come to an end. Phantom is the one who defeated him, and by our own laws he is thusly first in line to the throne."

"This argument is becoming circular." Valda commented, her arms crossed across her breastplate. "We can all agree on Phantom's power and might, what divides us is his character."

"What would you propose?" Nocturne asked, his voice an icy dagger cutting mercilessly through the chamber.

Valda paused, a considering frown crossing her brow. Eventually her arms dropped to her sides as the red haired ghost squared her shoulders. "That he be tested." She replied, the words rolling off her tongue with the heavy finality of a tumbling boulder.

"That is not a bad idea." Pandora agreed, a smile drawing on her lips as she caught onto the idea. "Like the young Heracles, each of us shall assign a challenge for the young Phantom; thirteen trials to determine the worth of his character, both as a ghost and as a leader. Should he pass all thirteen tests the Council will repeal all qualms and allow Phantom his right to ascend the throne."

"And when he fails?" Walker pressed, a dark chill pooling into his menacing green eyes.

"Then we shall smite him." Pandora replied bluntly, the tip of her spear glimmering fiercely in the chamber light.

"Is the Council in accordance?" Achlys asked, receiving several nods in reply. Walker and Nocturne each had cruel sadism lighting their eyes, but there was also quiet confidence from Dorathea and Frostbite. 'Writer could see the value in it; like the heroes of ancient stories these trials would prove Phantom's merits. If he passed everything the Thirteen challenged him then the Council couldn't deny his right to the throne. But it couldn't be easy, and 'Writer could see that already some were planning almost insurmountable tasks for the young child.

"What about his ghost half?" Incendio asked. "Given this light it seems almost redundant to plan anything. Without his powers he won't be able to pass anything we challenge of him."

"Phantom will be ready to face whatever challenges you set for him." Clockwork replied evenly, saying nothing and implying everything. It was a lovely mincing of words, allowing the council to presume that Phantom's powers would return without actually saying it would be so. It sparked his curiosity, making the bibliophile desperate to hear the full tale. But... if he was living in a story he knew he would have to wait. Alice in Wonderland would be ruined if she'd known not to follow the white rabbit. So too would 'Writer be patient, wandering into Wonderland as Alice and waiting till he could meet his Cheshire Cat.

"I should like to add a further stipulation." Dorathea added, drawing the attention of the council as she shuffled with slight unease. "That these thirteen challenges are to be completed before Sir Phantom reaches the age of majority in human years, that his coronation may be held on his eighteenth human birthday."

"So either we'll have a king before a year has passed, or we'll be rid of the punk forever." Walker mused, green eyes glimmering darkly from beneath his shadowed Stetson. "That's a good Rule."

"Then we have come to a decision." Valda confirmed, absently twirling an arrow in her hand. "The halfa known as Danny Phantom shall be crowned king upon his reaching the age of majority, contingent upon his completion of any and all tests the Thirteen provide."

"So mote it be." Each of the Council members stated, each affirmation adding a thrum of definitive power to the declaration. Danny Phantom had faced many challenges, told and untold alike. He had done great deeds by the people of the Ghost Zone, and slighted them in the same breath. But for all the trials he'd already overcome, 'Writer believed there was still far more treacherous ones to come. Yet in his core he felt that it would be alright, Phantom, for all his souls was iron in his will. Like King Arthur or Winston Churchill, there was something about the boy that held a strange amount of fortitude and strength. He would survive it, and no doubt would surpass the Thirteen's expectations while he was at it.

'Writer watched as the Council left, proceeding out with quiet majesty. The council ended, he made to go about finishing up his notes. Cautiously he stood up, stacking his keyboard carefully atop a pile of ancient tomes. He was about to leave himself, knowing that he would need to review the meeting minutes before he could file them, when he looked up. Clockwork was still there, apparently deep in conversation with Speaker. But his wise old eyes turned to him, filled with calm certainty as the ancient ghost smiled at him.

"You knew this would happen." 'Writer said before he could help himself.

Clockwork's smile broadened ever so slightly, stained with the edge of confidant knowing. "I did." He replied.

"You manipulated the council." He realised, recalling Clockwork's earlier statements, the careful phrasing when he highlighted Phantom's current condition. "You wanted Walker to react the way he did."

"Perhaps." Clockwork replied, omniscient power dancing across the steady tone of his voice. "The future is not plainly linear, it has many different branches, all twisting and turning toward their final destination."

The world was a story, every second that passed added more to it. This was something that Ghost Writer had long since accepted. Like the words on a page, sometimes it was impossible to imagine where it was leading, but it always took you somewhere. The story may seem impossibly complex, with billions of different plots weaving in and out, characters appearing and disappearing. But every aspect told a part of the same story, stretching eternally towards some unknowable end. But it was the journey that he had always loved; getting to know the characters and the world they lived in.

Yes, the world was a story, and Ghost Writer loved living it. Every single word of it. But he was always curious about where the next plot turn might lead, always seeking the far off 'why' in where the story was going. He was a bibliophile to the core, and always probing about each twist that was written into the story, how it would affect the path to the end and how it changed what was known of everything that had come before. It was his curiosity that guided him, drove him in all his literary pursuits, and he thrived on it.

"So you know what will happen, in the end? How the story finishes?" The bibliophile asked needlessly.

Clockwork smiled enigmatically at him, the Time Staff held firmly in hand as the powerfully ancient ghost floated before him. "I do." Clockwork replied, deep and even, speaking with the volume of a thousand ages and the whispering of the silence of the beat between pendulum swings. His words only led Writer on, thirsting for more at the burning of unresolved questions.

Still Clockwork smiled at him, archaic lips breathing endless mystery. "But then, I do know everything."


	40. Sequel Posted

AN: Just a note to say that the sequel has been posted!

As a Halloween present to you all, and because it was an actual date to work to...

It's under the name 'Just Another Phantom Zoner', and I hope to see you all there.

For everyone who has read and reviewed Just Another Meteor Freak, thanks so much for your support all the way through. I've loved hearing from each and every one of you and I sincerely hope you all enjoyed the ride.

Happy Halloween,

Bluerose


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